Leerish’s Old Crappy Schwinn Varsity

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Tonight’s entry comes to us from Leerish in NYC. She did such a nice job extolling the virtues of her OTS that I have decided to take the night from my normal commentary. Enjoy.

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Here it is! The paramount of old crappy ten-speeds!! The great, hulking 40 lb. steamroller that all crappy ten-speeds strive to be! (You know, all things considering, it’s not a bad-looking specimen. Rather narrow tubing as compared with higher quality bikes.) This here varsity is a late ’60s model that had been sitting in a garage probably since its purchase! A homeless man once saw me unlocking it and heckled, “I’d give you five dollars for that, ma’am, not a penny more”!

I took up city cycling on this thing. Commuted on it. Kept up with my fixie-riding weight weenie friends on midnight cross-town rides on it. Then when we reached our destination I’d wonder why I was the only one sweating so fiercely!

Two weeks in, the rear tire gave out and I had the privilege (TASK) of getting the nuts and bolts off this crusty old thing in order to change tube and tire (then i had to buy a new wrench! True story). If I can get the bolts off this, I can be damn sure I can get the bolts off anything.

Bike snobs teased me about it. But few of them recognize or appreciate the athletic prowess it requires to wrestle a ’60s (’70s?) varsity around. For, everything involved in handling it requires some form of wrestling: walking it through a narrow door. Mounting it. Dismounting. Turning a sharp corner. Walking it over the lip of a curb. Walking it in general. Because of its weight-to-volume ratio, learning to maneuver its awkward weight is an accomplishment within itself.

And I acclimated to carrying it up and down flights of stairs with one arm, walking it with one hand, and I’m better for it.

I owe a lot to this cumbersome piece of crap, I’m thankful it was my first ride!

– Leerish.

Thanks Leerish

Related posts:

  1. Patrick’s 1978 Schwinn Continental II
  2. Kiki’s Takara Mixte Ten Speed With Super Sized Cannondale Duffel
  3. Joe B.’s 1975 Schwinn Varsity
  4. Righting the SS OTSG With Some Good Old Crappiness: Ryan N.’s Columbia Dream Machine
  5. Viktor T.’s 1950s Crescent “Pepita” Racer
  • Thomas

    It’s a ’79 or ’80 Schwinn Varsity. That earlier models had different decals. The one pictured is the one I had as a kid.Love that bike.

  • Sally Sullivan

    Leerish ss so wrong. She must be a weakling or something. Sure, There are better bikes for racing up steep hills, but none more durable and long lasting. I bought a new Schwinn Varsity when I was 12 with paper route money and re-discovered it in college. It was wonderful there. I later restored it after having it sit for 20 years. It is so much easier to ride than a mountain bike, unless I go off road, which most mountain bikes do not do, just as most SUVs never go off road.

    It could stay outside in rain and never rust all during college, newer bikes do not fair as well. I rode it off curbs and the steel rims never bent.

    A great bike that I wish I still had. It looked so good, someone stole it.

    Sally

    • Brenda Medina

      Hey There Sally!

      I couldn’t agree with you more! I have a Schwinn Varsity that I was given for my 16th birthday in 1976. I rode the heck out of that bike and took excellent care of it too. Recently we pulled it out of the attic because we wanted to start riding again. It needed some TLC but very little and I was out and riding.

      Newer bikes not fairing as well, you’ve got it! There is such a teeny amount of rust on this bike it’s surprising. I too, rode my bike off curbs and never had issues with my rims, they were the bomb!

      I had someone offer to buy it from me, but I’m not sure right now. All I know is that bikes that last like this a few and far between. I’m so sorry to hear that yours was stolen. Mine is a Schwinn Varsity, I saved my money and put a rack on the back to carry my school books, etc.

      Right now, I’m trying to find the serial number for it, I know it’s there somewhere but I’m having issues finding it. My bike still has the dealers sticker on it, lol! Dunn’s Bike Shop, in Reading, MA. I’m down in Vero Beach now, and have been trying to locate them, but I guess they went out of business a few years ago.

      If you know of a way of finding the serial number, please, let me know. You can email me at angelzintheattic@yahoo.com if you have any tips on where I can find the numbers.

      I enjoyed your posting, thanks!

      Brenda

  • Elise89

    If you want to figure out when it was manufactured, look at the four digit serial number on the headbadge. The last number should be the last number of the year in which it was manufactured (ex: 1146 would be the 114th day of 1976). You’ve gotta figure out the decade yourself, but I’m going to agree with Thomas; it’s probably a late seventies or early eighties model.
    It’s true; there are a number of people who speak poorly about the Varsity but like “Sally” said, this bike is undeniably one of the most durable and long-lasting bikes out there. Yes, it does weigh quite a bit. I replaced my steel rims to aluminum alloy as a means to improve braking but I did notice a minor decrease in the weight of the bike.
    One of the reasons, if I’m not mistaken, that the Varsities don’t fair as well on today’s collector market is because they were produced in such high quantities. (The “brickness”, as some may say, doesn’t help either.) Hold on to them, though.
    Sheldon has an interesting article if you’re interested in searching for that one. Here’s another one, more opinion-based, that’s also a good read: http://www.cyclesportandfitness.com/the_varsity.htm
    Anyway, beautiful bike! I apologize for the rambling. Take care!

  • http://OldTenSpeedGallery Wooden Shoe Biker

    Nice work / well written. I too had a 1976 Varsity in school bus yellow until it was stolen on a sunny day while I cut the grass with an eye on the bike but sat to chat for 25 minutes in front of the building and it took off. Heavy yes indeed. Water pipe ? It had the original hardly used brake pads in 2007 when it was stolen and they made a terrible noise and did not stop too fast and the saddle was a wedge you could use to split hichory logs but back and forth a couple miles a day it was bearable. My Trek 400 weighs about half as much. I never used but 2 speeds so converted the trek to a 3 speed with used wheels off a Sears (Austrian ) 1964 bike. Saved all paarts of course just for you 10 speeders.

  • Brian Mullin ‘White Horsy’

    Is it for Sale?