Saw a blue ~70s varsity yesterday at the thrift store, they must of caught on to the recent retro-bike boom. The price tag was $79.95!

Here is another one.

I knew there had to be a Varsity appreciation thread! Anyway, before I post mine, I have to comment:

It's a fine bike, but you got ripped off for $50. I got an identical one (except mine has fenders), a 1973 model, for free at the city dump!

Ha! I sold it for $150.

Unknowingly I sold it to a flipper who relisted it days later at twice the price.

Wow. Awsome! And unbelievable!

Admittedly, with several long hiatus from riding, this '67 is the only multi-speed bike I ever owned, from my teens, in the 70's, 'til I bought a road bike in '08. It became mine after my father purchased it used from a co-worker and, after a year, decided he didn't enjoy riding. Now, I've ridden it over much of SF, but esp. in the Sunset, as a teen.






Chicagoan - there are dozens of excellent archived BF threads involving Varsity basics and upgrades as well as minutiae. [Search the Forums] is your new best friend.

JJPistols - I'm speechless.. the stripped down cycling equivalent of a Jeep. Perfect.

..long overdue comments..

PastorBob - talk about keeping the faith.. your Schwinn collection and upgrade work is, in a word, divine.

Sierra - what a sparkling jewel - and an engineering inspiration. I had never considered a exposed rear brake cable run, until I was researching my most recent effort to resurrect the Varsity. While examining one of your larger images, and delighting in the detail, I noticed the brake cable. Eureka! To never again see that cable housing peeking out from under the top tube.. yessss - Thanks!

cudak888 - that image is so stunning it rises above art and simply becomes pornography (sorry, Pastor).

As found,

'72 Continental. CL find with a matching womens SS for $75.

'73 Continental. CL seller had this and the Sprint for $50.

'74 Sprint with a crank conversion.

Basket case Varsity for $10, but it had a diamond in the rough.

Nice! are those 26" cruiser wheels?

yup


fat tires and a coaster brake really brings a Varsity to life

Ok now it's official!!!
I'm sick....I just made a deal to buy this POS

Why? because I can't help myself.. I seem to just have to have every old road bike I see. Help!

I just posted this one on the Little Peoples thread but I'm gonna here too because people aught to know that the old 24"wheels that these youth size bikes came with can be replaced with skinny 26" MTB wheels and tires.
Never finished this one. Passed it on to another fella with a short missus.

Here's one that I refurbished and sold over the winter. It is now ridden by a nice Irish girl in Chicago.

That should clean up nicely.

I converted my Varsity to a single speed just for grins. It's way too small for me but is surprisingly comfortable to ride with this setup. I don't ride it any more so will most likely put it back to original and sell it this summer. I've noticed they go quick on the local Craigslist.

It might just be me but there is something so cool looking about that HUGE chrom pie plate chain guard when its all cleaned up and sparkling in the sun. Its like a 59 Caddy all polished up and ready to cruise.

I am a sucker for lime green Schwinns. The then future Mrs. K rode a Varsity just like that when we met.

I'll pick it up Friday so i have had a chance to eyeball it up close yet.. any guess on the year?

That should read "haven't had a chance" !

Found this one by a dumpster and flipped it last year. Was in almost perfect condition except for the rotten tires.

1973; they made over 1,500,000 that year.



Got this beater in the alley on large item pick-up day. Added: Mavic rims, Super Record fr mech, Doupar Titane rr mech, Stronglite crank, Suntour barcons, NOS Shimano freewheel, GB randonneur bars.

tcs

Interesting. I have a 24" Varsity and Sprint that I have been kicking around what to do with. I have at least one set of bolt on 26" alloy rimmed mountain bike wheels in the basement. Might be time to try a test fit on one of them.

Did you have to cold set the frame to get them to fit?

Sorry about the terrible picture, but the weather was bad outside and I had to squeeze in next to the car. Part of a multi-bike buy for $30. I'd say around $10 was devoted to this (?) Deluxe Varsity (?). The serial number & head badge stamp indicates 1984, but according to the available literature there was no such creature. Probably an 'end of life', 'get these frames out of here' build.

It has the FF (front freewheel) & Positron rear system.

Question for GEEKRUNNER

I was looking at your pictures and noticed the black ring in the center of the chainring. Did you convert a Front Freewheel to a three piece crank? Any tips?

here's my green '75

Great looking saddle/bar tape combo. But, the seatpost appears to be on backward.