Mountain Bike... Converted

This bike started out as a Schwinn Essence.... sometime in the mid- to late-1980's, Schwinn made the "Essence" as a women-specific mountain bike. It was never very comfortable, and I never did any serious mountain-biking - just off-road and trails. So, I converted it sometime around 2003-2004. I didn't ride it much, but after the bike room was flooded slightly last weekend, and I had to clean off a lot of stuff, I decided to clean it up and ride it around to the store, post office, etc. I might use it for commuting, but I'm not sure about the wear-and-tear on my laptop


I can't find any pictures of the original bike, but here are the changes:

1. replaced the 2 1/2" knobby tires with skinny slick tires.

2. replaced the straight mountain handlebars with the "albatross" model from Rivendell Bike Works. Added cork hand grips - no more gloves !



3. replaced the seat with a leather Brooks saddle.


So, now it has mountain bike gearing, but the ride is as close to an old 3-speed as I could get it....


Another retro feature: it still has the "BIOPACE" chainring - this was a slightly oval (rather than round) chain ring that was the height of bike technology in the 80's.



Original pink paint, with some updates.