I have an odometer on my bicycle.

"Rainbow" (rainbeaux) 10/29/2013 at 17:03 • Filed to: None

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Got it a few years back. It forced me to do all the math myself to get the RPM of the wheel to correspond with the speed and distance, but after a couple hours of holding my friend's car door and coasting next to him at 10, 20, and 30mph (for that one I sat inside the car and held the bike... Not sure why we didn't think of that at first), and adjusting the numbers until it lined up accurately at any speed, I switched it to odo mode and have kept it there since. I'm very close to 300 miles now, and when I first got to school I was at around 150. At this rate I should be able to break 1,000 by the time I graduate, easily. That's accounting for the likelihood of getting a car next year, too. It should come close to 300 miles every semester if I continue riding it exactly as often as I do.

Not sure what the point of this post is, but I just find it pretty interesting. The bike is from 1995, too, and I'm its third owner. It's only ever had two repairs aside from routine brake and inner-tube replacement, so yeah. (rear wheel bearings pretty much exploded and a brake cable snapped) (also, I am fully aware that the tires and brake cables should also be replaced occasionally, ESPECIALLY since they're 18 years old. I'd just prefer to squeeze every last drop of life out of them, because broke college student) Schwinn builds a damn good bike.

Bluecold > Rainbow 10/29/2013 at 17:17

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Hate to bust your bubble, Schwinn went bankrupt in 1992. Since then, it's been a name that's used by various investment groups. Don't let that stop you from enjoying your bike though.

HammerheadFistpunch > Bluecold 10/29/2013 at 17:35

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not bankrupt, just sold. Schwinn was sold to pacific cycles (huffy) and is, like you said, a store brand now. They used to make the best.

HammerheadFistpunch > Rainbow 10/29/2013 at 17:36

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I remember at one point I was racking up ~125 miles a week just commuting (in a shirt and tie) on this

Bluecold > HammerheadFistpunch 10/29/2013 at 19:39

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Well, they were an individual company and they certainly seem to be made nicely made bikes with some nifty touches (I've got a 1987 Schwinn Prelude, mid-end bike which feels quite nice) I wouldn't call them 'the best'. Perhaps the best american brand, I don't know. But I think pre-war Lea-Francis bikes are better suited to those accolades. Lea Francis really pioneered a lot of things and finished their bikes exquisitely. They were truly the Rolls-Royces of bicycles. As for lightweights, well I won't go into that discussion anywhere. There are just too many worthy brands.

Rainbow > Bluecold 10/29/2013 at 21:25

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Huh. Strange that mine has a "100th Anniversary" sticker if the company never made it that far. Of course, it also brags that it was "designed in the USA" just above the obligatory "Made in China."