Olebiker

I was passing by the bike display at Walmart and saw the new version of the Schwinn Varsity. I pulled it out of the rack and it didn't feel too heavy, appeared to have an aluminum frame, and straight wheels. It was $199.

zonatandem

Schwinn has been sold and re-sold half dozen times and is now owned by a mainland China company.
They are just living off their name. Same way, you can now buy a Cadillac bicycle. Yup, Caddy has licensed their name to a Chinese company.
Soon we'll all be driving Chinese cars too, with American names, as Caddy is building an auto plant in China.

Olebiker

Yup. It's happened in a lot of industries. Poor Eddie Bauer would have a stroke if he saw what they have done with his name.

gpsblake

Did my 1,950 mile tour on a Walmart bought Schwinn Sidewinder, made in China. Didn't have a single problem with it except for flats. With any department store bike, always check the assembly. But you can get a good dependable bike at Walmart for a cheap price if you are a tight budget.

is the Varsity at Walmart a road bike or a mountain bike? I can't seem to find any at www.walmart.com

https://biketour.ne1.net

Olebiker

It's a road bike.

Travelinguyrt

You sure it wasn't made of plastic??

Waldo

They're actually owned by a French-Canadian company, Dorel.
The Caddy bikes are made by the same people that bring you the fine line of Kent bikes.

roccobike

Actually, GM already has a plant in mainland China. They make Buicks there. The only way you can sell cars in China is if they are made there. Volkswagon also has a plant there.
Hmmm.... How come we don't have that law here?

brokenrobot

Because the executive class gets paid either way, and our elected leaders follow the money instead of the will of the electorate.

But enough on that... this ain't P&R!

I'd really like a look at a "New Varsity" - anyone with access to a walmart feel like taking some photos / sharing some specs?

Bugtussle

I saw one today at the local Walmart and was a bit surprised. "gspblake"' maybe you could take your next tour on the "Varsity" and give us a report. The bike dosent look to bad. One interesting feature was the solid real axel with lock nuts rather the a quick release(that could be changed). The front had a QR axel. The frame didn't look too bad. The tires looked like 23 or 25's with presta valves. Go Walmart! A good rider on this bike could put some smoke on the on the average rider with their high end bike. Ouch!! Maybe Walmart will start selling 700c tires now.

dobber

Free enterprise?

Fred Smedley

Aluminum tig weled frame, TecKtro duel pivot sidepull brakes, cheap S. del. with SIS seven speed grip shift style shifters at the handlebar stem. 200.00 usd.

Bekologist

sounds like a 3 piece handlebar jobber....

brokenrobot

Interesting... sounds an awful lot like that Denali everyone was so excited about a while back

I'd still like to get a look at one... maybe it's off to the boonies to find a walmart later in the week!

gpsblake

The GMC Denali I thought was a waste when I tested it. I'll quote my review I did a few months ago.

Review
https://www.bikeforums.net/archive/in.../t-125898-p-11

I thought it was the worst bike Walmart has ever had for the price. The West Columbia, SC Walmart has dust on the 3 Denali's that continue to sit on their shelves.

I would like to see the new Schwinn Varsity at a Walmart. I'll buy it and test it. The good thing about Walmart is the return policy, if I don't like the bike I'll return it for a full refund. But if it has the same flaws that the Denali has like putting grip gear shifters on the handlebars, I won't bother with it. Nor would I take a true road bike on a bike tour. I prefer the smoother ride of wide tires over doing long distances day after day, even though it cost me a few MPH.

Fit is also more important on a road bike, I found the Denali to be too small of a frame.

Hopefully Walmart learned from it's mistakes with the Denali.

tcar5

I bought a 2006 Schwinn Varsity and ended up getting it for a song. $98 (the paint was scratched) So I was off to see how good I could make it. It now has Carbon fiber seat post, Selle Italia seat, carbon fiber fork (original was steel) Oh and by the way for all those in other forums questioning the topic of can you fit a 1-1/8 steering tube into a 1" head tube, the answer is yes with no problem. This bike came with prowheel crank set, shamino rear derailer (7), promax brakes, cane creek stem, shamino shifters, winmann rims, Innova 700c 25 presta tires, cage pedals.
I will admit that if you buy this you should give it a good once over to verify a good build. It did need adjustments for brakes and shifting. I took the whole thing apart and rebuilt it. I would place this up against any other $1400 bike out there. I have been less impressed with other bikes like TREK, GIANT and Specialized that I have ridden. All said and done I have invested the up front $100 and an additional $100 in aftermarket parts. (ebay). So for $300 for those who paid full retail, I would dare you to compair any $300 bike to this. Sure you can mention bike shop support, better shifters, rims, brakes, but then again go ahead and upgrade the Walmart bike. Its standard in every way (finally) How do I know, well I have a box of parts and I tried some of them and they all fit just fine.
Are they any problems that I have found? yes there are: Its in walmart along side other bikes that are really not very good bikes. But this one is a diamond in the ruff and with very little adjustments you can have a very light, very fast road bike at a very good price.

cruentus

The one in Secaucus (5 minutes from the Lincoln tunnel) is huge and has a large selection of bikes.

MMACH 5

Just last night, I noticed a Schwinn Varsity, sitting on the rack, at Wal-Mart, right along side the GMC Denali. It is chrome, instead of blue and doesn't have grip-shifters. Other than that they are identical, (frame shape and design, components, etc.)

tcar5

Not exactly the same parts. The Schwinn has prowheel crank set, shamino rear derailer (7 cassette), promax brakes, cane creek stem, shamino shifters, winmann rims, Innova 700c 25 presta tires, cage pedals. The GMC does not have any of that. The GMC is not made by Pacific Cycle to my knowledge. Granted its all on the low end of the food chain, but still better then no name at all or some ChinFoo knock off brand.

tcar5

Some pics from another post

edp773

Does it still come in one size only 56cm? I remember reading about this on an earlier post.

huhenio

It has thumb shifters! ... Why they don't stop the nonesense and start making lightweight, medium quality, single speed cruisers and road bikes?.

Kabloink

There is nothing wrong with thumb shifters. The old bar mounted thumbies were one of the best shifters made next to bar ends. Simple and reliable.

MMACH 5

Actually, the GMCs (there were two on the rack) that I saw did have a shimano RD. I remember noticing that. I'll have to stop by and take a closer look and see what other differences there are.

wsexson

Kinda sounds similar to the infamous GMC Denali wally world bike.