Is a 1985 Schwinn Tempo a good frame to do a full conversion on?

[j glenn]

Having poured over Bill Lindsay's Schwinn Tempo pictures, I jumped on a 1985 Tempo that came up locally.  The bike was rode hard and put away wet, so for $30, I have a nice frame that could really  use a strip and refinish.

   So I'm wondering if this frame is worth having a frame builder add cantilever posts to the frame and fork, as well as cold set for 130mm, dimple the Chainstays , and replace the down tube shifter mounts? All that and powder coating is going to add up to $500 pretty quick, so I'd like to hear some opinions before heading down this particular rabbit hole. Thanks Woody

[Scott Stulken]

I'm not an expert in things Schwinn, so I had to Google.  From what I'm gathering, your 1985 Tempo was a very similar offering to the 1987 Bianchi Sport SX I used for my conversion:  butted chromoly, but equipped with mid-grade components originally.  Both took a 26.6mm seat post and weighed out at 23 lbs per the catalog.  From this thread, I gather that Tenax would either be 0.9/0.6/0.9 or 1.0/0.7/1.0:  https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/792263-columbus-tenax-tubing-wall-thickness-80-s-schwinn.html  My Bianchi, according to T-Mar, would have been a mix of Tange 900 and 1000, meaning that it is also 0.9/0.6/0.9 or 1.0/0.7/1.0.  https://www.bikeforums.net/8527842-post14.html

As to your question, $500 *is* a bunch of money to dump into a frame of that level.  I've gone back and forth on whether to have any custom brazing done to my frame, or to put the equivalent money toward a custom frame with lighter tubing, and possibly vertical dropouts.  On the other hand, $530 for a decent frame, done up and powder-coated how you want, is not bad at the project level!

- Scott

[Christopher Roeleveld]

I did a conversion on the same bike (model & year) using long reach calipers. I’ve always liked how this bike rides and it has some sentimental value to me, being my first “real” bike – gifted to me by my high school track coach 20 years ago.
Anyway, my experience has left me with this conclusion:
The Tenax tubing is not bad, lively even, and the frame has some nice, albeit very modest, touches. The seatstay caps reach elegantly around the top tube. Unfortunately, this is obscured behind a pretty awful paintjob. Without a repaint it will always look a bit too Miami Vice for it’s own good. I got a very workmanlike powdercoat done in ‘08 and felt it was really worth it.

Personally, I think this frame is at the sweetspot for “experimental” home mods like dimpling and respacing. IMO, not worth the investment in having a pro get involved.

I run 650x42 Marathons without fenders. Had to file the dropouts to get the wheel back another few mm — it’s that tight. Dimpling is something I may try very soon...If i mess it up, I know I can find another sub $100 Tempo on CL.

I’ll try to find some pics.

[Tom Palmer]

Hi Woody,
I have a Schwinn Passage that is Tenax tubing and I like the way it rides very much. It is one of my favorite bikes, currently set up with for loaded touring but rides great unladen as well. If you are not hung up on the tubing sticker they are good and underrated bikes. I have a couple of Reynolds 531 bikes as well and not sure if they ride any better.
Tom Palmer
Twin Lake, MI

[Mark in Beacon]

I'd pick up a pair of Tektro 559 brakes for 40 bucks and ride it around for a while and see how this frame* works for you and your riding. (assuming you have a wheelset, which you will need at some point regardless. Plenty of stuff in the archives here on where to get a cheap set  of 650B wheels for this kind of experiment). If you love the ride, go ahead and go all fancy on it.

Otherwise, you have options in that price range. You can get a Black Mountain Road Plus for $170 more, if you don't mind discs (I do.) And I've seen some nice deals for complete 650B bicycles on this list that, once you account for the rest of the parts, are definitely in the $530 frame and fork price range.

* I had a lovely pink Schwinn Super Sport (later model from the 80s) with Tenax that, like others have said, rode nicely, if a bit staid. The rumors I've heard on the internet is that Schwinn bought a bunch of Columbus SP tubing that was not quite in spec, something like that.

[j glenn]

Assuming everyone on this forum is familiar with first world problems... I have a 531 Trek 400T Elance for my winter project.  It will be getting Tektro 559 brakes. It's in way better shape than the Tempo, so I'm not interested in doing any non reversible work on this frame.  The Tempo is pretty much  starting from a bare frame with rust issues so it would be a considerable project just to get it together enough to go for a test ride. So I'm soliciting opinions...  The way my projects go I may well have developed the skills to do my own brazing  by the time I can really  focus on this bike.   

[Alexander Shipp]

Woody,

I did a 650B conversion to the same frame last year. Running 38mm Pari-Motos with fenders, it rode pretty nice, although I do wish the trail would have been a bit lower. 

Considering that the biggest factor in whether I like a bike or not is how well it fits, I would just start there. The 1985 Tempo has a pretty steep seat tube angle at 74°. Will that work for you? I found it to be a bit too steep for my fit requirements (can't get the saddle far enough back), so when it developed a crack at the bottom bracket I was not heartbroken to move on to something different. Also, be aware that the 26.8mm seatpost diameter will limit your selection there.

The shifter mounts can be easily modified with a file and a M5 tap to accept standard shift levers or cable stops.

-Alex 

On Saturday, September 21, 2019 at 12:42:30 PM UTC-5, j glenn wrote:

[Christopher Roeleveld]

+1 on that annoying seat tube angle and post size.

[William Lindsay]

I'm touched that my conversion photos were an inspiration.  I paid a lot more than $30 for mine, and it was a time capsule: totally stock, essentially unridden.  There was even a paper note in Japanese found in the seat tube when I overhauled it.  Factory notes, I assume.

Anyway, I used the stock seatpost with the saddle slammed back.  I recall it was a 26.6mm, a truly inconvenient size.  If it actually was 26.8mm, that's easy to find.  My Tempo got stripped down to a frameset when I decided I was going to get canti-posts installed, but I haven't gotten around to doing it.  The frame is up in my attic right now. 

The entire 650B build kit from my Tempo found its way onto a Rossin frameset that I backed into on the ibob list.  I call her Blue Velvet: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/45758191@N04/shares/3641s6

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito CA

[Scott Stulken]

Kalloy Uno in 26.6mm size is lightweight and cheap at $17. There are FAR rarer seatpost sizes to contend with! :^D

- Scott

[Alexander Shipp]

I suppose I should have been more specific in what I was trying to express.

With the 74° seat tube angle, I was not able to find a post with enough offset in the 26.6mm size to make the frame really work for me. All of the high-offset seat posts I had found were in a 27.2mm diameter! And I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about putting one of those quick release adjustable MTB seatposts. I think they were the SR MTE-100?

-Alex 

[Scott Stulken]

Fair point!  I think it's dumb that non-TT bikes are sold with 74+ degree STA when most people don't want their saddles that far forward.  And smaller bikes should have smaller wheels, endy-story.  :^)

Those super-offset posts kinda scare me...

- Scott

[j glenn]

Thank you Gentlefolks,  I did not know that the Tempo's seat post angle was something to consider as far as bike fit.    For my saddle height, I believe that  a one degree change in seat post angle brings the seat forward 1/2 inch. I should be able to check my present bikes  set up and see how what range  of adjustment I will need to replicate the fit.   It dose sound like doing a partial restoration with Tektro's is the way to go too make sure the bike will fit and work for me.   Moving in that direction, can any one recommend a Headset? The Tange Falcon is impressively indexed.

[William Lindsay]

The headset on my 1985 Tempo was JIS. I selected a JIS Velo Orange rinko headset.