Originally Posted by
Vintage Schwinn
The COLLEGIATE in particular with its 597mm wheel and 37mm tire width is a fantastic ride.
These ancient bicycles deserve a look. They are incredibly inexpensive. They are durable workhorses that are very comfortable to ride.
The ONLY FUNCTIONAL DOWNSIDE IS THAT THEY CAN BE A PAIN TO PUT ON A TYPICAL AUTOMOBILE BIKE RACK BECAUSE OF BEING A STEP-THROUGH FRAME,
My wife has been very happy with this 5 speed Collegiate that I picked up at a local garage sale about 13 years ago for about $10 or $15. It needed no repairs or maintenance. I added the bell and front bag.
I carry adult step thru frame bike on a regular rear rack on my compact cars with the use of regular rubber straps looped around the bike frame and pulling the bike up to the horizontal bar and attach the hooks of the straps to various parts of the rack that will suspend the bike from the horizontal bar of the rack frame and not allow the bike to sway fore and aft, rather than have the bike frame resting on top of the horizontal bar. It takes longer to type than actually load the Collegiate or my other step thru bikes.