Originally Posted by
Mos6502
...external lugs made it easier for a buyer to examine the brazing of a frame (it does).
A lot of those internally lugged bikes got rebadged and you can't always tell who made it.
It's a moot point though, since I'll admit a ten speed Columbia is nearly as heavy as a Schwinn Varsity (about nine hundred and twenty five thousand tons) so not what you should be looking for...
Reread the original post. Then come up with any logical reason a steel framed bike would fail to provide what he wants.
I feel you contradict yourself with these two points!
Varsitys are heavy but very strong, durable bikes which often come in great colors and are appreciated by some as the classics they are. You rarely notice weight on a bike unless you do a lot of climbing, racing, or loading/unloading into a car or something.