1976 Schwinn Varsity: See How Long We've Come

The Varsity changes hands once again. 

Schwinn Mania

Over this past year of rescuing and refurbishing old bikes and finding new homes for them, I failed to realize until now that the brand that I have worked with the most is Schwinn, by far. Of 15 bikes that I have found new owners for, 7 were made by Schwinn. It comes as no surprise since millions of bulletproof electro-forged frames were turned out every year during Schwinn's golden years (also see this link).

When I first got into bikes, I did not find Schwinns very appealing but somehow, as I learned more about them and worked on more of them, they grew on me. By some twist of good fortune, as I wrote about before, I now have my very own electro-forged Schwinn 3-speed, albeit heavily modified. Without further adieu, I have decided to share here the colorful assortment of Schwinns, electro-forged or brazed, that I have worked on.

Green 1972 3-speed pair for me and my sister

DOPPELGANGERS

Because of shipping taking longer than expected, I have been waiting to write again about my Schwinn 3-speed.  Until then, here is something to keep y'all occupied:

As you may recall (if not, look on the menu to the left), I built myself a heavily modified 1979 Raleigh Superbe at the same time that I was building an also-heavily-modified 1976 Schwinn Varsity for one of my good friends.  Tonight after work, I went to dinner at the Fleetwood Diner as I do sometimes.  I spotted the unmistakable white tail of a classic Raleigh 3-speed across the street as I was waiting for my food. Praying that it didn't move before I finished eating, I kept my eye on the street corner, ready to run out to chat at the sight of the owner unlocking it.

Fortunately, the Raleigh stayed in place.  I made my way over expecting it to be one of the 3-speeds that I've already seen parked around campus.  To my surprise, it was a Superbe, essentially a Sports that came standard with a Dynohub generator, fork lock, and rear rack.  Not only that, but it was the same color as my own! It looked to be an early-mid '70s British model, made when they still came with the Brooks B72 saddle.  The headlight and chain guard were gone, but I hope the owner knows what he or she has.

On top of that, there was a mid '70s Schwinn 10-speed parked right next to the Superbe in the same color as the one I built for my friend.  I didn't feel it right then, but I am now in utter disbelief.  Somewhere in Ann Arbor, there may be another me and another Yoon rolling around on another "bronze green" Raleigh Superbe and another "flamboyant red" Schwinn 10-speed, both from the '70s.  The only major difference is that theirs are almost bone stock and ours are very clearly not.  I stuck a note on the Raleigh saying something along the lines of "Yo, we have the same bike! Are you into bikes too? [...] email me if you wanna chat! Cheers" Fingers crossed that the owner of the Raleigh responds; if he or she is indeed acquainted with the Schwinn's rider, the four of us will have to meet up.

Six Weeks After Groundhog Day

Before I get to the point, I want to present this gem:

Just your average college kid polishing off an entire pizza before heading to a meeting. Finding no other surface in my room on which I could place a super hot pan, I unfolded the basket of the Raleigh Superbe and put the pizza on it.  I like having racks on my bikes for this reason.  Not specifically for pizza pans, but it's surprisingly convenient to have a small table always at my disposal.  On a daily basis, I have a habit of tossing my phone, trouser straps, gloves, or any number of those things onto the rack while I unlock and get ready to ride.  In the warmer months, I'll sit on a concrete berm to have lunch and use the rack as a lunch table, keeping the food a safe distance from the creepy crawlies on the ground.  If I remember correctly, the first time I had done that with the Superbe was just a few hours before the photo above was taken.  Fun stuff.

1976 Schwinn Varsity: Restoration Complete

Prior to today, I'd been slowly working at the Schwinn when I wasn't doing school work or wrenching on my other bikes.  My friend who commissioned me to do this doesn't ride in the winter so he said there was no rush at all.

One of my friends who has access to the machine shop helped me grind the old kickstand thing off.  The kickstand was long gone and the sleeve it went into was badly rusted.  These brazed-on Schwinn kickstands were really tough, but I suppose that doesn't make a difference when they're not actually on the bike ...

Varsity Restoration Continues

It's kind of hard to keep track of how long I've been working on my friend's Schwinn because it's been so on-and-off between school work and the other bikes.  Because of this, I'm going to stop counting it in days. I guess this is the third significant chunk of time, say about three hours, that I've sat down (stood up, rather) to get a visible amount of work done.

Tearing It All Apart: Varsity Restoration Day 1

With final exams coming to an end on Wednesday night, I was finally able to start working on my friend's '76 Schwinn Varsity yesterday.  I did not hesitate one second to blow the entire thing apart.

Photo from when I first got it

Wait, what?

If there's one thing I've learned so far in life, it's that things never go as planned.  This applies to everything, including hobbies that you think you have control over.  Now, I've never been terribly interested in classic Schwinn bikes.  Sure, they're gorgeous, they're tough as rocks, and decent ones can be picked up for mere pennies, but they just never really struck a chord with me the same way the old Raleigh 3-speeds did.

What's with the spoke pattern?

I had just been dreaming about building a more practical commuter out of another Raleigh Sports when the opposite, a 1976 Schwinn Varsity, suddenly fell into my hands.  Having read a great article about it on Sheldon Brown's site a while ago, I was already relatively familiar with it.  As Shaddox says on the page, the significance of the Varsity was not that it was a good (read: light & fast) road bike by any means, but that it pretty much single-handedly brought sport cycling as a hobby back to the American adult population.