Why a Schwinn?

Some may wonder why I decided to build my TT bike using a 5-6 year old Schwinn aluminum frame. Price definitely had something to do with it - the Factory frame was an absolute steal when I purchased it. But I had some prior knowledge of and experience with Schwinn bikes, not only the Factory, but also the 2001 Super Sport I've photographed for this post. (It has the distinction of being the 'trainer bike' during the winter months.)
When I decided to buy a bicycle in February of 2002 after not having one for 20 years or so, the closest bike store to my apartment was a Schwinn store. (It was also a landscape business.) I bought a 2002 Sierra hybrid bike with 700c wheels, smooth but large tires, z-brakes and twist shifters. I was, at that time, put off by the idea of 'skinny tires' and drop bars although my last bike had been a standard 1970s style ten speed. I enjoyed riding the Sierra that spring and started to get interested in both touring and trying a sprint triathlon. It was during a 36-mile 'Tour de Cure' that I started to see the real limitations of the hybrid. No matter how hard I tried, I could keep up with the road bikes, even rolling downhill. That bike was just plain slower. (I had no idea about how chainring and cassette sizes came into play at this point, it was simply the difference in rolling speed that I noticed.) About a week before my first ever triathlon, I stopped back at the Schwinn store to look at the 3 road bikes they had when I bought the Sierra. To the credit of the original bike salesman, he tried to get me to buy a road bike - he must have seen something in me that told him I wouldn't be satisfied with the hybrid. At this point, in early June, the road bike stock was down to 1. (It wasn't a very large dealer in a fairly competitive city; I imagine they sold far more hybrids or cruisers than anything else.) The original guy I bought the Sierra from wasn't there and had been replaced by two people who I guessed were mountain bike riders as they seemed to know very little about road bikes. When I asked about size, they assured me that medium, which was what the one road bike was, would be fine. I was given an explanation of how to shift with STI levers, took the bike for a spin in the parking lot and bought it. While it wasn't the fastest, best, lightest (ha!) or even state of the art (quill stem; 8 speed Sora components with Tektro brakes) for its time, it was a comfortable, faster (esp compared to the Sierra), reliable, seemingly well built bike that took me through my first season of sprint triathlons/duathlons and some progressively longer touring rides (longest that season was just under 80 miles). I didn't have any great triathlon results, but can't blame the bike; my mediocre running and awful swimming had a lot to do with that. I did have an age group win in a late season duathlon, largely thanks to much improved running as well as the extremely hilly bike course kept the pace down overall. Even after replacing this bike with a Dura Ace equipped (9 speed) with carbon fork and chainstays (that is pounds and pounds lighter) I still like the 'feel' of the Schwin Super Sport, and have found it especially well suited for riding with clip on aero bars and a Profile Design Fast Forward seatpost. It has a compact frame with a sloping top tube and sometimes I think it is faster than my good bike, and not just at rolling downhill. So, when deciding to build a bike just for time trial/triathlon riding, I wanted something more similar to the Super Sport in size and shape. The Schwinn Factory frame doesn't have quite as much slope in the top tube, but is more similar than different when compared to the Super Sport. I didn't really want an all carbon bike; still have mixed feelings about going that direction. While weight is important, at a certain level it becomes a little less significant for me as I have averaged about 110 lb in weight and sometimes, especially in high wind, I like to feel a solid amount of bicycle weight under me. Still, my good bike is just over 17 lbs (unencumbered by water bottles and the seat bag with tools and tire change gear I carry) and I'm not expecting my TT bike to build up to be much different than that. And, I took the advice I've seen a few times and put way (waaaay) more money into the wheels than the frame.
Next post: pieces and parts.