Schwinn Varsity bottom bracket problem
 

So I'm trying to revive an old schwinn varsity to ride around until i can save some dollars and buy a decent bike. Long story short, I cleaned and replaced everything that needed to be to make the bike rideable, but when I pedal the bike it feels like the brakes are being applied at about 75%. It's able to coast perfectly well so I'm pretty sure the problem is somewhere in the crank and not something else.
Working with bottom brackets is completely new to me so I dont really know where to start or what could be making it so difficult to pedal. I'm really itching to get this bike in working condition - the weather's getting nice and i dont have another bike to use so I would really appreciate any advice here

Thanks!
Adam

Take the chain off of the front chainring and try to turn the crank by hand. If your bottom bracket is bound up, you'll know it.

Should be able to just pedal backwards to tell**********

Unless this bike has a Front freewheel. i'm not sure if the varsity's ever had those though.

What I would do is just take the crank off and look in the BB. If the bearings are all busted or if something is obviously amiss, you've found the problem.

The crank should spin easily, if you take the chain off as suggested by Retro Grouch. That's the likely problem. If that's not the problem, then the freewheel could be funky.

The schwinn varsity I had didn't have a front freewheel, As retrogrouch said, If your bottom bracket is bound up you'll know pretty quickly. Try checking the ball bearings. If they are nasty, try cleaning them, if they are rusted/pitted/broken, replace them and that may fix the problem.

hey thanks for all the advice. after taking it apart i found the factory grease was still in there and was completely caked and dry. new grease and it's all like new now. thanks again