Since the Crested Butte left the stable, my Schwinn Heavy Duti is now the bike I’ve owned the longest. A lot has happened since that October day in 2014 when it became mine. For the longest time I debated whether I should do a bunch of changes to what was ostensibly my “clunker”, but in summer of 2018 I finally did all the things to it I wanted to. Then last year the bike became a three speed. At this point in time I didn’t think there’d be much, if anything, I’d like to do to this classically-styled “American” cruiser. But the departure of a bike is a great time to change up the existing fleet. I changed up the Raleigh Superbe a bit, so why not the Heavy Duti?
There were a few parts swaps from bikes other than the Crested Butte. The “Huffy” saddle that was on the Heavy Duti went to the Crested Butte when it sold. The Brooks B-68 on the Butte went to the Superbe, so the black Brooks B-17 found its way to the Heavy Duti. And the cream-wall Schwalbe Fat Franks that were previously on the Bantam replaced the Nashbar knobbies. I’ve had Fat Franks on the Heavy Duti before, they just go really well with the bike.
Two things did find their way from the Crested Butte: the dynamo hub front wheel and the Wald 137 basket. The AXA HR bottle dynamo that was on there was perfectly functional, but I wasn’t going to sell the Butte with a dynamo hub and there was no other bike that it could go on. So all my bikes have dynamo hubs, a first! And it was time to part with the Wald Pizza Rack, as its a heavy beast on a heavy bike, and I didn’t use it enough to justify keeping it. A smaller basket is perfect.
The changes weren’t that big, but welcome. I don’t envision doing much else with the Heavy Duti other than basic maintenance and replacement of worn-out bits. It’ll never be a long ride bike, but that’s okay. I got other bikes for that.
For photos of my Schwinn Heavy Duti over the years, see the dynamic flickr album below. Or click here.
Urban Adventure League 
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