Originally Posted by Vintage Schwinn

Yeah, the GIANT made collegiate first appeared in 1983 after Chicago was gone.. The GIANT made collegiate has a 3 piece crank and ORDINARY 590mm wheels. It (the GIANT made for Schwinn bike) is simply a bicycle that Schwinn badged as the "collegiate" for a few years because the COLLEGIATE had been a very popular Chicago made offering.
No question about it, the GIANTs were very good bicycles and significantly lighter than the real Chicago Collegiates, but the ride quality, the durability, and the gear ratio (on 5 speed model) was never as good as the Chicago made COLLEGIATES of the 1970-1980 era.
They are very nice bicycles. Schwinn created a "Giant" by making a virtually nobody-unknown player in the international bicycle industry, somewhat of a player that essentially overtook the Chicago powerhouse very quickly as Chicago had been asleep at the wheel for almost a decade, and GIANT was tuned into making good reasonably affordable bicycles that were more like what was in demand during those bike bust years. Schwinn was just scrambling to stay alive, and to continue offering a wide product line, however possible at that time. GIANT at the time wasn't anywhere in the same league with PANASONIC of Japan, but because GIANT wasn't in Japan, they were a much more cost effective supplier at that time for inconsequential, non-enthusiast bikes such as the niche that the Collegiate filled in the Schwinn product line-up.