Schwinn Varsity
 

Posted this in the Schwinn thread, but I figured it might get more hits on its own.

So I have this old Schwinn Varsity frame. Im looking to convert it to fixed gear. It has no crank or BB. The hole for the BB is larger than on modern bikes I have seen, and I have read that it needs converting or it has a 1piece crank or some **** like that.

Can anyone tell me what kind of crank and BB I need for this thing? (And where I can buy them online for cheap).

Also, is the hub spacing 120mm rear/100mm front?, so it should accept generic ebay fixed gear wheelsets?

Thank you:)

The spacing on my le tour is 126 rear 100 front. Not sure if the varsity is the same. My crank it standard so I cannot comment on that.

Btw, 120 rear hubs work fine. There is an article by Sheldon Brown on this.

A 1 piece crank for a BMX would work. Same goes for the cups and the head set. Here I got help on the subject http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=433952 It should be very inexpensive. Or you caqn take one from an unused BMX for free.

If you want a 3 piece you need to make a conversion (pretty simple and straightforward). You need something like this http://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...&category=2634
Then you need to buy the cups, bearings and an axle, and then you need to buy cranks. Much more expensive this way.

Since its going to be fixed, the spacing doesnt matter. You have to adjust the chain line first, make sure its straight, and then add or remove nuts/washers from the other side to make it fit right. Then IF needed you might have to dish the wheel a bit.

Good Luck man! My brother has a varsity fixed and he loves it. It gets the most use out of all his bikes. Sturdy as heck.

I actually have a fairly new truvativ crank/chainring/BB laying around, do I need anything other than that converter to get it up and running?

this is the setup i have:
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/4104/dsc07270.jpg