I guess Schwinn collecting and especially Paramount collecting is a hobby all unto itself. Even though the Circuit isn't particularly collectible as a Schwinn, except to maybe the most hardcore diehard, I guess owning an older Schwinn kinda makes you feel like you're in a 'club' now, especially considering the bikes that carry the Schwinn name these days. This is actually my second Schwinn bike, the first being a 1985 Schwinn Traveler that was my first 'real' bike. Lugged 4130 frame, Suntour AR derailleurs, Sugino crankset, stem shifters, safety brake levers, big thick black foam sponge grips... I loved and hated that bike. I loved it because it was my first geared bike and I rode it like crazy. I hated it because the more interested I got in biking, the less the Schwinn was to what I wanted in a bike - and that was, naturally, something along the lines of all those Italian steeds featured in the mags like so much pr0n. No amount of kickstand and reflector removal was going to make anyone mistake my Schwinn for a racing machine. So I finally got that Allez I'd been dreaming about and the Traveler became a childhood castoff in the corner with all the GI Joes and Lego sets.
Anyway, I researched the Schwinn company through various articles on the web and was fascinated by the rise and rapid downfall of the once-great company. Kinda ironic considering what Chrysler's going through right now, eh?
Right now, I'm cleaning up the frame, applying touchup paint, polishing the chrome and basically giving the frame a good once-over. What I do want point out in this blog is a few things I've noticed:
1) The paint job on the frame is probably the worst I've seen in a bike of this vintage. I've worked on bikes made in the US, Taiwan, Japan, and even Italy from the mid to late 80's and haven't come across paint that looked this bad. Maybe just bad maintenance of the bike? Maybe shoddy materials or application at the factory? There a couple fine creases/wrinkles in the paint on the top and down tubes that were worrisome at first. Crash damage? The area around the lugs look fine, I can't tell of any actual damage to the tubes where the paint is crinkled, and the fork seems straight as well. In addition, there's small patches of 'rough' paint from gosh knows what. Looks like the paint melted and then dried into a rough, pitty patch.
2) The decals on the main tubes are a class act all the way. Water-slide(?) and then clear coated. No discernable edges. Nice! All three Allez's I have sport better paint jobs, but they all use cheap stickers for the decals. In the right lighting the edges are clearly visible and detract from the overall look of the bike. The "Schwinn" logos on the seatstays are just vinyl stickers and have seen better days. The fork decals may have been water-slide too - as I was buffing the chrome and cleaning up some rusty bits, I found a "WI" imprint on my hand. I think I invented a few good curse words when this happened.
3) I decided to touch up the numerous chips/scrapes/flaws by mixing some Testors enamel. I typically don't bother with touch-ups for fear of ruining the overall look of the bike. However, I decided to try it out for the first time on this one. So far the results have been decent, but it takes a lot of time and patience. Mixing to the right shade of red can be tedious, and then sanding, rubbing, and waxing the area afterward is painstaking work, but I enjoy it. It takes my mind off of things for a bit and although I wouldn't call it relaxing, I would say working with one's hands can be very satisfying.
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