Hello all,

My girlfriend rides a classic 1973 Schwinn Varsity we restored a few years ago. It was her dad's when he was a kid, so it has quite a bit of sentimental value. We have done plenty of touring on it in Florida, but we are taking a tour that will cross through the Colorado Rockies (Great Parks South, maybe North too if we feel like it). Currently the bike is equipped with an Ashtabula one piece crank, 53/39 chainrings (no ramps/pins) and a new Shimano 5-speed hyperglide 13-26 cassette. In FL this was more than sufficient for most climbing because frankly Florida does not have long steep hills, even loaded. We want to re-equip the drivetrain to handle the mountainous terrain. Now I know that doing this isn't most people's idea of a proper touring bike, but we are willing to throw a little cash at the project.

Another consideration will be braking power. The current chromed steel rims and single pivot Dia compe brakes leave much to be desired. It also has the stock levers were are frankly pieces of junk. Upgrading this is a must.

I've researched a few options for a 3rd chainring:

#1
Get a tripilizer mount for the ashtabula crank. I found a few older threads discussing it, and Sheldon mentions a 'power disk' here (under chainwheels):https://sheldonbrown.com/opc.html
Thing is, I can't find any. I found some 110mm BCD adapters but this was for SS BMX use.

Get a triple derailleur. Looking for suggestions on this, it has a 25.4 mm seat tube.

#2
Use the truvativ american-to-euro BB adapter
https://www.amazon.com/Truvativ-00-64.../dp/B000VT550K

Add a 3 piece crank setup, add triple derailleur. This will necessitate new pedals or a pedal adapter.
What chainline should I use? 45mm? Less?

Now, as for braking power. I was thinking of using the new Sturmey Archer drum brake hubs and converting the bike to 700c wheels. Front wheel XL-FDD, 90mm drum brake dynamo hub, and rear X-RDC 70mm drum brake cassette hub. This would avoid the need for new long reach brake calipers. I would also throw in some modern road levers to up the power a bit. Thoughts on these hubs for touring? Especially in the mountains. I have doubts about the strength of the rear freehub, I've heard reports of pawl failure.

If not that ... then what? Can't imagine that the stock brakes would be much better on aluminum rims.

Ive been using SA drum brakes , on an all weather bike , for 20 years..

Given nothing on a varsity with an OPC, is LIGHT, their weight wont matter.

but whats the attraction to using a boat anchor Varsity?

I agree, working on / putting money into a low end Schwinn seems like a bad idea. Find a nicer bike for your GF.

CLB, I understand sentimentality, but find her a rigid mountain bike or hybrid, she then would have two very different bikes, which she may like and there's no chance of something going wrong with the Schwinn because of the modifications.

Brad

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I agree with the above posters. It'd be a lot of expensive work to get the Schwinn upgraded to the way you want. Get a rigid mountain bike from the early 90's or even better the late 80's. An 80's MTB with its long chain stays is basically modern touring bike geometry. You should be able to find something suitable for 100-200 dollars on Craigslist. It'll already have wheels that should stand up to the loads you are going to put on them and already have the gearing you need, saving you all the expense of the cranks, derailleurs, wheels and brakes. Have a mechanic look it over and put new cables and housings on it as well as new brake pads, then all you need is racks, tires, and a saddle.

This also has the benefit of keeping her heirloom original instead of turning it into some Frankenbike.

Well, despite all the advice to the contrary we decided to go ahead with the project after visiting the local bike co-op. Found a treasure trove of parts that will give her all the gearing and braking she will need. Scored a nice 44/34/24 pinned & ramped Ashatabula crank and bearing assembly, with light use, for $5. This crank is also significantly lighter than her existing setup! Support your local co-op! I've already fitted racks (front and back) and fenders on this bike. Also found some long stem quill in 21.15mm for her American bike. It's a bear, but it's her bear. I will say, this bike has very nice geometry for touring. Slack headtube angle, longish chainstays. She has been quite comfortable on it in the past. I will post some pics of my Frankenbike once we get it put together.

Still on the fence on how to improve braking power. Not sure we want to plop down the bucks for new wheels. The current 27" wheels have chromed steel rims, who thought that would be a good idea? For the time being, I'm going to fit modern levers and see how that firms things up a bit. The stock levers have seen their day. Considering an aluminum braking track or maybe scuffing up the rims with some low grit sandpaper. I will say that the stock wheels are fairly robust, 36 spokes in each wheel. Still true 40 years later. The axles leave something to be desired... both the stock units needed replacing after bending. Daily use on our local brick roads took their toll, it seems. So far the replacements are holding up.

