halfspeed

There are lots of =good= old bikes sitting around in garages that can be had for cheap and are worth restoring. My single speed is an 80's Bianchi that cost me $10, weighs 19 pounds. I've restored a 1978 Trek TX-500 that cost me $25. It weighs about 24 pounds. My current project is an early 80's Trek. It also cost me $25. Nobody needs to ride a Varsinental. Even some of the low end French bikes are better. Restoring Varsities makes as much sense as restoring Ford Pintos if you could get vintage Mustangs at the same price.

supcom

Look at it this way. If you get a cheap bike out of the trash for nothing and put $50 into it, you have a $50 bike. If you get a nicer bike for $30 at a thrift store and put $50 (a low figure from my experience) into it, you have an $80 bike.

A Varsity may not be the best bike in it's class, but a $50 bike is a cheaper ride than a $80 bike.

Besides, most of the parts you buy for the cheap bike can be swapped over to a nicer bike in the furure should one come along.

bhchdh 

I stiil have my '77 Varsity hanging in the basement.

seely

Okay and back to my point--NOTHING that fits a Varsity will fit any other bike!!! How many bikes use 27" wheels, much less S7 sized wheels? Those crappy Dia Compe centerpull brakes... 7/8ths seatpost I believe, with a wide assortment of metric and SAE hardware through out. As I recall even the stems are an odd size. I worked at a Schwinn dealer and must have worked on 20 or 30 of these in the few months I was there... we had to measure every part we took off of every one to find a replacement since it seemed no two were quite the same.

halfspeed

You've got to be pretty hard up or pretty far away from civilization to consider a free Varsity to be a reasonable substitute for a $10 Bianchi.

Old Varsities might make sense in the poorest parts of the third world where "bomb proof" is a literal requirement for the primary means of cheap transport, but outside that context I don't buy that restoration makes any sense. There are better bikes at a similar cost.

Even an old Peugeot U0-8 is a better project.

seely

Do you ever feel as if you are talking to a wall Halfspeed?

scott L R

Hey, I just bought an older schwinn tempo for $60.00. Guy bought it from goodwill for $5.00. He then put new brakes, cables, and a selle itallia sphere saddle on it, also trued wheels, 1 tire + tube. Now I have a road bike.

halfspeed

Tempo is not a Varsity! They were actually pretty decent steel bikes. Nice find.

supcom

I would love to find a $10 Bianchi but they seem to be in short supply in North Texas.

supcom

Lots of bikes used 27 inch wheels. I have two in my garage. If a standard 27 inch tire won't fit on an S7 rim, it's a simple matter to replace the rims.

I also have no problem with either SAE or metric hardware. There is no shortage of either.

I have 6 bicycles of various vintage from the late 70's to recent and every one of them has a different seatpost diameter. It seems that every bike designer must have his favorite seatpost diameter.

Woking on most vintage equipment has challenges finding parts. Standards change over the years. for example, old road bikes with steel bars had a 25.4mm stem clamp. New aluminum bars use 26.0mm clamps. Parts are still available for both standards, but your selection is limited.

I've not worked on a Schwinn Varsity, but I do have an old World Sport. I've exchanged parts off it with two other bikes and have had no problems.

dafydd

27" is about the only size that Schwinnn did NOT make a proprietary size for; 27 1/38 is the same bead seat as the rest of the 27s.

Also, S7 is a middleweight tire size.

Bentley6

There are no Bianchi's or Peugeot's in my area to be found either. But a large supply of Varsity's and Continentals. What makes sense to one person may not another. We all have different reasons for doing what we like but to me a bike is a bike and as long as your getting out there and cycling or have a love for bikes and cycling then that's what counts. If I could find a cheap Mustang to repair instead of a Pinto I would but there are no better quality bikes in my area that I've found but I have a basement full of Varsity's and Continentals that I can build into a few decent heavier road bikes. If I run across one of those cheap, better, lighter bike deals I sure won't pass it up but so far it's not happened.

nolageek

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...103292171&rd=1

You are all just riding imitations of the varsity anyway, so says farmboy64.

