Heavy Duti

About 90% finished, for the time being anyhow, this is my 1967 Schwinn Heavy Duti cruiser bike. I bought the frame (and some tires,) at a garage sale and have restored it to what is called "Period Appropriate" for the genre. Besides an extensive clean up, lube, and tune-up, there are new pedals, a new Schwinn seat and seat post, sparkle grips, "dice" tire valve covers, a mini-license plate, and a rear hub-shiner with red reflector.

It rides incredible smoothly. But it weighs a ton, and frankly with those fat tires, it ought to be smooth



These Heavy Duti cruisers, built by Schwinn in the 60s and 70s (as near as I can tell,) were used mostly in factories and oil fields to haul parts around, say from one end of a factory to another. Some paperboys rode them, but there were so many other choices of fancier and lighter bikes at the time, that it was a rarer occurrence.

I've thought about fenders, but kind of like the stripped down, rat-rod look. Plus the fenders would only add weight. Looking for a Schwinn head-badge that is age appropriate, and I'm done. I think.

I like the cruiser mentality about bikes. I like old things and this fits in with my interests. There is a culture around these bikes that is based on the idea that we're saving elements of our history. I have a road bike, but i don't ride it very often. I don't particularly care for the road bike culture. It's based on athleticism and speed, which is more than kind of antithetical to the cruiser bike culture. Which is about going slow. And making use of the cup holder on your bike. Preferably for beer. Not that drinking and driving is encouraged.

In Colorado where I live, the cyclists, those road bicyclists in their logo-covered, lime green Spandex, with their $5000 carbon fiber whatevers, seem to feel a sense of entitlement about the right of way. I've had packs of them literally force my bike off the road without so much as a "How do you do?" They are in some part, large or small depending on your point of view and mine tends toward the large, douchebags. They swarm here. And are a growing lobbying force, recently having forced the passing of laws favorable to their cause, e.g., that cars must stay three-feet away from them, and that they can ride two abreast. They demand more and more space on the roads, yet pay no share of the taxes. Sadly, they won't be going away any time soon. The fact that their heroes, the pro riders, are being proven to be craven, doped up cheaters, doesn't surprise me in the least.

And so I ride my $700 road bike to post office. And ride my cruiser on the bike paths, happy to have pulled a piece of American history out of the dust bin. And to have gotten its shiny chrome rims spinning again.

Here's an earlier pic, just when i got it running.