madpogue 

Our shortstop?

verktyg 

"Who Dat"

You guys got it all wrong... The proper pronunciation of his name is "Keef" Richards.

He's in the same league as: Hunter F. Thompson - "As your attorney I advise you to take more drugs." "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" and William S. Burroughs, author of "The Naked Lunch"... "I've done everything there is to do [drugs], every way there is to do it"

NOW, back to bikes...

The sales pitch that the local Schwinn dealer used to sell Varsity's and Collegiate's was: "They're all steel - they're kid proof". Most of those Schwinns were purchased by parents for pre-teens and teenagers.

During the bike boom, those attitudes perpetuated the myth that bikes were "kids toys" which prolonged the fight with motorists for road space and respect.



verktyg

FBOATSB

"Bicycles are meant to be ridden, not carried." - Some guy named Schwinn.

DeanSams

haha, love you put the time in to calculate out the weight. Something like this would definitely be a one off build that will garnish some lookers and admirers.

OldsCOOL

Deal4Fuji

I really like the bright green colored Varsity's. When I was shopping for my 1st bike shop bike in 1982, I had a choice between the Varsity in the green color I liked so much and what I was told would be a much lighter & better bike for about the same price, a Fuji Supreme. Both were offered in tall 27" frames. I didn't know Fuji in those days and had always had Schwinn envy from having only department store bikes growing up when Schwinn was still considered quality. That article from tcs makes me want one again.

I'm glad I received good advice and chose the Supreme and I still have it as a rainy day bike. It's also considered gas pipe by most here, but I'm loyal to bikes I have history with. From this afternoon's damp day ride.

cudak888 

The genesis of a unique land that bore us generations of basic bicycles built in frame sizes no larger than 21". And cantilever frames made for children.

The fact that Schwinn dubbed their slightly larger cantilever frame the "King Size" (supposedly 20" from BB to cantilever according to some threads on RatRodBikes.com, but to read the discussions is to witness how many bicycle enthusiasts in this country are still dead-nuts ignorant about something as simple as frame sizing) is the epitome of this nonsense.

It's no surprise that this country has born the idea that bicycle saddle height should be roughly identical to a Harley

Given how much electroforged steel was in the King Size, Schwinn should have called it the King Anchor.

-Kurt

verktyg 

In the early years of the last century, motorbikes an then motorcycles were offshoots of bicycles. They could be pedaled or ridden using the motor like this 1908 Harley. Bicycle designs were fashioned after early motorcycles.




Bicycles were used for adult transportation in the US up though the post WWII era. The new prosperity of the late 1940's created the "American Dream": a good job, a home in the burgeoning suburbs and a new automobile.





That was the death knell for adult cycling throughout most of the US except for enclaves in a few large cities and university areas where nerds were exposed to sport cycling while visiting Europe plus a small tradition of lightweight cyclists that remained from the pre-war days. Track racing events were still popular in some areas into the early 1950's but that was different from road bikes.

Western Union still delivered telegrams by bicycle messengers beyond the downtown areas of larger cities until the mid 1950's but after that bicycles became relegated to the realm of kid's toys.

My first bike from the early 50's was a RollFast just like this sleek maroon and ivory beauty but it had a horn case between the top bars. I was embarrassed when my dad would take it out for a ride!

At 7 or 8 years old I was already tainted with the attitude that bikes were kid's toys.



BTW, If I remember correctly, the flat forks on Varsity bikes were produced by Ashtabula, the same company that made the Schwinn cranks.

Still haven't figured out what "electroforged" means?

The Japanese (or some importer) created the euphemism "Melt Forged" which means pressure die casting.

verktyg

Shimagnolo

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/varsity.html

cudak888 

Perhaps I should have clarified: That "unique land" to which I refer to IS the post-WWII era. A place where auto-centrism rule/rules* so dominant that any other form of transportation was crushed.

-Kurt

*Take your pick, seeing as there are a few cities in the US that have since seen the light past 20th-century road engineering.

bikemig 

+ 1. I haven't been on BF 14 years like some of you oldtimers, , but yeah I can't believe that I've missed this thread until now!

