Bandera

My advice on "upgrading" a Continental 40 years ago: Don't.
My advice on "upgrading" a Continental today: Don't.

Perfectly nice old and new machines suitable for touring are all around, find one and keep the Continental for town bike duty if you like it.

-Bandera

punkinevil

I know this is an old, but recently resurrected thread, but I will still chime in since I face this quandary about 2 years ago and the information might help someone. I kept my late model (1978 Conti II) mostly stock, but did have to replace the beat-to-death rims. I wound up getting a new aluminum wheelset (easier than rebuilding with new rims and the old hubs) and she rides like a dream. I have not done any long tours on her and mainly use her as my around town bike. I did however to the 5 Boro NYC tour on her and she felt great, so I suppose it is possible to do something longer. I would consider a better saddle than stock for that, but a freshly re-greased stock crank and stock derailleurs work just fine. My new wheelset is CR-18s rims, Silver DT Champion 2.0 Spokes, and Quando sealed cartridge bearing hubs. The rims have a nice shine so they do look a bit like stock chrome for that bit of authenticity.

Grand Bois

I agree!

dddd

The thing is to recognize both the virtues and limitations of these electro-forged Schwinns.

For someone who likes the style and most importantly, the handling qualities of these bikes, then of course it makes sense to put on a good saddle, have the bike properly tuned up and then take it from there as dictated by the usage the bike is getting.

Since I found these bikes ride sweet after being tuned up and with a good saddle installed, I of course considered using the 700c alloy wheels that I had laying around. The brake reach is more than ample, so I made the switch on the older one of my Varsities that had dinged and rusted rims. I appreciated that this lowered the sky-high bottom bracket a bit, and now had smooth braking and better tire choice along with I believe several pounds less rotating weight (Schwinn steel rims weigh about 1150g each, bare!).

Going to six speeds means changing the rear derailer, unless one wants to really modify and fine tune the Allvit (something I've done on several Schwinns). The derailer switch makes sense when broader gearing is desired. Some won't need this though.

I can't see removing the kickstand on these, but that's just the way that I see it. Same for the crankset, but others will disagree. There are a lot of different setups that the Varsity/Continental platform responds to, and can be a worthwhile project if the bike fits the rider well (as in not too small of a frame).

I'll show here a variety of approaches to setting up different versions of these heavyweights, these are the ones that I've held onto and still ride every year:

ramzilla

Depends on where you're planning on touring. If it's a flat coastal area I'd say go for it with the old Schwinn. If you're going to try something with big hills then I would suggest getting a bike with a triple chain ring and lighter frame. Bicycle weight is not as critical on a touring rig as it is on a racing bike. You're probably going to be loaded up with an extra 20lbs of food , water, clothes, etc anyhow. You want a very durable bike with lots of threaded eyelets for racks and bottles. Old Trek bikes are good.