Russ Z.’s 1982 Schwinn Deluxe Varsity

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OTSG Veteran, Russ, has put his mark on another OTS.  You’ll know a Russified bike by the Origin8 bull horns and the SDGCS that has to weigh more than the rest of the bike.

1982 Schwinn Varsity Deluxe

Business end of the bull horns.SDGCS and bull horns - A Russified OTS for sure.On the savin' stand.FFS Before

Hello Cameron,

Here’s another one back from the dead.

It’s an April ’82 Schwinn Deluxe Varsity. It was found in under a foot of dirt and leaves on the side of a friend’s house. It was in pretty rough shape. The front wheel was missing, the Positron shift cables had become nothing more than ferrous oxide, the front freewheel was siezed. The seat and pedals were shot, the brake cables were no better than the shift cables. Tires were nothing more than dry rot. After getting the front freewheel to function again and finding an NOS shifter and cable set up I decided to leave the Positron set up intact. A new set of Origin 8 Bull Bars, grips, brake levers, new tubes, tires, rim strips, new brake pads and cables, a used matching front wheel, a lot of clean up, and the obligatory for me SDGCS…here you have it. It rides and functions like it was new again!

Thanks Russ

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  • Joe B.

    A Bell Honeycomb AirGel Tech Seat? You do know those things can explode, I hope. 🙁

  • Russ

    The girl I built this bike for requested this particular seat. Who am I to argue with a woman.You can be happy or right. I prefer happy, and the weight of this seat was countered by the new lightweight bars…the originals were heavy and almost rusted through….

  • http://www.cyclingforbeginners.com Beginner Cycling

    My first multi-gear bike was a metallic blue 1980 Schwinn Varsity Deluxe. Though I hear people these days say bad things about Positron, for me that bike always worked great. I rode it a lot (right up until I got my driver’s license). Thanks for bringing back some good memories!

    • RZ94RZ94

      I’ve read and heard a lot of negative things about the Positrion set up. This was the first bike I restored that was set up this way. It was slightly different to set up but once I got it, it really does work well. The young lady I did this for rides it regularly and has yet to experience any issues with it, and it’s almost a year since I did this bike over. Glad I could bring back some good memories for you!