Thank you for everyone's advice so far. I probably should have stated in the OP that I am capable bike wrench, and recently replaced the brake and derailleur housing. Also has a nice Selle Italia saddle she is partial to. This bike is in really good shape.

Last year I used the SA XL-FDD and a brand new deluxe crankset on a franken 1990 Raleigh. It's an awesome performing and zero maintenance hub, with sealed bearings, that is soon going on my custom tourster. I used heavy duty WH13 spokes from Peter White's shop. It doesn't hurt to have the extra weight in the front.

If you plan to stay with the stock steel rims (I wouldn't) and I assume they are the odd Schwinn sizing? You could use the Koolstop Continental brake pads, they are an improvement. I would at bare minimum swap the steel rims for something like the Sun CR-18 alloy rims which are available in the 27" size as well as several others. At least you would have a better choice in tires.

Aaron

Sounds like you have a 5-speed freewheel, not cassette; which means your (her) drive-side bearing race is considerably farther inboard than a cassette hub; which is probably why you have at least one bent axle. If you’re bending axles unloaded your wheels are not fit to tour. Those old spokes also tend to lose tension over the decades. The wheels may be true now but disintegrate a few miles into your tour. Your cheapest option would be to re-tension the wheels and replace the hollow axles with bolt-on solid axles.

Drum brakes load the frame and fork differently than fork crown and seat stay bridge mounted rim brakes. I would do a lot of research before I put drum brakes on a frame and fork designed for rim brakes. Maybe you can get by with just upgrading the leavers, calipers, and pads.

I have a spoke tensionmeter that I used to check the wheels after pulling it out of storage, wheels are in good shape like I said. This bike has been used already for hundreds of touring miles. My concern is ascending and descending on this bike. The original axles were solid, and so are the new ones. I've equipped the bike with Koolstop Salmon pads in the past, but it still does not have a tremendous amount of stopping power. This bike has a freewheel, not a cassette you are right on that. This wheel has less dishing and offset axle loading than a 6 or 7 speed wheel that many people toured on just fine, and surprisingly it was the front axle that went first. Still, the wheels vex me a bit.

The loading to the frame/fork is something that concerns me; has anyone experience fork failure with a drum brake like the SA? I've seen pictures of disc brake fork failure on modified stock forks that were never designed for that kind of stress. The torque arm on the SA hub does help load the fork up a bit higher to reduce leverage. I assume these considerations were made by the engineers at the factory. You don't see a lot of bikes equipped with fat drum brakes by manufacturers, seems to me they are more popular in the aftermarket.

What long-reach, nutted calipers can you suggest Houdini? I have only found Tektro making a set currently. I would prefer dual pivot calipers over single pivot.

You have just got to pick up a set of alloy wheels for the improved braking safety AND the ease of climbing.

I bought a set off CL this week for $20 with a bike attached. It not unusual to to see a decent used 700c wheel set for 100. New is not that much more of the economy minded from the likes of Handspun.

Drum brakes are a bad idea, poor braking and they WILL fade (i.e. get even worse) on long mountain descents. You need new, alloy wheels. You can probably even use the old brakes, but I wouldn't.

This is part of why trying to modify this Varsity is throwing good money after bad. Sentimental value is dangerous in the inexperienced - she loves this bike probably in no small part because she thinks a new bike would feel much the same, but wouldn't have the same emotional significance. But a new bike would actually be so far superior that I think she would get over it.

Look at it this way: just as an example, a brand-spanking-new Giant Escape hybrid, depending on the exact model, will cost $400-$550 or so. You are already looking at hundreds of dollars in parts (new wheels, brakes, etc) for this Varsity. I assume the trip is already going to cost you something as well. For not much more than what you'll end up spending on the Varsity, she could have a BRAND NEW bike that is lighter, easier to ride, better with a load, and most importantly, SAFER. If that's too much money, you could go used and spend the same amount on, again, a lighter, easier, safer bike.

PLEASE consider doing some bike shopping. Don't believe that sentimental value is a good reason to keep riding a bad bike. Yeah, you can tour on anything, but a Varsity is bottom of the barrel, and the idea of riding a loaded Varsity down Rocky Mountains passes is horrifying, even with new brakes and wheels. It's a really bad idea. She should really get a different bike. If nothing else, the experience will be better.

