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Old 01-12-11, 08:54 PM
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well biked
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I completely agree with the others about the Varsity not being a good candidate for a tourer. It would be good experience for you to do a basic servicing, replace a few parts as needed, and ride it.

Now, with that said, I will relate a little experience we had in our shop last spring. A young guy came in with a '70's Varsity, outfitted with a rear rack and loaded up pretty good with panniers full of supplies, camping gear, etc. He was on a true cross country trip, east coast of the U.S. to the west coast. Final destination California. We're located about right in the middle, so by the time he came into our shop he had already made it nearly half way.

He had a couple of broken spokes. I don't remember if we ended up selling him a new wheel or just replaced the spokes or what, I didn't do the work on the bike. I'm SURE we recommended a new wheel, because he indicated he had broken quite a few spokes along the way. But money was probably an issue, so it may have gone either way. Anyway, I did get a chance to briefly check out his bike. To this day, when I think about that bike, I'm still dumbfounded that he had made it as far as he had on that thing. Every conceivable thing seemed to be wrong with it! The headset was indexed so horribly it was hard to imagine riding it. The wheels were obviously a wreck (at least when he came in). The tires were worn out. There was some problem with the brakes. I'm sure every bearing on the bike was in need of servicing. You get the picture, it was a complete, seemingly hopeless, mess.

The fellow was the opposite of the bike, however. Fit as a fiddle and with a contagious, positive attitude. Riding on average, he informed us, 85 miles a day. Camping most nights, occasionally staying with folks along the way he had contacted before the trip. And when he came into our shop he was, of course, anxious to get back on the road. I talked with him, told him of all the problems I had found with the bike just by briefly inspecting it. He took it in stride and assured me he'd be fine.

He did give us the web address of his blog. We enjoyed following his trip through the blog for most of the next month, and realized as we read his stories from the road that it really WASN'T about the bike for this young man, he was just out there making do with what he had and living life to the fullest. He made it to the California beach community he was headed to, and we still have a picture of him standing in front of our shop with the bike pinned on our bulletin board by the cash register. He is a customer we have not forgotten. And that bike......THAT BIKE!!! Never underestimate a '70's Schwinn Varsity!

Last edited by well biked; 01-12-11 at 10:50 PM.
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