I finished this Schwinn ladies bike Sunday evening. I took it apart Friday night. Then I worked on it all day Saturday. And about 6 or 7 hours Sunday. And (maybe for the first time) I had ordered all the parts in advance. So this was like a marathon build. It was never intended to be a rush job. Things just kind of fell into place. What a refreshing change. This Schwinn has the Shimano Integer FF system. Which is kind of cool and weird at the same time. The idea was (I`m guessing here ) to build a bike that you could shift while coasting "like a 3 speed bike." That`s what this system allows the rider to do. Instead of the rear cassette free wheeling. It is fixed meaning the gears spin with the wheel "no matter what". And the free-wheel unit is built into the bottom bracket assembly. The only problem with being able to shift a ten speed while coasting is. Nobody gave a S#!&. In other words there was no real demand. Eventually it just faded away. This is the 2nd Schwinn with the FF system bike I have rebuilt. And I`ll tell you what, It is kind of cool! Especially the first time you run across one. At first I thought the free wheel cassette was seized up. Then I was mess`n with the crank and noticed I could spin it backwards while the rear wheel was spinning frontwards. Then it hit me! That`s why the rear gears don`t free-wheel! They`re not supposed too! Well I could not wait to tell my friend Cameron at old ten speed gallery . com about my incredible find. Of course he knew exactly what it was. And then told be that a few had been featured on OTSG. Well these things came out in the early 1980`s And at that time I was into the motorcycle thing quite heavy.
Above: That was me "Rebel without a clue"...ltms. I stopped riding after I lost most of the sight in my right eye. So that is my excuse for not knowing what a Shimano Integer FF system was. And I`m sticking to it! Ride Safe. And Remember to always...RESCUE, RESTORE & RECYCLE
Cheers,Hugh
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