RoadWearier

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/683066963947811/?mibextid=dXMIcH




Assuming it's ready to ride as is.

downtube42

Only if the words vintage and Schwinn have significant meaning to you.

Continental was my first adult bike, and I put a few thousand miles on it. Bombproof, rides well whatever that means, heavy as a tank, has panache whatever that means. Brakes are barely capable.

Assuming everything functions and bearings are not shot, with maintenance it will last a long time. I'd expect the grease is tar, spokes are seized.

It's more robust than anything sold at a department store today.

base2 

It's a little embarrassing how the humble Schwinn Continental or Varsity are maligned at any cost they happen to be. Ask yourself this: "How much is a fancy romantic dinner date at the local American Mexican restaurant with a pair of Margaritas and endless salsas & chips?"

Does the Schwinn cost more than that? Practically speaking, a pair of decent Panaracer tires and a pair of replacement tubes can cost that much. Given that perspective I'd say $90 is more than fair for all the joy and miles it will bring.

Will it be hip? Will it be fancy? No & no. Will it be reliable, inexpensive transportation with little to no theft value? Absolutely.

bikemike73 

Sturdy...stable...and yes...heavy..

I had one growing up. Nice riding bikes.

If tires are good and shifts and brakes good.
90.00 not bad
offer 70.00 cash
In person
Good luck

jon c. 

For resale, no way. As a solid, reliable rider it's absolutely worth it if it fits and everything is in good working order.

RoadWearier

I read somewhere that they are 40(??) Pounds! Even my steel Raleigh with steels rims was 32. How could it be 40 pounds?

Russ Roth

But will it bring joy? Functionality perhaps though probably only after those tires you mentioned, and a decent new tape job, and potentially only after regreasing the bearings if it hasn't been done in the last 30 years. But I can't say after test riding a number of them that I would have ever called the ride joyful.

Cheapest possible seamed steel pipe from the 70s. I've never been convinced that the tubes are much different from black gas line pipe, just a thinner diameter.

Chuck M 

I agree on the joy. I bought a bike recently for $150 that I wanted to give $75 for. After tires, tubes, rim tape, bar tape, chain, cables, and Kool Stops, I'm pretty happy to have a bike exactly like the one I had in high school.

And as for the grease, I'm finding that when it comes to Schwinn, they may have never been greased at all.

HelpSingularity 

They are cool in their own way.
Varsities/Continentals have their own, solid, feel that I loved back in the day.
90 bucks is barely a drop in the bucket nowadays.
If you want an around the town bike (with built-in kickstand) you can't go wrong.
One thing to remember is that this model looks to be about 50 years old.
You might need to do some maintenance.
The bike is easy to work on and parts are relatively inexpensive.

Sedgemop 

If you want it, then it's worth $90.

Jeff Neese

If you had one as a kid (like me), it's certainly worth $90 for the novelty/nostalgia factor. That's assuming you don't have to put much into it. The one you linked to appears to be in great shape, but by the time you buy new tires and brake pads (at least) you're closer to $200. So consider it a $200 bike, and that's if it doesn't need anything except new rubber.

But after the novelty wears off, you're stuck with a 40 lb bike that performs poorly and isn't really that much fun to ride. I mean, think about it - it has steel wheels, turkey-wing brake levers, stem mounted shifters, etc. It's fun to look at it and say "I had one just like it when I was a teenager" and to get those "cool bike" comments from other cyclists, but as an actual bicycle that you're going to want to ride on a regular basis, probably not.

That one is the same color as the one I had as a paperboy (I think they called it "Root Beer Brown") and even has the same type of rack, so it would be very tempting to me if I lived in the area. But at the same time, I know that after I restored it to its full original glory, I would ride it a few times and then it would seldom get ridden.

RoadWearier

Yeah. I'm itching for another bike as I will be home for a couple days and wanted a winter ride. I understand what you guys mean by "solid". The Raleigh Capri was like that. Actually more comfortable on our crappy roads but slow and heavy when I have to carry it up some stairs to get to our bike path.

