A Little Bendix Coaster Brake Maintenance on a Schwinn Stingray

For some odd reason, probably nostalgia, I picked up a vintage Schwinn Stingray from the 70s.  While it has been a work in progress to restore this American made gem, I figured I would perform some routine maintenance that probably has not been performed in 40 years.

 

The headset, bottom bracket and front axle are a piece of cake.  The only part that really confounded me was disassembly, cleaning and lubing the Mexican made Bendix 70 coaster brake.  The earlier Bendix coasters were American made and say so on the brake arm.

Bendix 70 Coaster Brake made in Mexico

Another view of the Bendix 70

I figured before one of my kids tried out the Stingray, I'd better get it in working order.  I could tell by my own turing of the pedals and crank that it was rough and grinding.

Searching the Internet I found exploded views of everything but the Bendix 70 coaster brake.  Even consulting a 1970s edition of "Glenn's Complete Bicycle Manual" by Clarence Colmes and Harold Glenn yielded no success of this particular model.  I even tried the later edition of the book "Glenn's New Complete Bicycle Manual" revised and updated by John Allen.

Glenn's was the go-to book in the 70s for anything Schwinn.  Although an unofficial repair manual, if you wanted to do-it-yourself repair of your Schwinn in the 70s this was the book to own.

However, little did I know that I had the key to the castle hidden in my own bookshelf for over 30 years.  Yes, tucked away was the Fourth Edition of John W. McFarlane's "It's Easy To Fix Your Bike."

While I never experimented with repairing my own 10-speed following McFarlane's guidance as a kid, thumbing through 30+ years later to find repair instructions for the Bendix 70 was thrilling.

I could not believe my find.  Not only does McFarlane have an exploded view of the Bendix 70 with all the parts, on the pages that follow he takes you through the disassembly and assembly step-by-step.

McFarlane's pages on Bendix Coaster Brakes

There I had it, identification of each part and how they go together.  Not a bad thing to have when restoring a vintage bicycle when you don't know what you will find inside the brake hub.

Biking On Christmas All Is Calm

Who would think a Tuesday morning in Miami would be quiet?

Well if it is Christmas morning you bet it is quiet.  Not many are stirring so early.  Probably a lot of partying on Noche Buena keeping most in bed.

All is quite in the neighborhood

Well a bike ride on the perfect South Florida day is a delight with barely any traffic, on a weekday.  And not to mention a clear day with temperature in the high 50s who can resist.

Leaving for our journey from the Dadeland area Dixie Highway a/k/a US-1 is quiet today so it will be a piece of cake to cross to the west side to board Metrorail.  We are biking to the Dadeland South Metrorail station to catch the train to our starting point downtown.

US-1 Dadeland Area

Arriving at the Dadeland South Metrorail Station we were greeted by the security guard who helped us purchase the one way fare to Government Center which is the starting point for our ride south.

Boarding the Train

Up the elevator, there were two trains to choose from.  Hmm we just took the orange line train.  We were not the only cyclists on the train as another cycler joined us.

Once on board we stored the bikes in the marked cargo area and waited for the train to depart, which was a while.  We practically had the train to ourselves.

Virtually empty train except for the sleeping passenger on the left.

Finally we were on our way north as the train slowly left the station.  Looking out on Dixie Highway down below it was virtually empty.

View from the cockpit

Looking East as the train crosses the expressway heading to Government Center Station

About 18 minutes after we got started we arrived at Government Center.  We were still the only ones on this car along with the guy sleeping.

Arriving at the Government Center Station

After departing the train we looked for the elevator.  Government Center fortunately had two elevators at train level, as the first one we tried was out of service.  Once down the first elevator we had one more level to go before ground level.  We found the second elevator to get to the mezzanine level where you can take the Metromover around the downtown area. 

Mezzanine Level at Government Center

Now where to?  We had to find the last elevator down to ground level.  It was behind the Service Center.  Strangely all the elevators we traveled in today from Dadeland South to Government Center smelled like pine and better than usual.  Wonder if this was an anomaly?



Elevator Number 3

Still in the building at ground level, we had to find out way out to the street for our journey down Brickell Avenue southbound.

