Thanks to Patrick M.’s who has added yet another mid 70s Schwinn Varsity to our collection. This may be the largest Varsity we’ve seen cruise down the hall of OTSGHQ. Judging from the size of this thing, Patrick should receive some sort of award for his shear ability to ride this behemoth.

First, let me say your site is great. I generally check it everyday just to see some of the other bikes people have brought back to life and get ideas on how to improve my recent acquisition, my 1974 Schwinn Varsity.

My girlfriend had bought me a beach cruiser for Christmas and that just lit the interest in bikes and riding like i had never thought it would.

After looking at my mileage to and from work, 5 miles each way, I thought what better way to reduce my footprint, get in shape and expand my renewed joy for riding by picking up a bike for my daily commute.

I searched craigslist and came across the opaque blue beauty you see. $100 and about 8 hours of cleaning off surface rust and grime brought it back from the dead. Although there are some badges of honor in the form of chips…the paint job is still really nice. After cleaning, i took it to a new local bike shop, Echo Park Cycles, for new tires and a tune-up.

The photos our from my first ride. The bike is much bigger than I should probably ride. With a 26″ frame, it towers over my cruiser. But the first ride got me very comfortable with it and I am ready to hit the streets. I even got a compliment from a guy who used to own the same bike and he explained to his son why that bike “was so cool”…it made me feel proud.

Anywho, hope you like my entry as much as I do. I appreciate your site and what you are doing for some old forgotten warriors.

Thanks,
Patrick

Thanks Patrick