A few years ago, this Schwinn Peloton was sitting outside my friend's garage collecting some serious rust. He gave it to me, and I built it up and rode it back down. Now, he needs a bike, so we built it back up for him--ahh, steel everlasting!
We put on Shimano 105 brakes. Above the "Schwinn Peloton" head badge, you can see the chrome where my terribly thin spray paint job has scratched off (or possibly blown off!). The entire bike is chromed though, so it won't be rusting so easily.
We added SunTour down tube shifters. SunTour is my favorite component company of the era of the widespread manufacture of this sort of classic lugged steel racing bike. Their parts always really perform, and they last. Read the awesome story of their company here.
My friend built a front fender using a quarter section of a cheap plastic tube and some zip ties. He needs this commuter to be totally functional, because he will be using it to ride to Capitol Hill every day for his job as a congressional aide.
A Shimano 105 front derailleur. We left the old crank on, as it is in fine shape.
We put on a very old Shimano 600 rear derailleur. Justin, who did not seem impressed by this derailleur, says it is from the mid-70s. I really love it because it shows no sign of use after thousands of miles and over thirty-five years! The whole body and cage appear sturdily constructed.
It is very short, as most road derailleurs were at that time, and so we put a more of a small "corn cob" type cassette on the wheel with a max sprocket count of 23 to ensure easy shifting to all gears. As this is a commuter, we were comfortable with not having a greater range of easy gears.
The most exciting thing about this frame has to be the awesome lug work. Check out those wrapping seat stays!
by John Wade
