Sheldon Brown

These are the VW Beetles of bikedom.

You might find my Chicago Schwinns article interesting: https://sheldonbrown.com/schwinn

See also Inside the Varsity by Marc Muller: https://sheldonbrown.com/varsity

Sheldon "Electro Forged" Brown

operator

I don't see the big hoopla about a schwinn forgive me.

Ebbtide

Hmmm, the seat tube angles on those seem extreme. Interesting, nonetheless.

Doctor Morbius

Last Summer I bought an old men's Continental and a girl's Traveler for $20 for the pair. Next winter I plan to restore the Continental using the best parts from each bike. I'll get a few new items, such as tires, cables, cable housing, bar tape, and maybe saddle, but that's about it. I am going to restore the bike to look something like this (see pics). It's currently the original coppertone. It is going to be more of a custom job than an exact restoration.

Neither the Traveler or the Continental are collectables. If I had a Sting-Ray in as good of shape then it would be worth something. That's not the case with these though. I did see a LeTour III go for $150 on ebay once. But ususally only the older Schwinn muscle era bikes bring in any money.

These are the Studabakers of bicycles.

1971 Varsity

markm109,

I am still riding the 1971 Varsity that I received for Christmas when I was 13. I had to rebuild it about a dozen years ago after my dad left it outside for a year, but it is as good as ever, and it will probably survive me. I added cork tape (over the existing handlebar tape) and a more forgiving seat (because I am heavier than I was 34 years ago). They were built to last a lifetime, and I can't imagine someone throwing one away (unless it belonged to her ex). The restoration should be easy and straight-forward. Good quality chrome polish and paint polish are easy to find, as are the cables, and brake pads. The rest of the bike is almost bullet-proof. I had to use a dremel tool to remove dried rubber from the interior of the wheels, but they polished up very nicely when I was done. Good luck with it!

rmfnla

Best thread I've seen in a while!

I'm with the POS group, especially since you could get a Raleigh Record with the lugged frame for the same price back then. There just was no excuse for how badly made those Varsinentals were.

cuda2k

badly made? I'll let someone else whip out the grammer police badge and just say that these bikes didn't get the rep as being bomb proof by being 'badly made' Yes they were cheap, yes they are heavy - even by standards of that time. But they were, if anything, SOLID(ly) made.

-- owns a 1980 Schwinn Traveler. Lugged, but still most probably gas pipe. And I've put a lot more into it than what this guy is planning. Love the bike, even if it is a few sizes too big.

rmfnla

I stand by my statement. Years ago I helped a friend (notice how I distance myself from ownership?) strip one to repaint and found that the frame tubes were essentially spot-welded together with the joints filled in with Bondo.

Yes they worked, but they never worked well even when new. And, as I noted previously, one could pick up a lugged Raleigh for about the same cost.

What's wrong with my grammer?

cruentus

Your memory must be failing you. I've never seen a Varsinental that was "spot-welded together with the joints filled in with Bondo". Every Varsity and Continental that I've seen was elctroforged, with some joints brazed or silver soldered. The bike you worked on was not a Varsinental or it was a bike that had been butchered before you worked on it.

I recently stripped and repainted this Varsity. https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=128775

This was done several months ago, not "years ago". I found neither spot welds nor bondo. You don't know what you're talking about.

rmfnla

Unlike some who post here, I do not lead with my ego. Since I am a bit over 50 years old and the repainting event took place when I was about 15 it could have easily been a Huffy or Murray or such; in my experience they are all pretty much the same. You did get my curiousity going, though, so I Googled it and found the definitive answer at... Sheldon Brown! (Of course.) Check this out:

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

The tube-making details explain alot about the crummy ride characteristics of these frames (all 1010 steel strips!), but the fab process is fascinating.

BTW, do us all a favor; share the knowledge, keep the unpleasantness to yourself.

cruentus

There was no unpleasantness intended. I stated that you don't know what you're talking about, as concerns the Varsinentals, and you've admitted that much.

The Varsity/Continental was not a poorly made bicycle, as you claim, they were well made bicycles that were marketed to adolescents. Since the target market for these bicycles was teenage boys, they were built to take all the abuse that a teenage boy could dole out. This they did. A Varsinental could be abused for years and still function. The lifespan of a European lightweight, of that era, would have been measured in hours under the same conditions. Back in the day, a bicycle could be lightweight, or it could be durable, but not both.