I converted a Schwinn Varsity to a baby carrier bike and off road thrasher with new aluminum wheels and 35mm tires. I forget if i stuck with the original brakes and 27" wheels or went to 700c and made brake accomodations. i think I went to 700x35 and might have changed one of the brakes. Either way sticking with steel rims is a big mistake. You don't need a drum brake, just well adjusted brakes and good aluminum wheels.

I'd say drum brakes for touring in the mountains is a daft idea,

but if instead you are thinking a durable year round commuter, then there is a different

benefit..

Hello all

Thank you for all the criticisms, they are helping make our decisions. Decided to abandon the idea of drum brakes. So far we scooped up some tektro road levers and dual pivot calipers that will fit her frame out of the box, long reach too. So far they are looking good for braking power, and cheap to boot. Managed to score a cheapo Schwinn GT290 triple derailleur for cheap, and in great shape. Drop in replacement woo hoo! We are looking for a 700c wheelset for touring or I might build her some new wheels. I think that the chrome steel rim wheels are a bad idea too.


Grolby - if the bike has new brakes and wheels, what could make it safer? The rack is well attached and she packs very light, 2 panniers and a frame bag. No matter how you cut it a new bike is going to cost me more. Have you ever ridden a loaded varsity? They handle pretty well. Aside from the narrow tubing it's a perfectly capable touring bike. I know it gets a ton of flak but asides from being a boat anchor it ain't all that bad.


Anyone selling a 700c wheelset?

I love the Varsity. I think putting money into one in 2013 in an attempt to transmogrify it into a specialized touring mount is a fools errand.

That said: Back in the more innocent age of 1976, thousands of Americans headed across the USA on bicycles to celebrate the Bicenetennial. Some number of folks used the Varsity that was in their garage. To no surprise, these very inexpensive recreational ten-speeds were found to be heavy and too highly geared for touring. However, having overhauled a number of bikes after they made the trip, I was surprised at how the Varsity shrugged off the wear and tear of a 4,300 mile self-contained tour. They're quality machines.

I have a lengthy history of modifying 26 inch Schwinn Varsitys. These American made bicycles are virtually bulletproof and make great donor frames and forks for various projects. I modified my first 26 inch Varsity frame in the early 1980's to fit 26in x 1.75in mountain bike tires and rims. These wheels lowered the bottom bracket with its hollow aftermaket chrome moly 180 mm crank. I bashed a number of objects with the cranks over the years and never bent anything. I mounted cantilever studs on the front fork with Mafac cantilevers and never bent the fork. I got rid of all the Schwinn steel components and ran aluminum everywhere, seatpost, seatpost clamp, and handlebars. I ran a one speed coaster brake hub from Czechoslavakia that was absulutly bulletproof. These coaster brake hubs are still available and I highly recommend them. I never burned out the coaster no matter how long and steep the downhills in off road racing. The 26 inch Varsity frame with all these changes weighed in at 31 lbs. In those days this was a very competitive weight. I also built another Varsity bicycle the same way but with a triple up front using the hollow one piece crank and an adaptor plate that let me bolt all the chainrings for a triple onto it. I used a Huret DuoPar rear derailleur but this bicycle did not do well in off road competition because of chain bounce and skipping. I went back to the one speed because of its reliable off road racing ability. I had a special chrome moly frame built that was lighter that my Varsity's by 2-3 lbs. but my overall standings in the NORBA off road races did not show improvement since this amount of weight reduction is minimal. I believe you can find aluminum 27x1 1/4inch wheelsets fairly cheaply on the Internet that will work on your Varsity and these would be a big improvement. You can spread the rear fork on the bicycle to accept cassette hubs and this would take care of your rear bent axles. See Sheldon Brown's website for a better description of the practice of bending steel frames. I am a fan of drum brakes but don't have a lot of coming down big mountain experience with them I have used Shimano Nexus roller hub brakes for several years and the front roller brake is weak at best. The roller brake itself needs maintenance greasing on a regular basis. I use a Worksman front drum brake on an LGB model bicycle and it works wonderfully with no maintenance. Even though the Varsity frame and fork weigh more than equivelent chrome molly frames, they can be lightened with proper choice of components down to near where a lot of more expensive bikes are at in terms of overall weight. The Varsity framsets make very comfortable riding bicycles that are very durable. Finally as I age I have come to appreciate a good and proper bicycle side stand and the old Chicago Schwinns have one of the very best. Good luck whichever way you go on this project.

+1,000,000.
but if you've already gone this far get the alloy rims.