Coupla Classic Schwinns

My family grew up riding Schwinns.  So did most Americans, I assume.  Through the 70s and until the mid- to late-80s, it was Schwinns, Huffys, or something fancy.  And we were definitely not fancy.

(More on Huffys here.)

For reasons too complex to go into in depth, I am ogling classic Schwinns recently.  Sam and I collaborated on this one, found in a basement in Durango in October, for Mom.  It replaced an identical (if from a different year) version she had stolen earlier this year.  We paid $240; this was a $100-dollar bike in 1973.  So we got it at a discount.

Schwinn Suburban.  This appears to be from 1975.  Mom's earlier version was gold, from 1973.

Not done yet with classics, I have been on eBay.  I recently found a mid-'80s Schwinn World Traveler.  Which I rode at about that time.

Schwinn World Traveler in gray.

Mine was a deep red, sort of the color of the Gunnar repaint.  The bar tape is not original -- the World Traveler had a foam cover on the bars.  I may try to fix that, although give the seller credit -- that red tape works.  This one, being shipped next week from Wisconsin, is going on the wall in the Indy condo.

Finally, I have been simply drooling over this bike:

1973 Schwinn Paramount in silver mist.

A 1973 Schwinn Paramount, Schwinn's top of the line race bike from that period.  That is a full Campy Nuevo Record group.  If you want to swoon, go to the listing at eBay zoom in on those chrome lugs.  If you inspect the Schwinn catalog from that period, you will find that this was listed for sale at $450, or something like $2500 with inflation.