Vintage_Cyclist

About $2 a pound. Cheaper than hamburger meat!

shelbyfv

As others have said, there's no profit for you in that one. However, there are some very similar looking Schwinns from that period that are worth buying and still have fans. Check out Fillet Brazed Schwinns

Prowler 

A word of caution (applicable to all “old” bikes) - the bike is around 50 years old, assembled with whatever average grease Schwinn was using on average bikes back then. That grease is probably of little value all these years later, even if (unlikely) the stuff is still clean. So, if you know how, every bearing should be opened, cleaned out and regreased with modern stuff. Otherwise you could ruin the bike quickly by riding it.

If you’re not handy with bearing overhauls, and have the tools, then you pay a shop to do it. That could cost $250 or more. Check that out. Check out the tires and tubes too. 50 year old tires are not safe. Dry rot. And cables/housings. Look at the big picture.

Sorry, but if you bought a 50 year old car you’d do the same or even more, huh?

I had a bike once, made in 1976. The crank was hard to turn. I sprayed WD-40 in the BB which freed it up. Until the next morning when it was stuck again. The original grease had dried to a thick paste, more like chewing gum. Material science has come a long way since 1976.

Kabuki12

^^ What Prowler said. My mailman retrieved his Schwinn LeTour from his mother’s house after sitting for 40 years. I overhauled it for him so he could ride it. The grease on ALL bearings was dried up to a thick , nasty , wax that I
cleaned and then greased with fresh grease. If he had ridden the bike I’m sure the races would have been ruined , the grease was no longer effective. It took me about a full day and I have all the right tools and a good stand, $250 would be a bargain. I didn’t charge him for it just because we are friends and it is a hobby for me.

This is what I found throughout the moving bearings!

Eyes Roll

That bike is worth $90, to me personally, if I will ride it, or to any other person, who will ride it. If I will not ride it, I will not take it even for free and keep it in my garage and lose some garage space for nothing. That's just me.

You can simply ride that bike as a cardio to exercise, or attach panniers or milk crate to that rear rack to run errands and bring groceries home. That bike will serve a purpose or two.

zukahn1 

IMHO any good working riding basically safe bike with tires that hold air is worth $90 or more. Where the current market gets a bit odd is the gap between basic riders like this one and really nice vintage classics used bikes used to be $150 vs 1200+??. Seem to now be $100 vs $300-500. With the working wage at $20 hour most places relative vintage bike prices are down about %1000 from there high point.

Deal4Fuji

Your's is almost identical to the one I bought in '19, right down to the reflectors


Mine has been a lot of fun, and I find JOY in riding it. I find joy in riding almost any bike. We went on a beach vacation a few year back and riding a rented beach cruiser around Folly Beach was a blast.

Excuse Me ! It's the lowly Varsity that taps in over 40 lbs, the svelte Continental comes in at just 39

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...st-39-lbs.html

zukahn1 

The conti is 36 curbed no rack fenders or extras and about 42 with full extras fenders and rack. not great but not bad a lot of the cheaper alloy walmart stuff curbs around these weights. For reference really nice classic tourers curb 30 with racks fenders, racers 22-23, track SS trainers 20 and nicer old school MTBS 28 or so. Figure the total weight of the bike rider and stuff it is really only a couple percent total if all else equal good won't matter much for casual riding.

Mosquitoink

I won't buy anything with one piece cranks and almost extinct 27" wheels when there is so much better stuff out there.

Oldsledz

One sold tonight near me on a on line auction for 15.00, I didn't buy it.

DMC707

I beg to differ as I live in a college town and our group rides are filled with the type of disillusioned nerds who would think this bike is kick-but

anyway —. To the original question - $90 is probably about right given all the considerations other members have already brought up

Jeff Neese

I agree on the one-piece crank, but 27" wheels are certainly not "almost extinct". You can still buy 27" wheels and there are actually a decent selection of both premade wheels, and 27" rims if you want to build a set yourself. I bought a set of really nice 27" Wheelmasters for my Fuji last year.

Chuck M 

The extinction of 27” wheels is not a concern. As long as there are half decent 27” tires, keeping one of these old bikes on the road isn’t a huge pain in the tuchas.