halfspeed

I wonder if he'd sell me the fenders and keep the boat anchor?

lt1aggie

i recently bought a schwinn varsity to ride around campus and town. i paid fifty dollars for it and i dont have any regrets. yes, it's heavy and it might not be worth the money, but 2 tubes and 2 sets of brake pads later, and i have a nice bike. i love riding it. i like the old school effect and i get glances everywhere i ride. my non biker friends even love it!

sydney

I'll take the $80 bike any day over a POC varsity, even if the varsity was totally free.

sydney

What a waste.Someone could be using it as a boat anchor.

nolageek

I'd totally take the varsity if it was cheap enough, definately if it was free. (The flea market in my area is still asking $75 for one.) I'd have to strip it down though, it really does weigh a ton!

sydney

Throw everything away, and the plumbers pipe frame would still weight 1975 pounds.

nolageek

yeah. But some us are already peddling around 230# of ourselves. What's another 40? I'd consider it my workout bike.

I'm telling you, the flea market one is the purtiest mix of yellow and chrome. The first time I saw it I thought, "Sure, it's a varsity, but zowie it's pretty!" Then I went to pick it up and was like, "damn this thing is heavy."

brokenrobot

Hell, I rode a Continental for the first year of my commute and hauled it up several flights of stairs to my apartment and back several times a day. It was worth it. Those things are pothole-proof and theft-proof, and have a very very plush ride - largely because they ARE so heavy. For a commuter or a cafe bike, the Varsinentals are still great bang for the buck, IMO, even at 50lbs.

Douglas

I bought a varsity in 1971 from a shop in Texarkana. It had the large frame and served me through high schools and 2 tours of college. I still have it and ride it quite often. It's a dinosaur, so what. My other bike is a randonee I picked up at a year end rei sale.

Balance

Restore that bike! Forget the snobs, the weight weenies, the insecure with their rides, the nay-sayers. If the bike needs a helluva lot of work you may need to ask yourself if it's worth it. This isn't a bike that you'll want to be dumping parts into, unless they're just collecting dust. A new saddle maybe, new tires maybe, new brake pads fer sure!, recable it. This is not expensive. It'll give you a nice project to work on, and if you haven't restored an older bike before, it'll be a good introduction. I used to go around with my bike trailer pulling bikes out of the trash, take them home, restore some and strip others for parts. It's a great hobby to get into. It's so very satisfying to give shiney chromed up jubilent bikes to friends. Recently finished a early 70s green mixte frame supercycle. It's one of the best handling bikes i've ever ridden, is deceptively fast, and it's actually on the light side. Chrome fenders, chromed 27 rims, chrome seatpost, handlebars (low rise with nice pull back), stem, etc, etc. It's stunning. Has dual pull brakes that squeel like it's the end of the world. I like that.
For chrome don't use steel wool. That's only for rust, and steel wool will make scratches on your chrome. I've used turtle wax, a rag and elbow grease succesfully. You can even turtle wax your saddle and grips and tires. Shiney!

The first thing to do is check the frame for damage. Was it in a crash? Is the fork pushed back? Is there buckling on the downtube just behind the headtube (on the bottom)? Is the rear triangle straight? Do you see any bubbling paint (sign of cracks underneath)? When you stand beside the bike, holding the saddle and the stem and push on the bb with your foot, does the frame seem solid (it should bend a bit)? Would you let your mother ride it?

The second thing it check is if the seat post or stem are seized. If they're seized at the wrong height, you'll never get comfy on that bike.

Third, how's the drivetrain? Are you going to have to change any parts? If so, will you be able to find that part, or substitute?

From here the best way to proceed depends on the bike. While it's very tempting, always polish last. Get that thing working before you get it pretty!

nolageek

Speaking of the Varsity, what's the deal with this:

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...141271331&rd=1

Buy It Now Priced at $275? Kinda proud for a Varsity he pulled out the trash.

nolageek

Hehe. Love people with overly excitable item descriptions:

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...140316179&rd=1