Schwinn Varsity? I'm not entirely kidding. There's always some big manimal dude in every cycling scene. I remember one of those dudes BITD who used to show up to the racer training rides, on a
Schwinn Varsity. This was a big muscular guy, and I guess the few extra pounds of iron didn't make much difference. He actually kept up pretty well in a paceline on the flats and rollers. Of course once the real hills started he got dropped instantly. Still we all thought it was pretty impressive. Anyhow, them Varsities is tough, which I think is how the guy rationalized it.
There were other big dudes, ie track sprinter types, that just rode normal race bikes. Maybe they had SP instead of SL. Some had custom bikes, which is the optimum, but probably overkill for a commute bike. Another solution is a more modern OS steel frame. I'm not a small person myself, though I'm south of 200, and to me OS is the greatest thing since slice bread. I'm currently riding 725 OS Mercian mostly. Looks traditional with lugs and brazing, but it sure feels a lot more solid to ride. How important is keeping it C&V? For less money, some kind of modern TIG'ed gravel bike or something might serve the same purpose, and a number of these are nominally sort of retro styled.
A lot of what breaks bikes is poor technique. Maybe Mr. Spadoni the younger can learn to spin more? I guess there isn't really much to be done with a fixie though.
I see that I was beaten to the punch with the Varsity recommendation, so make that a +1. Continentals too.
