I just picked up a 1971 schwinn sports tourer. I like the look of it, it's kool orange and i believe this was the only year that color was available for this frame, but it's a little too heavy for my taste to keep as a regular road bike so I've decided to convert it to a fixed gear. While it's about 80% original, still has the boat anchor gran turismo rear derailleur, it's missing the original wheels and rear brake caliper so I feel less guilty about converting it. I decided to use the TA crankset (I think it's a cyclotourist but I'm not sure) on a competition frame. The crankset is a double at the moment but it looks like it could be made into a tripple, it has a 54 tooth and a granny gear I think a 36. It also a TA "chain guard" and another blank ring that I think looks like I could replace with a chain ring. is this possible? and do you think I'll need spacers to do this? I can take some pics if that helps.
One more thing. Although the wheels were not original, heavy chrome rigida, it appears the original free wheel is on the rear as the two largest cogs are skip tooth (excuse me I forgot if it's inch pitch or inch pinch or maybe neither). What are the benefits or flaws of this kind of set up?
marc garcia
chicago IL