Thursday, July 17, 2008

1988 Schwinn Prologue TT

I won this on Ebay. Another one not needing a resto. It was packaged very well which will always win you karma in the bike collecting world. Thanks Dick! I have always wanted a "funny bike" and this was a good deal. I have not been impressed with most production bikes from the USA but my opinion away from such "'Mercan" bikes is changing. In contrast, US handbuilt bikes have always been very nice and the current market reflects that. Schwinn is now overseas-built(what isn't?) and sold in Walmart stores so I can't vouch for them today BUT I now know there are Schwinns, other than the Paramount, that are undervalued as collectables. Where this was built(likely Japan), will have to be researched. This thing appears to have been ridden rarely. Under what chips there are lies nice chrome. I'm considering stripping areas on the chain and seat stays to reveal this chrome and eliminate those few chips. I have to say this frame is as nice as most of those in my humble collection. Made of Tange DB tubing, it isn't heavy, the lugs are numbered, and the fit and finish rivals anything I have with the exception of the Tesch. I was warned by the seller that this is a bizarre ride and it is. Despite the appearance of lots of rake, it is not at all slack and is very twitchy. Without concentration, one can't walk it by guiding it by the seat without the bars flopping over. Here is a pic from the Ebay posting. You can see it was set up with aero bars with the shifters relocated to the ends. This may end up being the best setup(and period-correct to boot). I chose to reassemble it out of the box without the included aerobars and decided to mount the shifters back on the downtube. Shifting is no easier but this lightens the bike and puts it back to original(I think). I substituted some matching Look pedals I had and took it for a spin.
Plans are to replace the bars with some Nitto TT bars that have more rise and look more correct, possibly flipping the brake levers. I might find matching Suntour levers and a Sprint front DR to make the groupo complete. The Turbo gel seat isn't bad at all. I have a worn one and it's torture! I like the idea of a white saddle so we'll see.
Someday I might show up at a local TT just for the sake of lots of attention.
Well, I replaced the shifters and they work great. All else is the same. Afraid to take it too far without a backup 24" front sew-up spare. repairing a tubular on the road doesn't appeal to me at all.