Here is my completed old-bike-for-an-old-man project. It's an '83 Giant built 25" Schwinn World Sport 12 speed. While some may want to avert their eyes, the bike actually works very well for me. I sit upright with very little weight on my hands and don't need to bend my neck back, which it does not like to do anymore. Aerodynamic it ain't but it's nice to look around at the scenery instead of watching the pavement pass under my front wheel.

Key components are the tall frame, which keeps the seat as low in the seat tube as possible, and a really tall stem, in this case a Sunlite touring stem made of genuine hand welded steel. Because almost all my weight in on my ass, finding a comfy seat is turning out to be difficult. The B72 didn't work for me and this Cloud Nine is better but not quite right. I have a micro adjusting seat post on the way so that I can fine tune the tilt. One trick to making the frame fit right was moving the seat as far back as possible which helps overcome the road bike geometry that is not very suitable for upright riding.

Other not original stuff are the Dia-Compe tourist brake levers, Sunlite alloy North Road bars, Kenda 1-3/8" tires and a Suntour LePree RD that replaced a not original Sunrace fitted with cheesy red jockey wheels.

I really like this bike and always look forward to riding it. It's nice to complete a ride without pain and numb hands, just tired legs.

Nice, but that's a long reach for a beverage, your stems tall enough to mount it up front, no?

B67 maybe?

Your bike is actually an '84 model, 83 would have had different decals. My uncle bought one of those brand new, same color and frame size and everything. He lent it to me a couple years ago and I rode it for a year while in college, and it served me quite well despite being way too big for me.

It is. I have a bottle cage I got back in the early '70s that hangs on the bars and stem. I should polish it up and use it.

Im a fan of what ever is comfy. Looks good,

The date code on the right drop out is G1283, so December of '83. It was probably late enough to be built out as an '84.

I am a big fan of older bikes being ridden and enjoyed, so whatever equipment works for you is great.

I've done two similar conversions- a '73 Varsity and an '83 Raleigh Marathon.

FWIW- to get comfy on the saddle you need wide and springs like the Brooks b-67 or similar. Since your sitting bolt upright, all your weight is creating hot spots, poor blood flow to certain areas. A saddle with a greater surface area that conforms to your arse will be more comfortable in the long haul. Since your position is upright, your spine is going to act as part of the suspension system, so a few springs will ease that too. Together, once broken in, not much else will be as comfy, that's why you see them on British and Dutch city bikes....it works.

Just use a piece of pvc tubing as a sippy straw! An effective way to recycle a frame that isn't particularly loved as a road bike due to dull ride and weight. Enjoy!

I am from the Form follows Function school of design. Whatever keeps you riding is beautiful in my book. I am curious though why you are not satisfied with the seat. Not enough spring? Or the seat shape-form doesn't work with you leg motion? Or does the upright position distribute more weight to the seat bones?

Doohickie, nice looking bikes. That is a great way to make a Varsity useful for another 40 years.

What are the bars on the Raleigh?

It's not bad, just a bit squishy and the cutout is not really deep enough. I am going to try fine tuning the tilt when I get the micro adjusting seat, that may help.

Gnome, I briefly tried a well worn B66. It is probably too old and used to be a fair test. It came off a '78 DL1 that saw years of NYC commuter duty. I may not have enough padding in my ass for a Brooks. My wife loves the B72 on her DL1.

The bike build date can be found on the headbadge in the form of a 4-digit number (dddY) where ddd represents the ordinal day and Y represents the last digit of the year. For example 1234 would mean the bike was built on the 123rd day of '84, which was Wed. May 2nd, 1984.

Very funky! Much better than simply flipping the bars DUI Style.

Thanks!

Swap Meet Specials. They had the cork grips on them and everything. I have no idea what brand or model though. I was actually looking for something more like the ones on your bike and "settled" for the big cruiser bars and now that I have them I love them.

As far as the Brooks saddles go... I dunno; some people love 'em and some don't. Sounds like you're one of the people they don't work so well for. I have them on all my bikes except for the Schwinn, and I actually have one for that as well but I haven't put it on yet.

Funky for sure. I have yet to find an appropriate flag to fly off the stem and I have left the bar end caps out in case I decide I want streamers.