I drove all the way to Isanti for this beautiful treasure, a full chrome Schwinn Voyageur 11.8, made in Japan by Panasonic and purchased from Tonka Schwinn in 1980. The woman who sold it to me said her late husband rode it 30 miles every morning. It must have thousands of miles on it.
Every detail confirmed this is a very well ridden bike, beginning with the contents of the worn saddle bag that came with it--a few coins, spare tubes, a bent tire lever, a spoke wrench, screwdriver, and freewheel tool.
The bike itself is perhaps the dirtiest frame I've ever picked up. Caked with grease and actual sand. The original Avocet saddle was ripped and repaired with tape. Obviously ridden hard and very well loved. Unfortunately, the seatpost was well and truly stuck.
It took a series of escalating actions & brute force. Brute in this case refers to me, sweating profusely, standing astride my old Stanley Workmate bench twisting & pulling the frame. Cold is the best method when all else fails. Finally dry ice down the seat tube did the trick. Remember to grease your seatposts, kids!
With the seatpost off, I turned my attention to the chrome finish. Decals were in rough shape & original varnish topcoat is scratched & yellowed. So I stripped everything off with CitriStrip and scrubbed it with aluminum foil. Then I treated everything inside and out with rust dissolver. The chrome itself was in great shape and I preserved it with polish and wax.
Finally time to start bolting parts on! I bought an old Motobecane (another project!) with a honey Brooks saddle that cleaned up nicely. Swapped some Randonneur bars and wheels from a Miyata 610 (another project!). All of these bits needed polishing, too.
Then I completely disassembled and cleaned the Sakae triple cranks, replacing the 2 bigger chainrings because they were worn down to shark's teeth. Luckily, I found replacements in my parts drawer. Notice the groove from shoe rub on the arm. It's about 2mm deep, another testament to how many miles this bike was ridden.
I went with a rebuilt mid-80s Shimano Deore MT60 which should perform great (and so shiny!) I found a matching front derailleur at the wonderful Express Bikes for $10. The tires are Panaracer Pasela PTs on 27" Araya rims. Tan Walls!
And here's the finished bike! It rides great and it's so shiny! To me, it's proof that a well-made steel bike can last for many many years and many thousands of miles. Let me know what what you think.
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