Comparing the Varsinentals with European bikes, of the same era, is comparing apples and oranges. The Varsinentals were not true racing bikes. The Varsinentals did introduce more people to dérailleur racing style bikes than any other model. Two generations of young people cut their teeth on Varsinentals and ultimately moved on to more refined road bikes. Even today, a Varsinental, in good condition, makes a fine recreation or beater bike.

It's too bad that after all these years, there are still some self appointed elitists that feel the need to show how superior they are by dogging the old gas pipe Schwinns.

rmfnla

All good points.

I don't consider myself an elitist, self-appointed or otherwise; I just like nice bikes.
If I want something durable I'll get a cruiser (Schwinn made some nice ones), not a substandard ten-speed.

I've mentioned the Raleigh Record twice in this thread. I don't think this was some fragile lightweight that would fold up when Opie took it out on a dirt road; it was a decent and durable bike.

IMHO, the Schwinns used cheap materials & fab techniques that resulted in an inferior product.

I suggest we agree to disagree on this one.

Fred_60

Don't listen to the negative hype! If you want to devote a little time and effort putting her back in service go for it. It's a rewarding experience that will repay you many times over as you ride a piece of American history. https://www.sheldonbrown.com/varsity.html

While the Chicago built Varsities are a tad heavy, 38 lb. according to the owners manual, (not 50!) they are no heavier than steel ATBs, comfort bikes or cruisers, and as road bikes go they are also virtually bulletproof and handle nicely due to their geometry and construction.

There are a few quirks though. The most notable one is the unique seat tube diameter. If your frame has a seat post and it's not frozen in the wrong place you are good to go provided the rest of the frame is straight and sound, which it should be unless it was abused. You will need a shim to mount a newer front derailleur due to the narrower tubing than what is used now. Any rear derailleur with a hanger will work fine on the back. The OE chain, due to its width will not work with a 6 or 7 speed freewheel, but by now it should be replaced anyway since it is bound to be worn. 5 speed freewheels can still be had, but they are getting harder to find. Shimano and Falcon ones are the easiest to get.

The bottom bracket is easy to find parts for and is easily maintained. If you want to upgrade to a 3 pc crank Bike Parts USA sells a conversion kit that will enable installation of a 3 pc square taper crankset.

The OE stem is 21.1 and the headset is not standard, so an OE fork is recommended. A 1" fork can be improvised, but must be done carefully because the 1" headset needs to be custom shimmed snug to the head tube in order to work safely.

The original 27 inch wheels ARE the correct 630mm diameter, but because they are wide you MUST use either 1 1/4" or 1 3/8" wide tires, and they are a tight fit. You need to air them up almost to operating pressure to get them seated sometimes. Narrower ones won't work. If you want to run narrower tires get some 27" alloy wheels suited to them.

You can also use 700c wheels with somewhat of a penalty brake-wise due to the longer reach to the rim, but with much more variety when it comes to choosing tires. 700 x 40s fit with room to spare. 700 x 35s are the same diameter as the OE 27 inch tires, and come in various tread patterns good for any use you can dream up, plus have a deeper cross-section which allows for heavier riders without bottoming the rims on potholes with proper inflation, which many of us have become over the years.

If you don't mind a little more rolling resistance and a different feel, a larger tire will give a smoother ride since it won't need as much air pressure to hold you up, and it will have more give to absorb road hazards without banging the rims on the street. I have used Kenda Cosmos 700-38s (622-40 ISO) on my currently in service Varsity with no complaints at all. They feel great. They are very predictable and ride smoothly. They are also wide enough to not get stuck in cracks in brick roads like narrower tires do, and have enough grip to keep you going on grass or dirt should you end up there.

IMO, when choosing tires for a commuter bike look for ones with a uniform arc across the tread and at least a 1/4 inch wide solid strip down the middle of the tread. That will give you predictable cornering and good steering response without tread squirm when turning and braking. Tires with squared shoulders have a funny feeling when leaned over too far so be mindful of that if you use them.

I intend to weld V-brake bosses on my project Varsity soon and convert it so I can use either 27" or 700c wheels and have the equivelant of power brakes compared to the old ones which actually did pretty well except in the rain as long as the pads were fresh. I often did nose wheelies stopping back in the late 70s! Old dry rotted pads are downright scary though, so replace them BEFORE RIDING. Tapered pads are best for the old steel rims, but bolt in canti or V pads will work thanks to the spherical shims. If the barrel adjuster in the caliper is frozen shim the pads out with washers as they wear.

