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Comment by soulofmischief | Hacker News Reader

Oh, I wish. Unfortunately a nasty accident bent my steel tube beyond repair due to structural integrity concerns, and I still have yet to find a bike I've felt so at one with... This one was an early 80's Schwinn before the Chicago plant shut down and it's hard to find the exact kind I like.

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There's nothing like those lugged Schwinn frames for building beaters. There was a period when some were built in Mississippi, and others in Japan. I've got a couple of those frames, and they're a great raw material.

They simply do not make them like they used to. Not after '83. Those frames were a real triumph of human engineering.

What would it take to make them again?

Would it just cost too much?

I think lack of demand, and a fragmenting of the component standards, are hurdles. Those old Schwinn (and other brand) frames were made during a time period when there was a lot of interchangeability, and most spare parts are still available. Today, standards for things like bottom brackets change every three years. There's no part on my 1985 frame, that I can't replace today, cheaply.

I can get a brand new lugged steel frame that would be perfect for my use -- a Surly Cross-Check. Seriously the only deterrent is a minor injury has forced me to re-think what my future needs are for geometry. I may need to adopt a more "comfort" posture. Better than not riding. Sucks to get old.

Despite my above comment, and thinking about it more, I want my next bike to be modern in the sense of accommodating fenders and much wider tires. I need horizontal dropouts and to be able to set the rear dropout spacing, to accommodate an internal gear hub (IGH).

>Today, standards for things like bottom brackets change every three years.

Your comment is almost a decade out-of-date. Everyone these days has mostly converged on the same threaded BB standard for all but the highest-end bikes. Those press-fit BBs caused too many problems.

I would encourage you to get in touch with a reputable custom frame builder and describe your situation and requirements. The local shop I use has been in business for nearly 50 years, and they use components that I can best describe as "tried and true." A bike they built for me in 2014 is something that I can still fully service myself with commonly-available parts and tools.

Meanwhile I damaged a thru-axle of a high-end big-name brand bike (rhymes with "wreck") I bought 2 years ago, and they told me that they no longer stock that part because it's "obsolete" (!)

> Seriously the only deterrent is a minor injury has forced me to re-think what my future needs are for geometry

A Cross Check with a flat or alt bar and 30 mm of spacers underneath? That or the Soma Doublecross without all the spacers. The main triangle and the fork are build from heat treated Tange Prestige tubes like some of the ATB frames of the '80s and '90s, unlike the Surlys which are built from utilitarian 4130 chromoly. Or the new Disc Trucker with extended head tube and the new Truck Stop riser drop bars. They shortened the chainstays and it no longer rides like barge unloaded, like the previous model.

https://somafab.blogspot.com/2020/10/soma-double-cross-signi...

That's purdy. I see what you mean about the geo.

I went through the same hurdles after an accident some ten years ago, built several bikes in the meantime including a classic road bike with somewhat similar geometry to the Cross Check, which I knew was not for me. Turns out that it's manageable, although I would probably not use it for a 100k trip. My current go everywhere bike is similar in geometry to the Double Cross, but it's aluminium.

Buy the 1972 model I have.

You can always get a lugged custom steel frame, especially in the US. It isn't going to be a bargain, but it will be specially taylored for your body. Otherwise there's Crust, All-City, Rivendell or other quality brands. Or Surly if you want the cheaper overbuilt stuff. See the links below for inspiration.

https://bluelug.com/bike-catalog https://www.lafraisecycles.com/bikes

Depending on how much sentimental value the bicycle has for you, how much you're willing to pay, and how long you're willing to wait, there are places that will repair your frame. One reason why steel touring/travel bikes are so popular is that you can often find workshops that can repair them when you're in some random city and in a bind. I got a nasty dent in my top tube on one of my ultralight chromoly steel bikes. While the dent didn't compromise the frame integrity because of its location, it marred an otherwise gorgeous bike. The shop that originally built the bike for me cut the tube out, welded in a new one, and repainted.

Relevant Sheldon Brown article of course:

"they are welded, not brazed. [...] There are necked-down parts that fit into the top tube and down tube, like internal lugs."

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chicago-schwinns.html

Oh man I had a bright metallic green Varsity as a kid. That was a great bike and I really regret getting rid of it, or rather abandoning it at my parent's house when I went off to college, and they got rid of it :(

traveler or le tour? i had a traveler from 1981, until around 1996 when it was stolen off a bike rack on campus despite being locked up.

Le tour. The traveler is a great bike too. That settles it, this year I'm going to set aside time to search deeply for a new le tour that speaks to me...

totally totally agree. they were great. my traveler was the same age as your le tour, worked great until stolen from a bike rack by the campus police in a noob mistake, and sold at auction, in 1996 or so, in a big ten campus. i later saw it, totally beat up, locked at the engineering library. (like i alluded to above)

i saved up and bought a titanium litespeed and it's fantastic (for me anyway). i think Lynskey is also great (they're the family that started litespeed, which they spun off to an american investor group, so basically bifurcated with two tennessee-made names for the same group of engineers.

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