Re: [CR] 1949 Schwinn Town & Country tandem on ebay

(Example: Framebuilders:Alberto Masi)

From: "Jon Spangler" <jonswriter@att.net>
In-Reply-To: <2098545074.562147.1276896584867.JavaMail.root@vms227.mailsrvcs.net>
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:58:44 -0700
References: <2098545074.562147.1276896584867.JavaMail.root@vms227.mailsrvcs.net>
To: hmsachs@verizon.net
Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR] 1949 Schwinn Town & Country tandem on ebay


Harvey,

As usual you have offered great tips for the rest of us from your own experience.

Even though I am not interested in buying a tandem like this, this tandem seemed a likely candidate for a CR member to restore and ride.

I'll bet that a standard-width set of Phil Wood hubs might be strong enough to work on a frame like this, which might make a very cool around-town tandem with upright bars, even if it were not restored to original condition. And that sounds like a better fate for this bike than its current condition.

I hope someone can give this tandem a good home and a worthy restoration/rebuild.

Jon Spangler third message and out in Alameda, CA USA

On Jun 18, 2010, at 2:29 PM, hmsachs@verizon.net wrote:
> Beloved Spouse and I rode probably 15,000 mi (then the Veeder odometer got lost; it had over 30,000 mi on it) on a Schwinn T&C. Over the years, we extensively modified/modernized it. We later built up one of the triplets of that series with Phil components.
>
> For those considering it, some notes may be helpful:
>
> 1) One can make these work with 700c wheels, but today I would choose 650B or similar. One has to fully deflate the rear tire to remove or insert the 700c wheel with the Schwinn dropouts. I had a number of sets of vertical "half drops" fabricated, and converted several of these bikes to verticals. That also facilitated using a decent centerpull mounted on the center stay set for an auxiliary rear break.
>
> 2) Changing BB was hard at the time; the rear is about 74 mm if I recall correctly.
>
> 3) Spreading the rear triangle is really hard work. At one point, we ran it as a 130, with a Shimano E disk on the left and an ultra-six on the right, on a narrow Phil hub. I believe that first flight cycles still has the Shimano E brakes, but it takes some mods to get it to work.
>
> 4) The wheel base is crazy-short by modern standards, about 60". Using drops in the rear is unlikely to work, since few stokers will have long enough arms to reach the drops w/o lying completely flat against the captain's back. If even possible.
>
> 5) And once you have it all set up, the steering is like what I've always imagined would characterize a Mack concrete mixer: rather heavy.
>
> 6) If you'd rather go original, start with a complete one. Although Larry Black may still have a batch of used cranks and chain guards and stuff that I gave him. Mostly rusty.
>
> Good luck,
> harvey sachs
> temporarily in Wroclaw Poland.
>
> Jon Spangler wrote:
> My automated ebay tandem search found an incomplete 1949 Schwinn Town & Country tandem in Houston, TX:
> item 150457055380.
>
> http://ebay.com/<blah>
>
> The bent stoker seat tube is pretty cool and the fork looks original from what little I can tell.

Jon Spangler
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