The OE 4mm derailleur cable jacket is no longer available but SIS housing should work fine since it is also 4mm. Standard brake cables and derailleur cables work fine, with the exception that the end of the deraileur cable will need to be shaped a bit to fit the hole in the shifter. Otherwise the knob will stick out.

I have 4 of these works of art, and wouldn't trade them for anything. Granted, they aren't as light as a Cannondale, but they ARE more than up to the task of reliably travelling 10K miles or more without fatigue failures thanks to their steel construction, even under fairly harsh conditions, which is more than most aluminum frames can do, nevermind the relatively fragile and brittle carbon fiber frames.

For a commuter bike or trainer, or just putting around town on occasion the old Varsities and Continentals are great. They are comfortable enough for cross country runs too. I often rode my original one 20 to 30 miles daily. They have a nice feel, and will tolerate a lot of potholes with no complaints. If you still have some patriotism left you can be proud that it was built in the US by US workers with US made steel by a unique design concieved and made possible by US inginuity. The OE shifters and derailleurs and hubs were mostly made by Huret in France. The OE freewheels during the 70s were made by Mallaird, also in France. They use a special size removal tool which I believe is still available from Harris Cyclery. I STRONGLY recommend a sprung seat for the sake of saving your back. Rigid seats don't have enough give for road bikes even if you are a 100 lb teenager still made of rubber.

If you want to upgrade to a 6 or 7 speed freewheel on the rear you can do it if you improvise a bit and change the chain. A five speed chain won't work with 6 and 7 speed freewheels due the the cog spacing. A six speed freewheel isn't much wider than a 5 speed so you can just shim the axle with a couple of flat washers for clearance. Be sure to shim evenly on each side to keep the wheel centered!! For a 7 spd conversion get a 7 spd bolt in wheel. They are still easily obtainable and they're cheap.

When using 6 or 7 spd freewheels you'll have to spring the frame a bit to get the wheel in the rear dropouts due to the wider clearance requirements, but you won't hurt it any by doing so. I've found that a big screwdriver gently used as a pry bar works fine, and is a lot easier than trying to stretch the dropouts apart by hand, especially when squeezing in a 7 spd. The OE friction shifters will work with freewheel you care to use. They just require a bit of finesse which comes quickly.

These bikes can also be easily converted to use internally geared hubs which require far less care than do derailleur setups, especially when exposed to the weather, in which case the OE chain can be used if the hub has a 3/32 sprocket. That will enable use of the front derailleur for even more gear ranges plus the relaibility of an internally geared hub which can be shifted when stopped unlike a rear deraileur setup.

My project Varsity has a 3 ring one piece crank out of a Huffy MTB and a Sturmey Archer 3 speed freewheel hub in the back fitted with a KT sprocket to accomodate the 3/32 chain. Under normal circumstances there's no need to shift the front, but it has the advantage of the granny gear range for steep hills if needed and a total of nine speeds as opposed to 3. Shimano 3 speeds come with a 3/32 sprocket, and have a very good shifter mechanism which is resistant to damage. They use a bell crank and a push rod as opposed to a screw in rod with a chain that the Sturmey Archer has. The newer S-A hubs come with a guard for the shifter chain so the liklihood of damage is relatively small compared to the older ones. Also, the newer S-A 3 speeds don't have the "limbo" spot between 2nd and 3rd like the old ones did, so worry not about that.

I usually shifted the original 10 speeds 1-3-5-10 anyway so the loss of one range isn't even worth mentioning.

I hope this is of help to you.

JanMM

Learned to ride as an adult on a new '73 Continental. It didn't fall apart or make me wanna do something other than bicycling. But, since replacing it with a LeTour in '76, (the LeTour has been replaced by multiple bikes) have never felt a twinge of nostalgia for the Conti, nor I have felt any small bit of desire to get another one.

Continental/Varsity = Classic boat anchor

If you're so inclined, though, help yourself and have fun.

Dan Burkhart 

Considering this thread is more than 5 years old, and has survived at least 2 of it's more prominent contributors, (RIP Sheldon and Sydney), I'm sure the OP has long since either put it to use or abandoned it.
Maybe he'll check in and let us know.

