DX-MAN

You got a better one for your daughter, and basically detailed it, as I've done with the better choices at Wally for my kids as they grew. The Huffy "cruisers" today are a sad and sorry specimen -- at work, we had to MAKE a spoke wrench to true them up! Any that may still come with shifters (ours don't) would likely have the no-name garbage (like Falcon) that can fail during TUNING.

Re-reading this thread, I've been working backwards, since I already commented once; I caught your post about the 'history' of cheaper bikes. I'm betting pretty much all here on this thread already KNEW that, but you came off to me as a bit condescending, like you were 'educating the urchins'. Truly, we don't need to be certified to professionally inspect welds to see a pitiful example, or an unsafe one. And no one is expecting primo quality for $100-150, but a minimum standard of safety would be nice; China doesn't seem to provide that, because WE don't demand it (according to their thinking).

There are 3 Wally bikes in my garage now (and that number will never reach 4 again) -- an '02 Schwinn S-30 that belongs to my sister, upgraded; an '09 Mongoose XR-200 bought on clearance, upgraded; and a year-old 18"-wheeled child's bike for my great niece, 5-y-o. Ironically, the last STOCK Wally bike in my garage was a Huffy, a '97 "Blades" 18-sp rigid. Scrapyarded several years ago, cracked frame w/ no one available to re-weld.

MEversbergII

Tangential: What's up with the Schwinn Varsity? I keep seeing it mentioned over and over. Was it notoriously bad?

M.

stanman13

That post was really aimed more at the poster who seemed to be expecting a level of craftsmanship that these bikes were never intended to achieve. In my opinion he was judging them by and unfair standard. I mentioned my work history because he asked if I ever made anything with my hands. I think people looking at these bikes are just looking for something that works. They know they aren't going to get Colnago level equipment, and don't expect it. My opinion is that entry level bikes would be better if they focused on delivering a simple but solid machine, as was the case in times past.

I apologize if I seemed condescending. The whole thing was a defense of workingman's bikes from a certain era.

buzzman

In the 1970's Schwinn's were bike shop bikes not department store bikes. The Varsity was their low end "10 speed". Like most of the Schwinns they tended to be on the heavy side. They came with ineffective "extension" brake levers, a lugless frame with low grade steel tubing and stamped drop outs that bent easily ( but they bent back just as easy). They had cheap plastic saddles, the cheapest of the Huret derailleurs with the special Schwinn levers mounted at the stem for super slow shifts.

They were for people who wanted to buy an American made 10 speed as opposed to most of the foreign offerings coming from Raleigh, Peugeot and some of the Italian brands. Oddly enough it was the rise of the Japanese made bikes like Fuji, Nishiki and Miyata that eventually displaced Schwinn's market share.

There was a comment that the Huffy was "workman" bike of the 70's. In the 60's and 70's I was a pretty typical kid in a lower working class neighborhood. Yeah, Huffy's and Columbia's etc covered the child's market- the transition from toyhood to adulthood- but my friends and I, who were ridng to school, jobs, taking camping trips, using the bike every day we worked hard, saved our bucks and bought quality bikes from the local bike shop. Adult cycling in America was just coming into vogue then so most people still saw a bicycle as a kid's toy and not a way to get around so poor quality bikes that could be used and not necessarily passed on were produced en masse.

Were they any better than the low end bikes produced today? In my opinion, not really. We knew they wouldn't last a week with what we would put them through, and as budding bike mechanics, they were a PIA to work on.

Fast food franchises were coming into vogue at the same time. This thread is like asking if Macdonald's food was any better in 1960 than it was today. Let's face it, it's junk food, serviceable for most of us in a pinch, but eat it every day and it will not serve you well and, more importantly, with a bit of creativity could you make a healthier meal at the same price?- maybe, but over the long term it would save you money and possibly your life to eat better.

unterhausen

the thing about the Schwinn Varsity that isn't often noted is that it was quite expensive. You could get a really good Japanese bike for the same price as a Varsity. Depending on the inflation calculator you use, a Varsity cost somewhere near $700 in today's dollars. And my back still twinges when the name is mentioned -- we used to hang repair bikes from hooks in the back.

