Melinda's new/old ride

Last March Melinda and I bought brand new cruisers from our local bike shop. After a couple of rides around the neighborhood Melinda decided that she didn't like hers and she wanted a pale yellow bike without flowers. I had heard that Dave down at Norris bicycles would take an old Schwinn of you choice from his huge collection of rusted heaps and restore it back to it's original state or what ever crazy custom creation you could think up. I suggested to Melinda that we sell her new cruiser and go talk to Dave about starting up a project.

I called up my sister Beth who had been talking about wanting a new cruiser and struck a deal. The next day we were off to Norris bicycles. It didn't take Melinda long to find what she wanted and the color had to be pale yellow. She picked out a Schwinn Breeze from either the 1960's or 70's, we're not sure exactly but I plan on doing a little more research soon. I should have snapped some pics of it when it was complete but I forgot the camera.

I managed to make it back a few days later and snap this photo which is one a of a few that I've posted before.

Here is the frame shortly after Dave finished painting it. I'll have to say he did a pretty good job for someone who has set up a make shift paint booth at home. We could have probably got a better job done somewhere else but the overall cost of the restoration couldn't be beat. It didn't turn out to be the pale yellow Melinda wanted but she knew that going into the process. Dave told her that the finished product rarely comes out looking exactly like the swatch in his catalog. The swatch was labeled "creme" which is what it looks like in my opinion.

After a couple of months, (Dave's original quote - 2 weeks) lol, Melinda finally got the call, it was finished.

Here is a pic of the original 3 speed Sturmey Archer shifter.

The original Sturmey Archer 3 spd. internal hub. Dave completely torn it down and rebuilt it. It actually feels like a new one.

This is the original child seat that was on the bike when Melinda picked it out.

Here is what it looks like after Dave transformed it into a sweet rack with wooden slats.

I was pretty impressed with the turn out. Most of the bike is completely original except for the seat, grips, pedals and tires. The seat and grips were still in decent condition but since they were red they had to go. Now all we lack is to get some new decals to put on it.

She did take it for a spin down on Kingsport's Greenbelt and it road as smooth as silk.