AlmostTrick

Not quite a Varsity, but a similar Electroforged Schwinn tank. '79 Caliente. Like the Continental these came with a nicer fork than the Varsity. Converted to single speed with aluminum wheels. Even with a heavy one piece crank it "only" tipped the scale at about 29 pounds. Avocet FasGrip 32's made the bike roll like a dream!

dddd

I'm willing to bet that better than half of the folks who "bash" Varsities have never ridden one in good mechanical condition and with a comfortable saddle, with fit adjusted and with cushioned handlebar wrap.
Even without the wrap, but at least with the wider, later (>1974?), handlebar and lever hoods, these bikes can provide hours of comfortable sporting fun.
That priceless moment comes when your riding buddies first try test-lifting your stock Varsity for a weight-check, and THE WHEELS DON'T LEAVE THE GROUND. This is invariably followed by the utterance of "OMG", followed by some version of what sounds like "...weighs ...@#$%^&*! TON".

Shown below, the later steel handlebar (mine is 1975 or 1976), from which I cut one inch from each end for better knee clearance while attacking steep climbs (shown post-cut):

SurferRosa

A punny photo (sorta).

DeanSams

All fixed up.

Duo

you may be Right.

it was fashionable for a while to Bash Schwinn. my brother bought a Schwinn Continental, which was a little more money, but a lot of fun. most Varsity/Continental riders were just Sunday Drivers. not too serious and the bike was fine.

later on i bought a nishiki international, light years better, but it was i suppose a Touring Bike and not a city beater machine. both bikes were legit, my interests were more into bicycling and i would read the magazines and go some distance on a bike. most would not.

bikemig 

That bike is hot. I like it.

Hudson308 

I agree. "Muy caliente"!

AlmostTrick

Thanks. A friend at work gave it to me. It originally had the FFS front freewheel system with positron shifters. Even with a new "cable" (specific wire in this case) and proper tune/lube they never worked well enough for me. Part of the reason I went SS, besides wanting one! The aluminum rims along with the excellent like new Avocet FasGrip tires came off CL for $50!

I rode the bike for a bit and transferred the parts to an even cleaner Continental frame that was found in the trash. Enjoyed that for a while and sold it for $100. Now I wish I had kept it!

madpogue 

Can you say "Caliente Continental" ten times real fast?

cudak888 

In the wake of all this Campus Green, perhaps it's time I dust off these pics.

FYI, the (early) '71 Continental below rode on a set of original Schwinn S6 rims. I've dealt with these before, but these were the first (and hopefully, last) I've ever had to build. They're probably the worst, most warped rims I've ever encountered in my life, and are only equaled in lack of quality by the other knurled Schwinn rims in existence - mostly the narrow ones. I'd say they're the single worst part of any Varsity or Continental.


Factory chromed (!) 1980 Schwinn Varsity (or Continental). Don't know which; I bought three of them as bare framesets and this is the only one I ever built this far. (Then I asked myself what on earth I was doing).





-Kurt

AlmostTrick

Another Varsity that was found in the trash. Once greased and tuned these bikes ride really nice! (they're cheap too!) I never had issues with the rims, other than poor braking when wet, but all steel rims suffer from that.

DeanSams

wow, that looks real clean. Nice work!

tallbikeman

Being as tall as I am I love the 26" Varsity frame size. In the early 80's I built a coaster brake Klunker style Schwinn Varsity for racing in the northern California Klunker and then MTB scene. Aluminum everything, hollow one piece 180mm crank made in Arizona, cut off kickstand, 26"x1.75" tires on aluminum rims for an all up ready to race weight of 31lbs. This may seem heavy today but even the chrome moly off road frames of the period in my size were 27lb wonders. The Schwinn Varsity frame and fork can go down dirt fire roads and utility access roads at 50mph and not bend or break. I used a Varsity because I knew the frame and fork were bullet proof and had a good chance of surviving the early off road racing scene. On my fourth year I bought a custom chrome moly frame from a local builder and saved 4 lbs on the Varsity but didn't place any better at the same races than what I did on the Varsity. I still keep a 26" frame Varsity with 700c wheels, 40mm tires, BMX stem and S and M handlebar for a nice comfortable ride. I view the Schwinn Varsity as a well engineered durable bicycle.

Glennfordx4

I built up a Varsity once just for fun then sold it for way more than I thought I would get for it. I used a Le Tour for some of the aluminum parts, Suntour rd, fd ( High Normal SL) & shifters and put a modern 6spd FW, chain & cables on it, I think I used 700 wheels and a new set of longer center pull brakes. I could not be happier with the way it came out and it was one of the best friction shifted bikes I had ridden in a while, it was smooth as silk shifting.