JanMM

Completely overlooked the thread's age!

The OP's profile does not list a Varsity among his stable of bikes.

martinrjensen

Varsity's could never have been described as a "nice" ride. They were, and still are the "2 buck chuck*" of bikes.

*If you don't know, this is the afectionate term for Trader Joes' $2 dollar bottle of wine. A truley dismal bottle of boose.

noglider 

It's a matter of taste. I've picked up restoring and reselling bikes as a hobby this year. My 17 year old daughter is apprenticing with me. She's test-ridden many bikes now, and she loves the way the Schwinns ride. I did a six mile errand on a Varsity I just restored, and I can see the appeal. Once I straightened the fork, it tracked straight very eagerly. I even went down a hill at high speed riding with no hands, and it felt very safe. On the flats and going up hill, I didn't even notice how slow the bike was until I looked down and saw what a low gear I was in.

I wouldn't want to "live" on this bike, but if you see it for what it is, it's quite respectable. It's built for durability, not a swift ride. Schwinns built in this way are in a class by themselves. They are not like English-made Raleighs or crappy American-made department store bikes. Nearly every nut and bolt on the bike is over-engineered, and while these engineers don't share MY philosophy, they HAD a philosophy (other than maximizing profit), and I respect it deeply. These bikes will still be around after World War Seven is over.

Just taking apart the crank, I could see that the bearing races were made of harder steel than that on department store bikes.

The spoke threads were rusty on the rear wheel, so I removed all the nipples and lubricated the spokes. Then I rebuilt the wheel with all of the original components. It turns out that the spokes are high quality DOUBLE BUTTED spokes. Wow, what stock bike comes with those?!

DMF 

+1

Here's a couple I restored for my brother.

A 69(?) Contintental


A 71(?) Varsity


These things are built like tanks. Schwinn chrome is some of the best ever put on a bike and polishes right up even 40 years later. The Continental was stored next to a bag of fertilizer and even though the chrome near it looked totally rusted, it came right back.

To me the major drawback is the steel rims.

rumrunn6

fix er up and ride her down the road!

king koeller

On my Varsity, back in the day, 1974, I changed out the seat to a leather Ideal 99, removed all excessive weight. I took off the spoke protector, chain guard, brake safety lever's, and removed kick stand. I took all reflectors off, and got the weight down as far as possible. The bike had a ride like a million dollars! It was stable, sure footed and perfectly balanced. I put a lot of air in the tires to make them rock hard, offering less rolling resistance. The Green Varsity was my very first Bike with gears. It was special, I wish I still had it. The french Huret Allvit derailleurs very flawless!The Dia Compe brakes were the best caliper brakes I've ever used, next to my Campy and Universal Super 68's . The thing I remember most about the Schwinn Varsity, was how smooth everything worked. It shifted smooth, rode smooth and cornered on rails. A great bike!! I was going to replace the steel rims, but then I got my Centurion Super Lemans.
I wonder what ever happened to my old bike, it's gone now.
A great thread!
I wish you all the luck in the restoration of this bike classic.

noglider 

king koeller, what size was your Varsity? I have three, and you can have one. They are 19", 21" and 23".

king koeller

Mine was a 23".
Thanks for the generous offer, the only problem is I live out here in Ohio.
It would be a blast to fix them up.
Have a great biking day!

BikeGuitarist

l love the solid comfortable ride of my Sportabout (a cheaper version of the Varsity but with a tubular front fork like a Continental or Suburban and with SunTour derailleurs that were the best designs of their day). Among other upgrades this year, my Sportabout just got an aluminum handlebar and stem from a higher-priced Schwinn model of similar vintage, and new wheels that have vintage Schwinn Approved quick release hubs laced to modern Sun CR-18 aluminum rims. I figure the bike is about eight percent lighter than it was this time last week.

I call it a "Super Sportabout" now because some of the components are similar to what one might find on the higher-priced better-made Super Sport model. Oh, and as of September 21, 2009, the Bicycle Museum of America has dibs on it after I die. I contacted them and they wrote back telling me they'd be glad to take it and with my story it would make an "interesting display." Of course if I die ON the bicycle it might make an even MORE interesting display!

DMF 

It's kinda like an old car fetish. The cars themselves were usually crap, all things considered. But it's what we thought was cool back in the Stone Age.



Anyone want a pre-historic Mustang?