1970's era Schwinn Varsity
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Almost no value unless you find someone looking for a Varsity - they do have a small following.
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a bike is worth what someone will pay for it. so me, right now, not worth anything. about 10 yrs ago when I bought one, it was worth something, but I forget how much I paid, maybe $60? when I sold, refurbed, a few years later, someone paid me $100 because that's what it was worth to them. their college kid needed a campus bike & this one was ride-ready
Last edited by rumrunn6; 09-19-19 at 08:12 AM.
#4
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Oohh baby blue... here’s my continental. As found. 50 dollars. Great solid bikes those 70s schwinn and I’m a fan. But it’s true, only worth what someone would pay.
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dweenk is correct.
There are plenty of retired folks that live in cities with large universities that have a small sideline business of re-habbing old Varsities/Collegiates/Suburbans/Continentals/Speedsters/Breezes/Travellers etc....
They get much more than typical NON-COLLEGE TOWN marketplace prices during student enrollment each fall.
Only in the fall, when the many thousands of students come to campus, do the market prices for such Vintage Schwinns reach their peak of about $150 tops for a bike that needs absolutely nothing and is in perfect roadworthy condition. Typically $125 to $150 for the nicest looking with clean paint and new tires etc...........$95 to $120 for those that are faded or scratched up but still have new or nearly new tires and are perfectly roadworthy and fully serviced.
$200 isn't much for my budget, so like some folks, I don't worry so much about overpaying for any bike if I love the color and the size is right......it is a.... "I just have to have it type of thing" so the sunk cost means nothing to me. Most ordinary folks though do not want to overpay for something that they deem as antique and obsolete but durable. The only reason the college students buy old Schwinns when the come to University is because the cost is low. They leave their expensive bikes at home because they know that bike thieves don't want to commit a crime for such a hassle to sell it as it might take 2 months being listed on Craigs unless it is being offered when students are returning in the fall. Homeless bums might want to steal the Schwinns because they are durable and easy to service and "bombproof". These old bikes are great college campus bikes........much more durable than any $160 Walmart-Target bicycle and easier to service and set up....
You might have to wait 2 months or so listing on CRAIGs to sell a Varsity etc... for somewhere around $50 to $80 maximum if someone is really seeking that particular model. Ladies models usually sell for about $40 to $50 maximum and may take 3 to 4 months to sell them unless at Fall back to campus time.
There are plenty of retired folks that live in cities with large universities that have a small sideline business of re-habbing old Varsities/Collegiates/Suburbans/Continentals/Speedsters/Breezes/Travellers etc....
They get much more than typical NON-COLLEGE TOWN marketplace prices during student enrollment each fall.
Only in the fall, when the many thousands of students come to campus, do the market prices for such Vintage Schwinns reach their peak of about $150 tops for a bike that needs absolutely nothing and is in perfect roadworthy condition. Typically $125 to $150 for the nicest looking with clean paint and new tires etc...........$95 to $120 for those that are faded or scratched up but still have new or nearly new tires and are perfectly roadworthy and fully serviced.
$200 isn't much for my budget, so like some folks, I don't worry so much about overpaying for any bike if I love the color and the size is right......it is a.... "I just have to have it type of thing" so the sunk cost means nothing to me. Most ordinary folks though do not want to overpay for something that they deem as antique and obsolete but durable. The only reason the college students buy old Schwinns when the come to University is because the cost is low. They leave their expensive bikes at home because they know that bike thieves don't want to commit a crime for such a hassle to sell it as it might take 2 months being listed on Craigs unless it is being offered when students are returning in the fall. Homeless bums might want to steal the Schwinns because they are durable and easy to service and "bombproof". These old bikes are great college campus bikes........much more durable than any $160 Walmart-Target bicycle and easier to service and set up....
You might have to wait 2 months or so listing on CRAIGs to sell a Varsity etc... for somewhere around $50 to $80 maximum if someone is really seeking that particular model. Ladies models usually sell for about $40 to $50 maximum and may take 3 to 4 months to sell them unless at Fall back to campus time.
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#8
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I'm not gonna be interested unless it was close by, but it's still something you need to know. I've recently found a copper colored '75 Continental that I absolutely love riding just as it came off the showroom. Count me in as a fan of heavyweight electro-forged Schwinns. I'd most like to have a campus green one, but the powder blue was cool too.
#9
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I sold one in Philly for $50 that still needed work. The buyer was a big time Schwinn fan and all other Varsitys on CL were asking well over $100. Kind of surprised I got $50 to be honest.
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This blue Varsity was found in the trash a few years ago. Cleaned up real nice. With a complete re-greasing and tune up it sold for around $100 or so.
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I rode one for 4-5 years in the early seventies. Root Beer Brown and bullet proof , I could go off curbs and the rims stayed true! My first long ride of 50 or so miles and I was DONE! I gave it to a friend that was just getting into cycling and he was very excited.After I got my first lightweight , we did a 30 or so mile trip and he never complained once! I would guess around here in So. Cal. maybe $75 in good shape. The cool factor is there , so you may get lucky, Joe joesvintageroadbikes.wordpress
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Here is a really clean (Model 224) that is the 24 inch frame mens model with Chrome FENDERS........Seller says its a 22 inch but my eyes say it is a 24 inch. Seller says it is a 1976 model but that is not possible as ORANGE was only available in 1971, 1973, and 1974 according to the catalogs.
The two good things about this 24 inch ORANGE Varsity is that it has the GT-100 (shimano built) rear derailleur (original equipment to the 5speed Suburban/Collegiate of 1970 to beginning of 1974). Much much better than the Huret Alvit SCHWINN APPROVED rear derailleur on seventies era Varsities/Continentals/10sp Suburbans.