The way out of Government Center

We found our way out to the street to begin our ride south.  Few people around today. On a regular weekday you can't find street parking.  Flagler Street is somewhat deserted!

Flagler Street looking east

We head east on Flagler Street, aptly named after Henry M. Flagler.  Metrorail's tracks are somewhat parallel parts of the former Florida East Coast Railway, just elevated.  Government Center is basically located in the vicinity of where the original Miami FEC Depot once existed.

Actually, a remnant of the tracks still exists next to the Dadeland South Metrorail Station.

Remnant of the FEC tracks at Dadeland

Moving right along on Flagler Street we turned right on SE 2nd Avenue to head soutbound.  This area during the week is clogged with traffic in all directions.  Today traffic was sparse.  Fortunately, we did not have to worry about the multiple speeders rounding SE 2nd Street for the I-95 ramp which we had to cross on our way to Brickell.  Just 2 cars came through and it was safe to cross.

Heading toward Brickell before crossing the I-95 ramp

Once across the I-95 ramp we were on our way down Brickell's commercial district where most of the buildings are tagged with financial institution names, Ocean Bank, Wells Fargo, Citi Bank, Chase, Northern Trust Bank, BB& T, etc...

But first we cross over the Miami River on the Brickell bridge replaced in 1995 after the original bridge became obsolete.

The Pillar of History column depicting Miami's first inhabitants, the Tequest Indians, on the Brickell Avenue Bridge

Looking east from the Brickell Bridge over the Miami River

 Brickell is named after the Brickell Family that is considered one of the founding families of Miami.  Brickell Avenue, US-1, was once a residential district, that over time has become Miami's financial center.  Just west of Brickell Avenue, which retains some of Brickell's former residential character.

Historic Brickell Avenue portion of US-1

Since Miami's mid-2000s building boom, Brickell Avenue's commercial architecture has changed significantly.  Prior to the mid-2000 boom most of the Brickell high rises were residential on the south end of the avenue. 

Brickell's commercial district

Looking south on Brickell Avenue in the commercial district

Negative edge pool foreground with an
Arquitectonica's residential design at 500 Brickell Condominium


Heading further south towards the end of Brickell Avenue we approach the residential condominium district.  Many of the unique building designs along the residential area are the work of Arquitectonica in the 1980s.

Villa Regina to the left and Imperial Condominium to the right along Brickell's residential area.
  Both buildings are designed by Arquitectonica in the 1980s.

The Atlantis, another Arquitectonica 1980s design that
was featured in the opening credits of Miami Vice.

Leaving Brickell Avenue we headed towards Coconut Grove along South Miami Avenue, passing Viscaya.  Viscaya was built by industrialist James Deering in 1916 as a winter retreat.  The original estate was 180 acres and sold off to developers after Deering's death in 1925.  Depicted South Miami Avenue southbound original part of the estate.  To the right, not shown is the Miami Museum of Science. 

South Miami Avenue through the original Viscaya

This portion of our ride took us down South Miami Avenue to the Coconut Grove business district.  Just south of Viscaya is Mercy Hospital on former Viscaya bayfront property.

Coconut Grove's high rises are a mix of commercial and residential.  The Grand Bay Hotel, was once an elegant Michelin 5-star hotel with outstanding restuarants until it closed in 2008, is being demolished for twin tower condominiums.  What will remain is the landmark Alexander Liberman sculpture.

What is left of the Grand Bay Hotel soon to be demolished.
The red sculpture is by Alexander Liberman  and said to remain as part of the new project.



Part of the demolition of the Grand Bay Hotel to make room for a new project.

Future project on the Grand Bay Hotel sight

Moving right along we made our way through downtown Coconut Grove on Main Highway, winding through single family residential homes to the termination of the Commodore Bike Trail and the beginning of the Old Cutler Road Trail at Cocoplum Circle.  It is here that a new pedestrain bridge is being constructed over the Coral Gables waterway.

New pedestrian/cycling bridge over the Gables Waterway at Cocoplum Circle

East view of the Gables Waterway

Meeting of the Commodore and Old Cutler bike trails

The Old Cutler portion of the trail, although quite bumpy due to ficus roots, is a lush canopy providing shade necessary in the summer months when biking, jogging or walking.

Ficus a/k/a banyan trees on the Old Cutler trail