Comments on: Schwinn Madison Impressions, Part 2

By: dan

dan — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:28:44 +0000

I emailed Schwinn about the fork and they said to take it to my local schwinn retailer. Which I did. They called Schwinn and they said that Schwinn does not replace the fork.

I then emailed Schwinn back and sent along this link where it says they know about the short fork and will replace it.

The Schwinn rep said:

“Thanks for the email. It’s true that we do not replace the forks on the Madison. I’m not sure who the author of the article spoke with here but it seems that the information is either outdated or incorrect.”

I say… BOOO! my fork is so short I’m afraid to ride it never mind change the stem and switch to risers like I want to do.

HELP!

By: Mad-ison

Mad-ison — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:27:47 +0000

I’m about to pull the trigger on an ‘08 Madison for $360 at Performance in Boulder. The indoor velodrome will be up and running here soon, and this will work fine for goofing around on the track. Meanwhile, I’ll start using it as a commuter, since I haven’t ridden fixie in a long time. In fact, the last time I did it was at the aforementioned Dick Lane velodrome in Atlanta, complete with uphill/downhill straights and a creek through the infield. Did they ever fix the huge hump in the middle of the first banking? You could almost catch air!

By: sean

sean — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:30:51 +0000

Just bought the ‘08. Anybody know how to strip the fork w/out ruining the chrome?

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:33:42 +0000

I had my Madison on the Dick Lane Velodrome near Atlanta, GA this summer. No problems; Lot’s of fun!!

By: brad

brad — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:44:18 +0000

Nah, you can have drillings for brakes and race on the track. You just can’t have brakes. Plenty of track bike have brake holes for road training, even some super high end ones.

By: TommyDanger

TommyDanger — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:28:46 +0000

I just ordered my Madison yesterday. This bike looks really clean, and I am really excited to start riding it. I am planning on riser bars as well. I really like the way this set up looks. As far as track legal goes, I was under the impression that you couldn’t have drillings for brakes to be on track, but I could be misimformed.

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:46:03 +0000

I have a Madison and I love it soooo much. I’ve recently been interested in track racing and I was wondering if anyone knew if it was track legal or not.

By: Schwinn Madison - Testing Round Deux - Urban Velo

Schwinn Madison - Testing Round Deux - Urban Velo — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:27:43 +0000

[...] Velo offered to let me continue testing the Schwinn Madison first reviewed here and and then a little bit later here , I couldn’t wait to get my hands on [...]

By: Crowley

Crowley — Sun, 04 May 2008 02:04:01 +0000

Hi Thomas,
A quick stop at your local Scwinn dealer will tell for sure whether your steerer is a “shorty”. The steerer is the cylindrical portion of the fork that extends upwards through the head tube and meets with the stem (hence your bars). A longer steerer will protrude further through the head tube. This allows one to adjust the height of the stem (hence the bars.) Oftentimes a manufacturer will place a few spacers (imagine a ring or two on your finger) under the stem to occupy the space when the stem is in it’s highest position. These spacers are not functional simple aesthetic. If ever you wished to lower your stem (hence bar height) you’d remove your stem, slide one (or more) of these spacers up and off the steerer and then reinstall your stem. Too low? Loosen the stem and slide it up a tad. A shorter stem disallows this height adjustment. My understanding is that the Madisons with the shorter steerer had no spacers under the stem. The remainder had two representing about an inch and a half (3.75 cm) of adjustability. Seeing as you’ve replaced your stem and bars you may recall removing these if you did the wrenching yourself, they’re not evident in your snapshots. Whether any of this is of significance to you depends on your satisfaction with your bar height. If all is well there you need not be concerned. In fact your Maddie will be lighter by a few grams and will have a cleaner appearance. If ever you wanted a higher bar you could simply install a riser bar.
I find your modifications highly appealing. Do enjoy it safely.

Best wishes,
Crowley

By: Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:09:13 +0000

Shiny Flu.
Here are a few pics of mine with fenders. I used SKS ChromoPlastics, clearance is tight but they look great!

http://gallery.casa-alegria.info/thumbnails.php?album=3