EraserGirl

I need adult supervision here, you guys are infectious...i know enough about vintage bikes to be dangerous.

Just after i dropped my 69 Armstrong at the third shop (the 1st shop installed a tire incorrectly, the 2nd shop fixed that but he messed up my gears, let's hope this shop knows their ass from a hot rock) I stopped and found this 1977 Schwinn Varsity at the thrift shop for 20 bucks.

Normally I ignore things that need work, as i don't know what I am doing, but the bike seems to be a good size for me. (I'm 5'1" so that's a big deal), and I figure 20 bucks is a learning experience.

Ignoring the paint work, the things i see it needs are front brake cable, brake rubber(sic), new tires, new chain? and the gears are all icky. and I am not a big fan of this type of handlebar but I can live with it. Should I start rebuilding this thing or sell it?





more images
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jgodsey...7606831247451/

Caferacernoc

The Schwinn Varsity is the perfect bike to get started wrenching on.

bikemore 

I would say rebuild it and as you said the size is important!
On the otherhand, there is nothing like saying you did it yourself to really
getting the addiction in deep.

EraserGirl

I am all for rebuilding, i am very handy...however not very knowledgeable
any ideas how i can learn what i don't know?

hxzero

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/

EraserGirl

[hangs head in shame] of course ...all roads lead to sheldon brown.

bigbossman 

I agree - Sheldon is great, as is the Park Tool website. They have a lot of repair info there.

In addition, nothing beats hands-on instruction. Take a look here and see if someone is close by:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...light=registry

EraserGirl

You shouldn't have shown me the park Tool site, now i am intimidated and don't want to invest in tools that cost the price of a bike. Sheldon is helpful, but not enough to learn from scratch.
sorry, no one near me. I am north of boston and abutting southern new hampshire.

I will figure out what i can do myself and then perhaps limit what i need to have done by people that know what they are doing. Like i know i can remove all the parts and clean them, but i would say that i will run into trouble reconstructing everything.

QuickDraw

Blasphemy, I learned from Sheldon from scratch, for the other things I couldn't figure out, there was my friend google, and this place. Good luck, I like the color!

bikemore 

I live in Boston, work in Harvard (the town, not the school).
My lady friend (sorry for the euphemism),
lives in Londonderry. I maintain a second set of tools I could loan you for
a week or two depending on what part of Mass you are in.

bikemore 

And the value of the bike is what you learn, not what you can sell it for.
(FYI, it isn't uncommon to see Varsities list for $150 or higher on Boston's Craig's
List - not that I know that they sell for that or that I think they are worth
that, but there must be some reason why they keep popping up in that
price range)

brandenjs

Yep, you're in trouble...That's how I got hooked. I found a decent bike at the thrift store and started by putting cables and housings on it. What I learned through that was how to adjust brakes and derailluers. Everytime I work on one of the bikes I learn something new. Take small jobs at a time so you don't get frustrated at a complete bike torn apart in the basement. I have seen so many people take a bike to bike shops and find that they could have done a better job themselves. Me included. Good luck and remember we are always here for ya...

bikemore 

Well, it isn't sold after 7 days or so it seems,
but
https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/794264425.html

EraserGirl

Thank you for your offer, I am in Methuen and can easily meet you
however I am not sure if your tools will help me yet.
i wouldn't know what to DO with them as yet.

How do i know what to start with?
should I just inflate the tires and see if i can get it to go?
the gears don't look healthy to me, i would want to start with them,
but is that too hard a task?
the front brake cable is missing completely and the brake pads are dried out.

Sheldon may be perfect good to learn from scratch, as i have learned much from his site
but i don't see rebuilding a bike for dummies as a subject header.
most of the heavy restoration oriented articles assume you already know what's what on a bike.

i am still niggling around with his beginners articles - which don't seem to go into rusty gearage.

bdrake

EraserGirl- i feel just like you sometimes. i bought my first vintage bike on saturday and i want to learn from it. i just don't know exactly where to start sometimes and what tools i need to start! i was looking at a set of nashbar tools that are on sale for $50.00 but i have decided whether or not i want to bite. you are not alone! and yes, park tools are PRICEY!

bikemore 

I can bring some cable lining and new brake and shift cables
(I won't give it away, but the cost is fairly trivial). You can find
brake pads at bike shops and other places. I can show
you how to remove the gears, although they don't look all that bad.
Probably need a new chain.

You might try typing "cleaning freewheel" into BF search tool.

I have most types of freewheel removes in my second set of tools.
If the shape of the freewheel bothers you, I also have a fairly large
box of freewheels. But I think you might want to save that for a better
bike.

This is a little out of your way, but it is a pretty valuable asset for a
beginner. They often have women only classes.

https://www.broadwaybicycleschool.com/

Indie

I'm learning from Sheldon and Park Tools, mostly from scratch and with hints from friends who have done this stuff before. I'm considering that the money I spend on tools and parts is an investment in my own education. I like working with my hands and doing mechanical stuff, so maybe I'm starting with a bit more confidence going into it than some people do.

I'll also be taking a course from a local bike mechanics' group in town -- you might want to see if you have anything like this local to you:

https://www.communitybicyclenetwork.org/mechanic_courses
https://www.communitybicyclenetwork.org/wenches

I fully expect that by the time my bike is completely road-worthy I will have put over $400 into it. But I'm doing it because it's more fun than just buying a bike for that much money.

brandenjs

Please, Please , Please start with the safety stuff first, brakes,tires,bars,seat..Getting it to shift smoothly will come later. Don't feel like you have to invest a huge amount in specialty tools. Alot of the work you need to do right away can be done with regular tools. And yes alot of places offer workshops. That's great way to meet other bike nuts also.

tkm433

I have been working in bike shops since the mid 80's and I do not know how many old schwinn have come in the door that had been sitting forver that just needed a good bath and air in the tires and they were ready to ride again.

The old schwinns do not have index shifting and if the set screws on the derailleurs were set properly when the bike was new and the derailluers have not been damaged in a fall then the shifting should just work as it did almost 30 years ago when that bike was new.

So as to what you might want top do with the bike.
If you do not like the type put air in the tires and see if they hold air and take it for a short safe test ride to see if it rides OK and then list it on your local Craiglist and sell it at a profit so you can use the money to buy a bike that are more interested in. I figure it is worth at least $85 to a college student if it will get them to and from class.

If you want to fit it go and buy the Haynes or Parks bicycle repair books that you can find at your local Barnes and Nobel or like store. Your LBS might even sell one of them.

As for what your bike needs I would start with replacing the cables and housing and the brake pads. If you can turn a wrench you should be able to replace the cables and brake pads. I would first take some pictures of the bike before you work on it to see how the cable were on the bike so once you take it apart you can put it back as it was (hoping it was correct in the first place). Once you remove the cables and housing form the bike DO NOT mispalce the little cable stop on top of the brake levers (a little cone shaped item that goes between the brake lever and the cable housing) they are hard to find becasue they are no longer used on current bicycles. As to the cable housing take it to your local shop and ask them if they can cut the new housing to the same length as the stock ones and also you can show them them the cables ends so that they do not sell you the wrong cables. There are two differnt ends you can find on brake cables (road & mountain) and there two (three that I have seen) found on shifter cables. It appears from your images you have the most common type of gear cable end so you should have no problems. Ask them for some cable end crimps so while you are there. As for the brake shoes you should be able to get a set of four for around $10 or less despending on the mark up your local shop has on their items.


If you want to engoy the bike replace that thing they call a seat!! Save the old seat so if you decide to sell the bike at a later date you can keep your new seat and sell the bike as 1977. The seat will need a special adapter to fit. The older schwinns used their size seat post which was like 1/2" at the top while all others used 7/8" at the top. A shop that has been around for a while might have the adapter or know how to help you with the problem. On solution is to flip the stock seat post so that the small end is in the frame and then a common current seat clamp usually will allow you to mount a seat.

Just have fun!

sonatageek

Best part of starting the bike repair learning curve with a Varsity is, about the only special tools you need are a couple of cone wrenches and plastic tire levers. Everything else (except for the freewheel removal) is standard wrenches, screwdrivers and wire (cable) cutters.

If there is a bike coop in your area, see if they have shop classes. That is what I did, and that also gave me access to any of the special tools that just wouldn't make sense to buy.

Road Fan

I'd look also for a recent edition of "Anybody's Bike Book" by Tom Cuthbertson, one of the great DIY bike fixit books from the '70s.
Should be around $4 in a used book store. Actually for this old lady Schwinn the first edition would probably be perfect.

Road Fan

sailorbenjamin

I'm not far north of you. southern end of Maine. I got some parts and stuff. even a few old schwinn bits.

pastorbobnlnh 

And I'm up the road another 60 miles in NH heading to VT. I have lots of Schwinn spare parts, so before you consider buying anything, derailleurs, shifters, wheels, pedals, bars, etc., send me a PM.

Converting a Varsity to a more Collegiate-like cruiser, is an easy task. We can provide lots of inspiration. Welcome to C&V!

Charles Wahl

You need very few tools that are bike-specific to work on a Schwinn Varsity. And it's a great way to start. You don't have to do everything yourself to begin with, but you'll soon realize "for the price of what I paid the shop to do it, I could have bought the tool I needed." And, tools themselves are as seductive as bikes are.

bbattle

You should immediately sell it to me for $23.50



I'm actually in the market for such a beast and I plan on swapping the bars for some North Road bars and cruiser-bike brake handles. With the stem shifters, it's an easy swap to do and gives you that more upright geometry. First I have to find a 24" wheel bike with gears.