As a teenager in the 70's, I used to think Schwinn Varsities were the stupidest bikes in the world. They were heavier and slower than my department store AMF 10 speed, but they had some sort of built in respectability because they were bought at a real LBS. I felt the same way about the Raleigh Record and the Schwinn Continental. IMO (back then), if you weren't buying at least a Raleigh Grand Prix (and preferably something higher from Worksop like a Super Course), you were not spending your money well at the LBS. But then again, when I finally saved up enough of my paper boy money to put a Raleigh Competition on layaway and actually purchase it outright 8 or 9 months later I thought the Worksop decal was a typo, they must have meant "Workshop", but just mispelled it, right?

Interestingly, I find the Schwinn Varsity quite attractive now.