Finding that perfect something at a garage sale brings much more happiness to me than is probably due. Regardless, when I stumbled upon a Schwinn World Sport for $10, I was hooked. I decided to build this bike up as a modern-multispeed bullorn commuter and reuse as many parts as I could from the original bike and make the total customization cost as low as possible.
I wanted to replicate the appearance of the neon yellow frame accents in the handlebars to create a better color balance for the build. Modifying an online bicycle configurator to my design concept allowed me to easily visualize the success of final product.
In keeping with the flea market mentality, I rebuilt rather than replaced as many components as possible. I swapped out components in the wheelset so that I could use the original chromed steel rims. I repacked the bearings in the bottom bracket and reused the crankset. Even though the original shifters functioned properly, upgrading the shifters were key to this build. After some research, I found that Shimano A050 shifters were perfect for this customization project. They are bullhorn compatible indexed shifters that allowed me to use a new 7 speed freewheel on the existing wheelset, but also keep compatibility with the 2 speed front derailleur. An ideal fit.
My first iteration of the bike did not include replacing the rear derailleur, however, the new indexed shifting was incompatible with the old derailleur and required an upgrade. Unfortunately, the necessary upgrades raised the cost of this project higher that desired. Each component was bought separately, and I lost out on any option for quantity discount. The next build will need to have components purchased in bulk in order to be cost effective.