Logan_Wright

Hello everyone, this is my first post so sorry if I did not post in the right category, but I was wondering if this schwinn would make for a good project. I am going to look at it tomorrow, but the frame looks to be in good shape from the pictures. I am looking to replace everything in hopes to make it a competent road bike for around town. It is cheap at only $20. I was also wondering if modern parts can be used or does it have to have original parts. Sorry for all of the questions. I am a noob but want to get into cycling and I love DIYs.
Below is a link to the craigslist posting.
https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/for/5272747350.html

SJX426 

IMHO, No, no, no, and no.

Welcome! Do a lot of reading around here before making a decision. We would love to see you get to riding, but lets make a good choice to begin with and not a money sink. For not much more, you can have a much better ride.

DMC707

You could spend $300 and a lot of hours pretty easilly turning that bike into an $80 machine

Some of the "tells" are the stem shifters, safety brake levers, bolt on seat clamp, rusty steel wheels, and oversized bottom bracket shell with one piece crankset

Less obvious are the way the seatstays are brazed to the seat tube/top tube junction , but the general overall rustiness plus the fact that Schwinn Continentals and Varsity's in reasonable condition and somewhat rideable can be had regularly for $75 - $100 also factors in to my recommendation that this poor bike is not worth walking across the street for, even if it was free

gaucho777 

+1 to all the above. Was that found at the bottom of a lake? All the steel bits are severely rusted. There are many effective ways to treat the rust, but it would be hard to justify the kind of effort and money required to make it roadworthy again. The best possible restoration/refurbishment would still result in a dud of a bike.

By the way, that also looks to be a very small frame. How tall are you?

oddjob2

+1 to all the comments above.

While not in your market area, you can find pristine Varsities for less than the out of pocket you'd have into that POS, not including your time.

Super Clean Like New Vintage Schwinn Varsity 10 Speed

bmthom.gis

I would pass on that. I wonder if the stem and/or headset are frozen....or at least permanently attached at this point. Even this Huffy is better than that tetanus shot
https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/bik/5262208996.html -- stil la turd, but one that has hopes of getting you around

Much more money: https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/bik/5251002249.html --if you really want a Scwhinn. Most likely $0 needs to be spent on anything right away.

For a few dollars more, you can even get one with modern shifting https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/bik/5274265388.html

Not sure your size or if it has to be a roadbike, but you have better options if you increase your budget

And here you are, under $100, in pretty good shape
https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/bik/5271221207.html

CliffordK

Ooofff

Yard Art?



The old bikes are great practice bikes to learn about things like lubing hubs, and etc. And, they can still make good town bikes.

But, don't have any dreams of making that into a 15 pound racing bike... I'm trying to think of what pieces I might re-use. Maybe the brake callipers, although even those are obsolete.

With that much rust, when you break the hubs open, they may be perfect... but my guess is even the hubs and bearings will have rust pits, and be unusable.

That frame will weigh so much, you'll need a forklift to move it around.

====================

Something like this would make a good "city bike" to tune up, although it won't ever be a nice racing bike, and the frame is pretty small. (person around 5'4 to 5'6 or so). Good for a project, but limit your expenses to tires and tubes, don't invest any more into the bike.
1985 Lugged Frame Road Bike - $60 (Plano)

This Specialized Sirrus would make an excellent project bike. You should be somewhere between about 5'10 and 6'4 or so.
Specialized Sirrus Lugged Steel Road - $125 (Red Oak)

Here is a nice Falcon. Also for someone taller than 5'10 or so.
Vintage Falcon Strada British Road Bike - $200 (Dallas)

The better bike you start with, the better the end result. There are a lot of nice bikes in the $200 to $300 range, and a few in the $100 to $200 range, but you have to be quite picky.

If you regularly watch Craigslist, and know what you're looking for, there are a few very good deals that show up in the sub $100 range, but they often don't last long (minutes or hours), certainly not long enough to post a "what is your opinion" question online.

Lascauxcaveman 

You've just described the best way to make a really expensive mediocre bike. Many of us here learned this the hard way, so we're trying to save you the trouble and expense.

If you take away one thing from this thread, let it be this: complete used bikes can often be found really cheap; bike parts are almost never cheap.

(Also, those heavy old electro-forged Schwinns do have some odd-sized pieces that cannot be easily replaced with modern bits.)

OldsCOOL

A Varsity?? The horror...the horror.

LesterOfPuppets

I'd only get that if I simultaneously saw another one with like-new parts but broken frame for $20 or less.

Actually I'd be kinda tempted if I could simultaneously get a nice pair of wheels for it for $20 or less, then spend $12 on a chain, $5-10 on cables/housing. Repack everything and dribble oil on pivots, etc, then that'll be good to go!

I wouldn't do the get all new parts and make a competent road bike route, however. This is not a good basis for that.

noglider 

Varsitys aren't always horrors to work on, but they're not all that great to ride. The design goal of that bike was to last through anything, including World War 7. It was not designed to be a good-riding bike.

Murray Missile 

Keep looking, there are better deals out there! Bought this '86 Schwinn World for $10 a couple weeks ago:



and snagged this 80's Bianchi Volpe for $20 earlier this year: