Worked as a mechanic at a large Schwinn shop in the 1980s. Working there helped me pay for college at NIU. Did tons of tuneups, laced up hundreds of sets of wheels, overhauled the three-speed coaster brakes, two-speed kickbacks, and every make of coaster brake. Straightened forks and frames, and assembled many top-of-the-line Paramounts with Campy components. This was the time when carbon fiber and aluminum frames were coming into the spotlight. I loved the work and the challenges of each repair. We would compete to see who could bring a tacoed wheel back to perfect alignment. It was a great gig. I’m still friends with some of my coworkers from back then. Bicycles have always fascinated me. It takes 20 minutes to walk a mile, but only a few minutes to ride one. Amazing engineering.
With the help of my colleagues, I built one of the first mountain bikes in Illinois. We based it on the Marin County “Mountain Bikes” that were becoming popular in California. We used a Schwinn King Sting frame and 26” BMX rims. I would ride it on NIU campus. No one had ever seen anything like it. By the late 1980s, mountain bikes were ubiquitous. That bike is owned by a colleague and is in as new condition.
Really love your story KingLudd. When I was a soph in high school my brother and I took out a book from the school library titled The Complete Book of Bicycling by Eugene Sloane. Between the two of us we had the book checked out for most of the school year 1973-74.
Both of us used the instructions in the book to lace up our own wheels, mine were Mavic tubular rims with Campy high flange hubs. All I have now from that build is the front wheel campy hubs, I think the rear wheel (as well as my fishing pole) was stolen from our barn when I was away at college. I only used those wheels on a limited basis because as you know fixing tubular flats was/is a pain.
I have this real desire to build and really learn how to make quality wheel sets. I also would like to restore a mid 70s era steel road bike, 531 double butted, all campy machine.