Schwinn Collegiate front dd fit question

[Danschutz]

So finding the right donor bike for my wife's electric bike has led me to finding her a Schwinn Collegiate. Well finally I got the thumbs up approval to go ahead and swap the parts from the already transformed ebike I bought for to a frame that fits her.

The front dd is a older GM style c9 hub.

The fork width is only 95mm unsprung. Is this fork useable or should I just buy a new moly fork? I guess I could put some upgraded brakes on a new fork, might be safer. Anyways my big worry is it's the wife's bike and I don't want her hurt. But I like the look of these vintage style forks.



Thanks....again
Dan L.

 

[Ykick]

Other than battery mounting options it would meet my minimum requirements for modestly powered eBike. Spread that fork 5mm or a little more more if need be.

 

[Danschutz]

Other than battery mounting options it would meet my minimum requirements for modestly powered eBike. Spread that fork 5mm or a little more more if need be.

I was going to put a rear rack on the bike, the battery weighs just 10lbs.

That's great news about the fork. So just force the fork open and slide the wheel in?

The bike wouldn't be my first choice but she likes it (bike is amazingly short) and more than likely it won't get much use, hopefully I'm proven wrong lol.

Thanks,

Dan L.

 

[dogman dan]

Only 2.5mm of flex per side is safe, just flex it open. I wouldn't go for a permanent bend out though, lest it all go on one side.

 

[Ykick]

If she's really digging it and needs more battery and you're up to the required management 4S RC Lipo hardcase bricks might fit between those downtubes?

At least it has front & rear brakes. I would also recommend a torque arm on at least one side of the motor. Both sides if you're feeling rich.

My wife loves her eBike - it removes the "struggle" normally associated riding a pedal bicycle.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[BLUESTREAK]

Please post after you finish her bike and tell us how the bike frame re-acts to the front wheel having a motor in it. I just finished installing a real(9C 6x10) front motor on this type of frame and it has what I call (a death wobble).its a gaint simpel 7 bike and I am now in the process of installing a (real 9C )in the rearof the bike instead of the front. I belive this will work better.this type of frame looks strong but it has only (2) small tubes running to the fork. and don.t forget to install a good tork arm on it. hope you have good success.

 

[The fingers]

Love the nostalgic classic Schwinn look. You can always put it back to original if you decide to down the road. 8)

 

[Danschutz]

Fellows thank you kindly for all your input!

This is probably the rare occasion that the wife gets the first electric, still haven't finished ordering all my stuff lol.

As for the battery she has a new GM 10 ah and it's pretty light.

I'm going to get it put together today and post pics ASAP. I'm going to do some tire research and try to keep a vintage look on them.

I to am worried about a death wobble but the difference in this older steel frame and the Giant simple seven is quite different with the steel frame being more than twice the weight of the Giant, I guess we will see!

Dan L.

 

[dogman dan]

The classic schwinns were pretty stout. Though there might be some frame flex because of the step through, you can bet they used a very thick tube.

I have ridden less expensive brands with the same step through, and they did wobble like mad. I bet the Schwinn will be fine.

The best, strongest step through frame design I've seen, has two sets of top and bottom tubes, so the rear stays just continue on to the head tube. Look for one of those if you want a strong one. Those were loved by the first mountain bikers and fixie riders.

 

[Danschutz]

I have my fingers crossed Dogman. We have our first warm day of the year today (70 degrees!) so I'm off to get the cooler running then onto the bike!

Dan L.

 

[Ykick]

50% of the time - cleaned, lubed and properly adjusted headset bearings will reduce, if not eliminate shaker.

Welcome to the addiciton. You read like the type that once 'get started it's hard to know when to stop. LOL....

 

[Danschutz]

50% of the time - cleaned, lubed and properly adjusted headset bearings will reduce, if not eliminate shaker.

Welcome to the addiciton. You read like the type that once 'get started it's hard to know when to stop. LOL....

Haha, your on the right track with your perception. My wife claims that I'm a professional hobbyist. Keeps me out of trouble, isn't that our excuse

Dan L.

 

[Chalo]

The best, strongest step through frame design I've seen, has two sets of top and bottom tubes, so the rear stays just continue on to the head tube. Look for one of those if you want a strong one.