Steel wheels, crummy French derailleurs, 40 pounds, it was a real winner.

MEversbergII

Ah, so just a nostalgic POS then.

M.

fietsbob

the varsity was schwinn using the manufacturing techniques that made their cruiser bikes bombproof.

unfortunately that was not light weight .. but come the Zombie Apocalypse, the old Schwinns

will be around , unless steel scrap offered prices shoot through the roof, as those used a lot of it.

john426

Dear 41: I have an 70's era Free Spirit (that was Sear's brand) that I commute on every day. In fact it broke down a few months ago and I was afraid that I was going to have to trash it. I took it to a bike co-op and I fixed it myself (with help) so I can get a few more years on it. I bought the bike at a yard sale for $ 5.00 and it has the retro styling of a bike from the 50's. Sure it is heavy, but I tell myself that will help me become more fit and lose my spare tire.

By the way I bought a Walmart bike before this one and it lasted exactly one day. Keep on you lookout for a cheap department store bike! You will not be sorry you did! John

lawnerd

I ride a 23 year old Merlin Road bike to work every day. Has the original Dura Ace 8 speed. This is an awesome bike that kicks ass over the newer carbon bike I have. I also have an old steel frame Bianchi that is a garage queen that I think is an awesome example of all Italian art. I would have no question that the Bianchi could get me where I need to go when needed. I would not hesitate to invest in a high end vintage bike. Whether an old Sears or Schwinn is up the task is another question.

njkayaker

The Schwinn Varsities were overly heavy. With steel rims. They were not the great bikes some people are recalling.

On a low-level club ride, one rider, with some version of a GMC Denali, had a flat. The bike was astonishly heavy and did not have a quick release. Rather than dealing with fixing the flat, I rode back to my car and gave him and his bike a ride back to the start.

I have no idea why people think that quality doesn't drop off at really low prices.

There is some cost to careful manufacturing and quality control. While expensive bikes are not great values (due to diminishing returns), things can be too cheap.

Keep in mind that "quality/reliability" is a statistical thing. That means you can find instances of crap lasting "forever" and quality stuff which "falls apart". You can't really derive meaning from that without any idea of the frequency of failure/success and how the product is normally used.

It seems likely that most cheap bicycles are not used very frequently or used in demanding situations. A bicycle doesn't have to be very good to be ridden a mile or so. If it's overbuilt (that is, overly heavy), it won't be a big deal for short/infrequent rides.

MARKIT

There is a gentleman who rode a Huffy to work here everyday over the summer, at least 3 miles back to town,
I bet it would feel like a new bike if a little oil got on the chain

tcs

The Varsity.

MEversbergII

So far my salvaged All Pro seems to be doing fine. Just need to drop some oil in the hub and it'll shift a bit better (slow going to third). I also discovered how to get at the bearings, so I'll be knocking off that 70's grease with...something (simple green?) and repacking it with modern grease. Don't know how long the hub'll last (it had problems in it's day apparently), but when it goes the frame will become my practice dummy for learning how to repaint, and the hub for tinkering. It will also be my first total brake overhaul job, as the ones on there are rather sluggish.

M.

EDIT: Thanks TCS. That site really does have it all.

tcs

I overhauled several bikes that were ridden across country after the Bikecentennial ride. Now understand, neither the Varisty nor UJB ten-speeds are what would have passed for quality touring bicycles even back then, but they were what folks had and that's what got ridden. Anyway, the UJBs I put my hands on were by-and-large worn out after ~4300 miles of self-contained touring duty: the bearing and pivot points were shot, there were frame, hub flange and rim cracks, head tubes were ovalized. The Varsities? Well, they were in really pretty good shape.

One thing that hasn't changed in 40 years in the cycling world? Thinking you can judge quality solely with a weight scale.