Help new to biking and riding, just bought a 1980 Varsity
09-13-13, 10:20 PM
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Help new to biking and riding, just bought a 1980 Varsity
Hey all I am excited to be here. I just bought a 1980 Schwinn Varsity that seems to be in ok condition. I do need help though. There are a few dings in the paint and wondered if anyone had a suggestion for maybe repairing it? Also the shifter seems to have a hard time down shifting but not going up any suggestions? And finally I believe the back rim may be slightly bent as if it feels like I am riding over small speed bumps constantly. I have already moved the handlebars back down. I got to say I have read some threads in here and it seems like a foreign language a lot of times so please talk to me as if I am stupid I will take no offense because at this point I feel very dumb when reading some of these. I paid $80 for it so I figured not a bad price to get into biking at.
https://indianapolis.craigslist.org/bik/3975588805.html
https://indianapolis.craigslist.org/bik/3975588805.html
09-13-13, 10:22 PM
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Welcome!
you might want to visit the Mechanics forum. Lots of great information there.
you might want to visit the Mechanics forum. Lots of great information there.
09-14-13, 05:04 PM
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Thanks for the warm welcome I will have to check out the mechanics forum and see if I cant find anything out there.
09-15-13, 03:57 AM
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Welcome to BF.
you will learn quickly that here you will need a thick skin to deal w/everyones opinions. Do not be offended by the following or anything less than a blatent personal attack.
There are many people who absolutely love anything schwinn, I am not one of them. I think you paid too much for that bike.
Your shifting issues will probably be resolved by replacing the rear deraileur cable and housing and then properly setting it up. Utube is awesome for learning bike mechanics. You can also visit the shimano website, park tools, and sheldonbrown, all will have an amazing amount of good chewy tech babble.
I am not a wheel building guru, when my wheels need trueing I visit my LBS (local bike shop). It is usually about $25 per wheel.
If you were interested in a full restore of your new ride, stripping it down and repainting is an option. I personally would just try to find a touch up paint close enough to the original color and fill them in. If you mean dents, when you say "dings" then ignore this.
use the advanced search option here and search for paint in title only. you will find multiple threads like this one that will guide you through.
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ighlight=paint
I would get this bike in riding order and have some fun. If you decide that you enjoy riding the road, you will want to upgrade. again sorry and welcome.
you will learn quickly that here you will need a thick skin to deal w/everyones opinions. Do not be offended by the following or anything less than a blatent personal attack.
There are many people who absolutely love anything schwinn, I am not one of them. I think you paid too much for that bike.
Your shifting issues will probably be resolved by replacing the rear deraileur cable and housing and then properly setting it up. Utube is awesome for learning bike mechanics. You can also visit the shimano website, park tools, and sheldonbrown, all will have an amazing amount of good chewy tech babble.
I am not a wheel building guru, when my wheels need trueing I visit my LBS (local bike shop). It is usually about $25 per wheel.
If you were interested in a full restore of your new ride, stripping it down and repainting is an option. I personally would just try to find a touch up paint close enough to the original color and fill them in. If you mean dents, when you say "dings" then ignore this.
use the advanced search option here and search for paint in title only. you will find multiple threads like this one that will guide you through.
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ighlight=paint
I would get this bike in riding order and have some fun. If you decide that you enjoy riding the road, you will want to upgrade. again sorry and welcome.
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2010 Kestrel RT900SL, 800k carbon, chorus/record, speedplay, zonda
2000 litespeed Unicoi Ti, XTR,XT, Campy crank, time atac, carbon forks
2010 Kestrel RT900SL, 800k carbon, chorus/record, speedplay, zonda
2000 litespeed Unicoi Ti, XTR,XT, Campy crank, time atac, carbon forks
09-15-13, 09:46 AM
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Awesome thanks Catonec, I appreciate the advice. Ya it is just a few scratches where some paint has come off so I think I may just do a paint match. Thanks for the sites I have looked at Sheldonbrown already and seems I need to learn a few things first. I am sadly very under educated when it comes to bike terms!