That kind of frame is called "mixte". It's stronger than a ladies' frame but not as strong as a traditional diamond frame. It was very popular in the early '80s and has come back into production from several sources. My shop sells mixte style bikes from Linus, Torker, and Soma.

 

[dogman dan]

That's the one. I didn't know anybody still made them. Still looking at the bikes at the flea, hoping to find one for $20.

After I wrote that, I realized it was just the top tube that was a double. That pic will go in my file of handy frame pix.

 

[Danschutz]

Just to update my progress. I worked on the bike for about an hour and a half last night removing all the parts off the old electric bike and started to put the wifes bike together. Between two used bikes and some stripped screws and a mix of metric and sae it took a little longer than I thought sourcing parts out of my screw and bolts bin lol.

I kinda rushed the controller placement and then thought better of it, that took a little time to figure out a better placement. Im headed to AutoZone today and get something that will wrap around the 1inch seat tube and mount the controller between the fender and seat tube. Much better than my first plan which was to stack the controller and battery on the rear rack.

Dan L.

 

[Danschutz]

No real progress yet Had a employee call in so I was at my shop from open till close and the next day helped a friend move.
I had 30 minutes of time to work on the bike yesterday and bought some tie straps (little u bolts) to attach the controller to the seat tube, it seems like a perfect fit. Im so close to getting things swapped its hilarious. Purchased some tubing to hide the wires, we'll see how that works out.

Dan L.

 

[BLUESTREAK]

HI DANSCHUTS: i was looking to see if you had made any progress on your bike conversion. I spoke earlier about the death wobble that I had encountered on putting a (9c) front motor on a (GIANT SIMPLE 7 BIKE). well I changed it to a (9C rear) motor and it works perfect with no wobble. I hope you have as good of success as I had with my new e-bike (or I should say my son's new bike.

 

[gogo]

The best, strongest step through frame design I've seen, has two sets of top and bottom tubes, so the rear stays just continue on to the head tube. Look for one of those if you want a strong one.

That kind of frame is called "mixte". It's stronger than a ladies' frame but not as strong as a traditional diamond frame. It was very popular in the early '80s and has come back into production from several sources. My shop sells mixte style bikes from Linus, Torker, and Soma.

In terms of triangles, the mixte looks stronger to me. If it isn't, it would be interesting to know how much stronger a 'diamond' (parallelogram) frame is. I'd guess the mixte could take more weight on the bottom bracket than the diamond frame.

I've seen a 70's huffy with a bend in the seat tube toward the rear tire where the top tube welded into it. There's also a video of some stunt rider beating the crap out of a similar step-though frame (non-mixte).

The Schwinn fork would be the perfect candidate for widening due to its flatness in that plane.I think Sheldon Brown's site has good instructions for the procedure. For a powered application I'd want to make sure the dropouts were parallel, and not splayed out.

RE: speed wobble
Its a common practice to retrofit tapered bearings in motorcycle 'headsets' to help with speed wobble. I wonder how difficult that would be for front wheel drive ebikes.

 

[Danschutz]

HI DANSCHUTS: i was looking to see if you had made any progress on your bike conversion. I spoke earlier about the death wobble that I had encountered on putting a (9c) front motor on a (GIANT SIMPLE 7 BIKE). well I changed it to a (9C rear) motor and it works perfect with no wobble. I hope you have as good of success as I had with my new e-bike (or I should say my son's new bike.

Progress is -S-L-O-W-

Works been interfering with my hobbies and when Im not staying late I need time with my grand daughter so its been a struggle. I was just talking to the wife this evening during dinner, (another 930 pm dinner) that I need to just make my own down time because free time isn't going to just happen lol.

Ive got the new fork on, wires in the harness, had to monkey with the wheel to get it to fit. Looks like my buddy I bought it from might of had the axle spin in the fork on the old bike because there was some thread damage to the axle so I have both washers on each side of the axle inside the fork and then just the nut tightened down on both sides. Is this good or dangerous?

Im horrible with brake cables so Ill be taking it to the same buddy I bought it from so he can show/help me with the new cables.

And that's my update
Dan L.