The Chainlink

An Ode to the Suburban (and the chance to convince me to buy a new bike)

Everybody here on the Chainlink loves an animated discussion, don’t they?

I’m a fan of my Schwinn Suburbans.  My wife picked me one up 3-4 years ago, and it is what got me started cycling again.  I decided early on that I needed to ride at least  a thousand miles before even considering a new bike.  Once the thousand miles was up, I figured I would go for two thousand.  After that, I thought it was a good idea to see how much the ride improved after an overhaul.  Last summer, I picked up a second one, potentially for parts, but it quickly turned into a spare.  By now, I have about 7000 miles on the first one, and 1000 miles on the spare.

My biggest problem?  Convincing bicycle mechanics that I actually do want to spend money on the bike, if I have worn out a part.

 

My favorite things:

1)      Pretty darn bulletproof.  It takes a lot to make one stop running.  In all that riding, I’ve only had one breakdown where I needed to call for the dreaded pickup.  That breakdown was all my fault, and the root causes will never happen again.

2)      Full coverage fenders and dork disc.  I work in semi-casual environment, but the bike has never damaged anything except for previously frayed shoelaces.  I really, really, like the fenders.

3)      Versatility.  I transition from road to trail, without a care.

4)      Very few worries about theft.

5)      A solid, forgiving frame.

6)      I always have a backup lighting system

7)      The vintage, cool, contrarian factor.

8)      Those few opportunities that I can sneak up on a tired group of roadies at the end of their ride, and hang with them for several miles, to their great consternation.

My problems:

1)      Five hours of riding only takes me 50-60 miles.

2)      Difficulty of finding quality replacement components, and then convincing a mechanic that replacing them is what I really want to do.

3)      Sooner or later, my knees, my riding style, and the weight of the bicycle are going to come to an unfortunate intersection.

4)      It is not exactly fun to load on a bus rack, or carry up and down the stairs into the basement of the building.

Really, the only bikes that have been speaking to me to replace the Suburban are steel touring bikes like the Surly LHT, Novara Randonee, and Jamis Aurora.  Or maybe a Schwinn Super Sport…

 

But I am at least tempted at the moment, and willing to carry on animated discussion with anyone who wants to convince me.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tim Heckman on March 15, 2014 at 7:14pm
Test rode a Randonee, Long Haul Trucker, and a Cross Check today. Sleeping on it, but seriously thinking of the Cross Check.
Permalink Reply by john eminhizer on March 15, 2014 at 8:21pm

And the throw away culture wins another round...

I'll be over here in the corner beating another bike back to working order, happy.

Permalink Reply by Hey! Bike Shop Guy on March 16, 2014 at 11:01am

Please explain how this is an example of 'throw away culture?'

john eminhizer said:

And the throw away culture wins another round...

I'll be over here in the corner beating another bike back to working order, happy.

Permalink Reply by Mike Bullis 5.5-6.5 miles on March 16, 2014 at 12:02pm

Little late here, but I agree with mike. w. on this. If you like it, ride it.

And, somewhat with DUG. If you can't find the proprietary parts, upgrade. Standardization is your friend. And some folks seem to think 'Schwinn Approved' means they can charge more.

I have a mucho spendy Rivendell in my stable but find I enjoy my 62 year old, 2 speed Monark for my ride to work.* Except for the hills, it's a fun ride that takes me back to my youth.

*Truth be told, I actually prefer my 35 year old Honda to anything else for riding to work.

Permalink Reply by Bailey Gene Newbrey on March 16, 2014 at 6:35pm

I skimmed the discussion, so I do apologize if I'm merely echoing what others have previously stated, but I often say that I'd put a one piece crank and friction stem shifters on every bike if I could. It'll never ride particularly well, but it'll ride forever and be easy to service.

Permalink Reply by Gecko on March 17, 2014 at 9:20am

It would be one thing if he was throwing away a perfectly good piece of quality engineering, but he's not.

1.  He's not throwing it away

2.  It's heavy, outdated, and completely ill-matched to the type of riding he does with it.  It's like driving a 70's Chevy around everywhere.  It's too heavy, it gets terrible gas mileage, and sure, it's cool and vintage and it will most likely last FOREVER, but you'll get places quicker, more safely, and more efficiently in a newer car.  Same with the bike.  Notice how few people here are advocating buying something BRAND-NEW.

3.  When the inevitable happens and your bike that you've "beat back to working order" fails catastrophically, no one here will be surprised.

Everyone needs the right tool for the job, and most people prefer quality tools to cheap, poorly designed junk.

john eminhizer said:

And the throw away culture wins another round...

I'll be over here in the corner beating another bike back to working order, happy.

Permalink Reply by Tim Heckman on March 17, 2014 at 11:14am

I'm almost afraid I would like the Velo Orange bicycle too much... BikeFix is my closest local shop as well. 

It is still likely I will settle on the Cross Check, both to suit my riding style, which has been described in another thread as agressive, and because it appears to be the bike that become anything.

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on March 17, 2014 at 3:21pm

If you're too aggressive on your commute there's a good chance you'll have a wreck.  Glad the Cross Check seems like a good replacement, though.  Just take it easy and don't end up in the missed connections thread!

Permalink Reply by Tim Heckman on March 18, 2014 at 7:30pm

You will all laugh at me-- I still haven't upgraded my bike, but in the process of looking for a better bike for my wife than her 5-speed Suburban, I found and acquired this bike.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on March 18, 2014 at 8:26pm

Yep, that bike is superior in every possible way.

AM 9.5 said:

Hard to tell from the photo, but I would hazard to guess that this is an imported Schwinn, manufactured by Panasonic or Giant.  Those are decent quality frames and they use more fungible parts that should be easy to swap when worn.

Tim Heckman said:

You will all laugh at me-- I still haven't upgraded my bike, but in the process of looking for a better bike for my wife than her 5-speed Suburban, I found and acquired this bike.

Permalink Reply by Tim Heckman on March 18, 2014 at 8:45pm

Serial number indicates it is an '85 Traveler, with a  4130 CroMo frame (and a sticker that says the frame was made in the United States).  It fits my wife, not me, but I was pleased to find it.

Permalink Reply by Tim Heckman on March 29, 2014 at 9:17pm
Pulled the trigger today on a Cross Check from my LBS. It should be in my hands on Wednesday.

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