meet your idol - Schwinn Straight 8?

bluechair84

It's going second hand for £560 from America and I'm feeling a little bit like there's a beautiful girl across the bar I might just go say hello to...

The Schwinn Straight 6 was my dream bike as a teenager - same frame as the straight 8, just with a longer stroke shock in, same frame as the Yeti which won a load of races. I think what made it even more special was the 1950s style brochure with pictures of then 'futuristic' space ships, rocket men and aliens.

However I've never ridden one. I very nearly bought one a few years back that came with three rear triangles. I decided it muist have been thrashed to have so many spare parts :shock:

So is this bike an example of - never meet your idols? The Lawill suspension patent isn;t used any more and I would love a DH bike to compliment with Trail and HT bikes...

nicklouse

first thoughts are it is a very heavy build. more of a huckers build than a DH build.

I would leave the wheels behind (Heavy). I would also leave the forks behind (heavy and flexy)

the saddle and stem and bars or stupid.

the only thing to check is the rear wheel OLD and does it come with a floating brake mount as it may be prudent to have the rear wheel if the hub is not an easy buy.

bluechair84

yeah all true... Might ask if he'll split the bike up as I have suitable wheels and build. 1x9 setup maybe. Just need forks.

nicklouse

some 888' would be good and about half the weight.

bluechair84

DH gear is totally new to me. It would depend on what second hand things I'd spot on ebay. I plan on doing a week at Glencoe / Fort Bill this summer, and potentially a trip to the Alps.



It's either a DH bike build or an LDV Pilot Camper so I can spend a bit more time loitering around Innerleithan...

Anonymous

bluechair84 wrote:

yeah all true... Might ask if he'll split the bike up as I have suitable wheels and build. 1x9 setup maybe. Just need forks.

Are you sure you've got a set of wheels that would work? Some of the old DH bikes had very peculiar rear hub needs.

nicklouse

got a bigger picture?

what size rims are they?

24"?

bluechair84

uuuur what???

I hadn't considered the Straight 8 / 6 as needing a specific hub. I can't find specs for the 8 but the 6 took a 26 rim. The picture is from craigs list and is as big as it gets, but i'll email the seller n see what he comes back with.

Don't suppose any BR peeps ever rode one did they?

nicklouse

no but I have seen a few of the range.

and the reason I ask about the rims is that the front tyre look like a 3" which got me thinking about the sizes.

the rear was 150mm I think and I know Schwinn did floating brakes on some frames as an option. (if not all)

see here



wheels



maybe a 3 on a 26"