angel wings (Super Sport)






Schwinn Super Sport SP, 1983. Japanese-made, perhaps Panasonic or Nishiki. The new paint is in the original two-tone scheme.
SR Sakae "custom"
Tange fork, Tange Royal headset (original).
Dura-Ace FH-7403, Mavic Open Pro rim, 32 spokes.
Dura-Ace FH-7403 eight-speed hubset, Mavic Open Pro rim, 36 spokes. Dura-Ace cluster.
Sugino Aero Mighty (original), Autex self-extracting crank bolts (original), Shimano sealed bottom bracket.
Serfas Cosmos seat, Dura-Ace post
Sugino Aero Mighty pedals (NOS) with custom platforms, MKS toe clips (NOS, modified), SRAM chain
Suntour Cyclone II front (original), Superbe Pro rear (NOS); Suntour downtube shifters (original).
Royal Compe; Shimano Dura-Ace.
Honjo fenders.
Here's my 1983 Schwinn Super Sport SP in the middle of its post-rebuild inaugural ride on September 13, 2008. I've had this bike for a dozen years, having bought it second-hand in San Francisco in 1996. Liked the better-than-average components and clean lugwork, but bottom line, needed a bike. Rode it hard for a decade and grew to love it. In the end, though, I got just what I deserved for having treated it so roughly -- a cracked bottom-bracket shell. "It's dumpster food," one guy said of the frame, but I refused to give the bike up. Eventually found someone who was willing to do the work (thanks, Toby!), and the end result was, at least to me, beautiful. Spent three months finding parts and building it up, and here it is. Am particularly fond of the Honjo aluminum fenders -- they're just the right touch -- and having saved the original California bike licenses. Have subsequently discovered that the Super Sport SP was just one notch below Schwinn's top of the line for that year, the Superior.