Here's my new old winter ride, a late '80s or early '90s Schwinn Sierra. Got it dead stock and barely used for next to nothing. It's a first- or second-generation mountain bike, not high end by any means, but it has some nice details: fastback seat lug, forged ends, sloping fork crown. Took it down to the bare frame, got one of the fork's cantilever bosses brazed (thanks, Toby at HotTubes!), applied Frame Saver, then built it back up. Rebuilt the hubs (they had the original grease, which was more like adhesive than lubricant); narrowed the stock integrated bar/stem; upgraded the bottom bracket and brakes; put on Continental tires; added fenders, mud flap, and racks.

This is a cargo/commuting bike, so so the idea was to make it as solid, reliable, and capable as possible. Boston has just a few hills, so having 12 speeds was fine. Racks were essential, so it got both rear (Tubus) and front (Nitto). As we get into winter I'll see how heavily I can load her up.

Here's everything else:

Handlebars and Stem: integrated steel "bullmoose" bar and stem, no name.
Fork: Stock steel, with forged sloping fork crown. The crown is amazing, and was done in the days when mountain bikes were just beefed-up road bikes.
Wheels: "Made in Japan" hubs with high, solid flanges; Araya rims.
Crankset and bottom bracket: Sugino double crankset, Shimano sealed bottom bracket.
Saddle and seat post: Serfas Cosmos saddle, generic seat post.
Pedals, chain, gears: old MKS road pedals with toe clips, SRAM chain, six-speed 14-28 Shimano freewheel. The new chain and freewheel totally transformed the shifting; before it was like a '52 Dodge.
Derailleurs, shifters: Shimano Deore XT cantilevers (the last generation before V-brakes), stock Shimano shifters and derailleurs (rear just has the profile of a mountain, no model name, but seems like one step down from a first-generation Deore).
Battle gear: Tubus and Nitto racks, SKS fenders, Continental Town & Country tires.

leightonwalter@yahoo.com