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Hi all! Just pulled my Schwinn Homegrown FS out of the garage… where it’s been hangin’ for quite a while. I bought this I believe back in 1995, and took very good care of her. I rode her for about 5 years… then daddy and hubby duties made me put her aside. I would occasionally hitch the Burley to the bike and take my daughters out on a stroll. When they were old enough I bought them their bikes and we rode around… but my aging body could not take the riding angles any longer, so I bought a beach cruiser and put my Homegrown out to pasture. This past week my friend invited me to ride the riverbed trails nearby. I wanted to take my Homegrown but was afraid I’ld be very uncomfortable on this 40 mile ride, so I took my beach cruiser (it has 7 speeds). Well I was comfortable, but I wanted to keep up with the pelotons and was unable. Now I’m thinking of selling my Homegrown and buying a hybrid bike (fast and comfortable) or replacing the stem on my Homegrown with a high angled stem so I can have a more comfortable riding angle. I’m leaning on keeping the Homegrown, so please give me any other ideas on mods I can do to have a more comfortable riding position on my Homegrown. Appreciate all your ideas. Here’s a pic of my Homegrown… it is OG! Let me know what you all think!
How tall are you?
I’m 6’1″ and ride a 19″ frame like you do. I’ll assume you’re within an inch of my height. I keep my seat much lower than you – about equal in height with my grips. Additionally, the stem you have on there is really long. Assuming you have the original 22″ wide bars, your cockpit is really tall, long and narrow – not a good combination for any comfort. I’d highly recommend lowering the seat until you have a slight bend in your knee at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Put a stem on which is under 100mm (I like around 75-80mm) and put a wider bar on with has some rise (I run 28″ wide, 1.5″ rise bars). Finally, really consider upgrading your fork. First, it doesn’t work very well, and second, it’s very short and is lowering the front of your bike even more. Install something with 100mm of travel. These changes will transfer your bike from an uncomfortable, twitchy ride, to a comfortable and stable bike you can ride all day.
Now, assuming you’re taller than 6’2″, the frame you have is simply too small. I’d recommend selling it and buying something the correct size for you. If you DO end up selling it, please let me know.
Yours is definitely a 1995. That was the only year for the small pivot. They switched from angular contact bearings to bushings and a larger pivot tube for the later models.
Zoltan nailed the fit issues. To help keep up with your friends you could also go with some semi-slick or full-on slick tires that you can run at a higher pressure and will have a fair amount less rolling resistance.
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