Scott F’s Varsity Deluxe

Posted

We’ve had a lot of Varsity on the OTSG, but I’m not sure we’ve ever had one this nicely outfitted. Scott F was kind enough to share this, his 1981 Schwinn Varsity Deluxe, which weighs in at a feather-light (by Varsity standards) 27.5 pounds.


Here for your enjoyment is my Varsity.  I was given this bike by a man who was throwing it away. It was a ’81 Varsity Deluxe and came with the FFW  and Positronic shift system. The bike was one of the very few Varsity’s that came with a tubular fork. It was in pretty bad condition, missing the seat and seat post. Also it was totally rusted from sitting outside for years. But the frame was not bad and the paint actually cleaned up very well after a lot of polishing.  I replaced the wheels with a set of vintage Weinerman’s on Normady hubs, added a NOS Suntour 6 speed freewheel. Replaced the steel handlebars with nice vintage alloy Le Tour stem and bars,shaved the turkey wings and replaced the hood and tape. I installed a set of NOS DiaCompe centerpulls for the brakes. Finally, I outfitted the bike with Suntour Powershift down tube shifters pulling a Suntour AR front and a Shimano Crane GT rear derail set up Topping it off with a vintage Brooks saddle .There are so many more custom details that I did as well  I love the way the bike rides and it weighs 27.5 lbs.   Hope you like it too! Thanks, Scott

Thanks Scott

Related posts:

  1. Daniel G’s 1974 (Short Wheelbase) Schwinn Sprint
  2. Hugh’s Double Shot of Schwinness
  3. Dave F’s Free Spirit FS-5
  4. Dane’s 1976 Schwinn Super Le Tour 12.2
  5. John G’s Sears Ted Williams Sports Racer
  • Branko

    Nice job Scott! I particularly like the front brake cable hanger. Is it home-made? How did you get the bottom bracket to fit the Schwinn shell?

  • laverack

    Awesome rig. One of the nicest rehab/upgrades I have ever seen. Was the ashtabula to european bottom bracket adapter easy to install?

  • scott f

    Thanks for the comment! I put a lot of time and effort in this bike. Lots of modifications and upgrades.
    The front brake, yes. As you know the Varsity never came with a center pull brake. It came originally with the side pull caliper. These are 610 series Dia Compe’s from a older Fuji, polished and rebuilt with NOS springs & bushings form Ebay. The front cable set up consists of a pull plate I hand made from a piece of 3/16 stainless, drilled and tapped to accept a common knurled cable adjuster. The cable is fed through a GT brand MTB cantilever tube to give a smooth transition for the cable. resulting in a smooth feeling brake pull.
    The Dia Compe’s are fitted with BBB’s model BBS-02 Road Stop shoes. These are cartridge type pads and are compatible with SRAM and Shimano if I need to change out on the road.
    Combined with the vintage Weinmann dome style alloy rims this set up produces a very strong and reliable brake set.

    The bottom bracket is another custom item. While I could have used the Truative brand conversion shells I found that BMX style conversion shells are a little more heavy duty. I used a Shimano UN series sealed cartrige BB axle and had to modify the conversion shells by machining off the interior faces a bit so the cartridge would fit right. The result is a very smooth and strong BB that should give me years of service!