Schwinn Varsity Review

Overall 5.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

OldHippie
Saint Louis, MO

My Restoration - Complete!

bike owner

Pros

My New Hobby...Restoring an Old Bike, Worth the Effort

Cons

Time Consuming, Expensive

AUG

2008

Schwinn Varsity —

Just thought some might be interested in my Schwinn Varsity restoration process. This will be ongoing & updated as I (HOPEFULLY) progress. Today (8-6-08) is day one. Late yesterday afternoon I drove about 40 miles west of St. Louis to pick up a old Schwinn Varsity...for FREE! For that amount, it needs almost everything. The chain, along with other parts, is rusty, the tires are dry rotted & flat. The front wheel has missing spokes. It doesn't shift properly & the brakes are almost non-existent. In fact, one brake pad on the rear wheel is missing. Yes, I AM CRAZY!

Judging from the serial #, and what I can find via the Internet, the bike was made in December of 1973. It is "Campus Green" in color. The frame size is twenty inches. Frame size is measured from the center of the crank, to the top of the seatpost tube. What made a Schwinn Varsity unique from other bikes was the 27" X 1-1/4" tires. Most were & still are 26" tires. Even in 1973, this was an expensive bicycle...$102.95.

In here, I will let you know about rust removal, any retailers or local shops I deal with, not to mention my own knowledge (or lack there-of) picked up along the way. Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it!

Part way through day one; Instead of tacking on a lot here, see review of Naval Jelly Rust Dissolver.

Day two; (8-7-08) instead of spending more time not knowing exactly what shape this old bike is in, I took it to Karl at A&M Cyclery. Because of a 'bug' in the system, see review of A and M Cyclery. I should get the bike back on Wednesday of next week. (8-13-08) Karl has an excellent reputation.

(8-13-08) The bike is out of A&M Cyclery, still minus two tires, and a good front wheel. The difficult jobs begin. #1) Remove more rust and clean it up. #2) Find some older parts that match the original bike. I just got off e-bay where I found some "ORIGINAL" Campus Green colored handlebar tape. Every bike shop in St. Louis laughed when I asked if they carried, or could get this item.

(8-14-08) Front wheel, tires & tubes ordered from Niagara Cycle. Pedals ordered from Bike World USA. I could've bought pedals from K-Mart, but they were made from ABS Plastic...not steal. Still a lot to do...

(8-18-08) Niagara Cycle didn't bother to tell me they had little of what I ordered IN STOCK! But they sure took my money quick enough. I canceled the order. They are supposed to issue a credit to my credit card. We'll see...

(8-22-08) The new front quick disconnect wheel is on, along with new tires & tubes. I'm STILL waiting on the new "Campus Green" handlebar tape to match the bike. I ordered a new Avenir Saddle from Amazon.com and they have confirmed it shipped UPS today. Almost there... :) :)

(8-25-08) The "Campus Green" handlebar tape finally arrived...along with the new Avenir Saddle. (seat) Installing the handlebar tape wasn't as difficult as I thought. I just had to remember one thing. The right side wraps on clockwise starting about 2 inches from the center. The left side wraps on counter-clockwise. This keeps your hands from unknowingly un-wrapping it while riding. The Avenir Groove Dual Saddle is comfortable and won't hurt "the family jewels" while riding. IT'S FINALLY DONE! (9-05-08) On to the next project -- I sold it today on craigslist for $225.00.

Footnote: This bike even made it onto Old Ten Speed Gallery.com's web site as a featured bike.

Last edited on Dec 31, 2008

Schwinn Varsity is recommended by OldHippie

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Comments about OldHippie’s Review

I just bought a sierra brown Varsity touring bike made in November 1973. I purchased it for $10 at a thrift store. The only difference is that touring bikes have cruiser style handle bars and sport models like yours have curled under 10 speed style handle bars. Mine Has different size tires than what you stated. Mine has original S-6 rims that takes a 26" X 1 3/8" tire (597mm ISO bead seat diameter). This tire was unique to Schwinn. So far I have ordered new gum wall tires from Amazon ($28 with shipping) and new tubes from Sears ($7). There was lite surface rust on most of the chrome but (0000) steel wool, chrome polish, and 3 hours of hard labor with soap and water have made most of it come out sparkling. These are solid bikes and weigh @39lbs. I plan on keeping mine as they are getting to be collectible and you can't buy one today that's put together this well. Perhaps I'll motorize it with a china bike engine from E-bay and have something to ride that has a style of it's own.

In response to AngelaWLaFon's comment from Sep 8, 2008 at 11:55PM:

I already have... Copy & paste this link.

http://www.viewpoints.com/Craigslist--24106-review-dde47

In response to OldHippie's comment from Sep 6, 2008 at 12:53PM:

Awesome. Maybe you should do a Craig's List review?

In response to OldHippie's comment from Sep 6, 2008 at 12:50PM:

That's great! What's the next project? You have to keep me updated.

In response to AngelaWLaFon's comment from Aug 6, 2008 at 8:40PM:

(9-05-08) On to the next project -- I sold it today on craigslist for $225.00.

In response to KimihiroNishimura's comment from Aug 19, 2008 at 9:33AM:

(9-05-08) On to the next project -- I sold it today on craigslist for $225.00.

In response to mysticstarfish's comment from Aug 21, 2008 at 12:37PM:

(9-05-08) On to the next project -- I sold it today on craigslist for $225.00.

In response to CyndiA's comment from Aug 25, 2008 at 7:35PM:

(9-05-08) On to the next project -- I sold it today on craigslist for $225.00.

In response to MikeMaroon's comment from Aug 26, 2008 at 1:03AM:

Thanks Mike. Appreciate it.

Sweet! Good show!

In response to CyndiA's comment from Aug 25, 2008 at 7:35PM:

Thanks! :) :)

Thumbs up OH!

Cool. You're looking a lot here and so are we!

In response to mysticstarfish's comment from Aug 21, 2008 at 12:37PM:

Oh, I'll have more pics than I can post here when it's done. I'm waiting on a new front wheel, a new saddle and handlebar tape.

Keep the update's coming! I can't wait to see pics when it's done!

In response to KimihiroNishimura's comment from Aug 19, 2008 at 9:33AM:

It's going SLOWLY! But, we'll both get there.

What a coincidence! I bought same color, same generation's varsity from garage sale on 8/15. I am trying to restoring now! Except inside cassette gear, clank bearing & handle bearing, all bearing was cleaned up. Also, pedal could be disassembled by benting some portion. Next weekend, I will try to fix wheel vibration & clean up remaining bearings.