I have the Varsity's cousin- A 10-speed Suburban. I love it- and my Speedster as well. Both on the same frame as the Varsity. Sure, they develop my arm muscles when I have to lift them- but they can take anything the road can throw at you. The ride is sweet and smooth. Definitely not finicky- they are simple, take then apart with a medium size adjustable and a common head. To me the whole EF family is the Tri-five Chevy of bicycles. As I gaze at mine now, they look good.
Spend most of your time running around on a Varsity, and when you mount your gee-whiz carbon fiber job, you'll fly.
Growing up in Dayton, Ohio the Schwinns were status and quality to us kids. I had Huffys and a Colombia back then. I honestly can't say I ever got jealous, but I always admired my grade school best friend's Continental- Coppertone in fact. I wasn't concerned with weight or components- but his bike was a beuty and I knew it was built well.