Bike 1 – The Vintage Rebuild
1973 Schwinn Varsity – Lightweight, 10 Speeds, Lemon Yellow
This bike is being restored to an original vintage condition. It is really the simplest project of all of them. The bike was in excellent condition when I bought it and while my original plan was to build a training bike, it would have been a tragedy to not restore this one to original. Tragedy is a bit of an overstatement as there are tons of these bikes still around and they really have no collector value, but still restoring it to vintage condition has been a fun project and makes for a unique bike today.
Due to the availability of parts I have accessorized this bike to the max! All are “Schwinn Approved” accessories:
• Seat bag
• Union 6v, 3watt head and tail light dynamo system
• Rear rack
• Chrome fenders
• Quick release front wheel
Other original parts I scavenged up for this bike include:
• Front (white) and rear (red) Cateye reflectors
• Front (orange) and rear (red) Cateye spoke reflectors
• NOS yellow handlebar tape with chrome end plugs
• Still pliable (mostly) Panasonic 27” tires
Headset and BB bearings were removed, cleaned, and regreased, new bearings and axles were installed in the hubs (made in France), frame was cleaned, even the pedals were taken apart and regreased. All chrome was sparkled up with 0000 steel wool, new brakepads, new cables (kept the original housing though), and readjusted everything!
Although the paint shows some age, the decals are in good condition and overall the bike looks great!
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