Could have been a dealer replacement -OR- possibly the Chicago production line was running short of the Huret unit and fitted the GT-100 shimano unit to keep the production line going. At any rate, the GT-100 schwinn approved Shimano built rear derailleur is a much better and more durable unit.
The second thing that this ORANGE Varsity has going for it: IT HAS CLEAN PAINT and CLEAN FENDERS. Remove the fenders if that isn't your thing, but the paint and decals are cleaner than most. Yeah, the 24 inch frame is gonna make it unattractive to most unless they happen to be close to 6 feet tall. Under 5'-10" and you probably cannot comfortably ride this 24 inch frame Varsity.
https://asheville.craigslist.org/bik...970349727.html
I don't know the seller. I am not the seller. I have not viewed the bicycle in person. I have simply seen the listings' pictures on the asheville craigslist.
This Orange bicycle has been up on the Asheville craigs for at least several weeks. The sellers asking price isn't outrageous for how clean the Orange paint and chrome is. $125 This bicycle also has what looks like one of the available Schwinn catalog accessory Generator Sets (circa 1973).
I thought yall might want to see this ORANGE Varsity.
The Asheville NC area has many neat bicycles from time to time on craigs. It is a beautiful area but it has among the harshest winter seasons of any city in NC.
It is lovely during the Christmas season, but Asheville can get significant snowfall (for NC anyway) between Dec and the latter part of March. Because it is much more than an hour away from major cities, there tends to be a large selection of nice old bicycles for sale there that are largely untapped by folks unwilling to drive or visit Asheville. Most of the bicycles there come from retirees who have vacation homes there or have settled there.(They simply have brought their bicycles with them when they moved.) If you ever get the chance to see that part of NC and then the BlueRidge Parkway, you should stop and see some of it if you have the time.
My brother in law has a mountain house in NC (Franklin area) and my next door neighbor has a mountain house in NC also (Cashiers area). The NC mountain areas are great if you imagine Ernest T. Bass and the Darlings having become wealthy over the years. The local live music in that part of NC has some incredible musicians that nobody has ever heard about. It gets cold up there in the winter, but it is a super area and the people are fantastic there. If you're gonna ride there, you will need a Large Amount of Teeth on at least one rear sprocket to help with the hills.
The two good things about this 24 inch ORANGE Varsity is that it has the GT-100 (shimano built) rear derailleur (original equipment to the 5speed Suburban/Collegiate of 1970 to beginning of 1974). Much much better than the Huret Alvit SCHWINN APPROVED rear derailleur on seventies era Varsities/Continentals/10sp Suburbans.
Could have been a dealer replacement -OR- possibly the Chicago production line was running short of the Huret unit and fitted the GT-100 shimano unit to keep the production line going. At any rate, the GT-100 schwinn approved Shimano built rear derailleur is a much better and more durable unit.
The second thing that this ORANGE Varsity has going for it: IT HAS CLEAN PAINT and CLEAN FENDERS. Remove the fenders if that isn't your thing, but the paint and decals are cleaner than most. Yeah, the 24 inch frame is gonna make it unattractive to most unless they happen to be close to 6 feet tall. Under 5'-10" and you probably cannot comfortably ride this 24 inch frame Varsity.
https://asheville.craigslist.org/bik...970349727.html
I don't know the seller. I am not the seller. I have not viewed the bicycle in person. I have simply seen the listings' pictures on the asheville craigslist.
This Orange bicycle has been up on the Asheville craigs for at least several weeks. The sellers asking price isn't outrageous for how clean the Orange paint and chrome is. $125 This bicycle also has what looks like one of the available Schwinn catalog accessory Generator Sets (circa 1973).
I thought yall might want to see this ORANGE Varsity.
The Asheville NC area has many neat bicycles from time to time on craigs. It is a beautiful area but it has among the harshest winter seasons of any city in NC.
It is lovely during the Christmas season, but Asheville can get significant snowfall (for NC anyway) between Dec and the latter part of March. Because it is much more than an hour away from major cities, there tends to be a large selection of nice old bicycles for sale there that are largely untapped by folks unwilling to drive or visit Asheville. Most of the bicycles there come from retirees who have vacation homes there or have settled there.(They simply have brought their bicycles with them when they moved.) If you ever get the chance to see that part of NC and then the BlueRidge Parkway, you should stop and see some of it if you have the time.
My brother in law has a mountain house in NC (Franklin area) and my next door neighbor has a mountain house in NC also (Cashiers area). The NC mountain areas are great if you imagine Ernest T. Bass and the Darlings having become wealthy over the years. The local live music in that part of NC has some incredible musicians that nobody has ever heard about. It gets cold up there in the winter, but it is a super area and the people are fantastic there. If you're gonna ride there, you will need a Large Amount of Teeth on at least one rear sprocket to help with the hills.
Last edited by Vintage Schwinn; 09-19-19 at 04:11 AM.
#14
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The schwinn varsity and continentals remind me a bit of the Peugeot UO 8s. They are basic bikes (the UO 8 is svelte compared to a varsity or a continental but the Schwinn is more bulletproof). A ton of those bikes (varsity, continentals, and UO8s) were sold during the boom era and their prices tend to range from $50 at the bottom end to whatever the seller thinks he or she can get at the upper end.
Anywhere between $50-$100 is an OK price on these bikes but I'd consider paying more for a clean example in a color I really liked.
Anywhere between $50-$100 is an OK price on these bikes but I'd consider paying more for a clean example in a color I really liked.
#15
Senior Member
In my area it is hard to get anything over $100 for a clean one.
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