Something Old is New Again--Schwinn Varsity

Freedom for every teenager is represented by the driver's license.  Not many of us could bear that slow march toward the 16th birthday when we would finally be granted the ability to get behind the wheel of Pop's old Buick.  But before we could drive we had to ride and if you were a kid in the 1960s, 70s and 80s you more than likely rode a ten-speed Schwinn.  Ah yes, the ten speed.  More often than not our first taste of freedom came with that new bike.  It could take us to friend's houses, to the park, to Little League and points all over town. 

Schwinn was the top name in bikes in the United States for a generation.  With the perfection of the derailleur in the 1950s more and more kids began to ride geared bikes.  In America we called them "ten speeds."  Schwinn for many years was the top of the heap.  The company built ten speeds as fast as possible selling them to meet ever-increasing demand. 

The product of choice was the Varsity and later came an upscale version, the Continental.  The Varsity became the best-selling bike in history.  They were sturdy machines--and heavy (40 pounds or more).  The weight, while contributing to its muscle, made it obsolete in the 1970s when riders came to look at weight as a detriment to sport riding.  Schwinn, hamstrung by a new generation of family ownership, was a decade too late in the development of lightweight bikes.  The company rebounded a bit in the 1980s with the Le Tour but by the time Schwinn realized the future it was too late as nearly 50 lightweight bicycle manufacturers were born and thrived while Schwinn stagnated.   

Today, the name Schwinn is just something stamped on a type of aluminum-framed bike made in parts in Asia and sold in Wal-Mart’s the world over.  (The demise of Schwinn has been well documented and can be found online so the SBT crew will pass on a retelling of the company's fall).

For the generations of riders who first climbed onto those old Varsities and Continentals, the machines have achieved nostalgic and sentimental value.  The steel frame was heavy, but also tough as nails so the bikes endured.  Now, years later many of these old bikes are being dusted off and ridden again.  Others have been restored to their glory.  They are still heavy but for many people the old Schwinn is something worth updating to today's standards.  One way is with new clipless pedals.  Here's how...

The older bikes used pedals with ½” threads and now all bikes use 9/16”.  The SBT crew has done extensive research and no one sells ½” clipless pedals (trust us).  But there is an alternative called a Kneesavers pedal adaptor (www.kneesaver.net). One end has a ½” male thread and the other is a 9/16” female union for a new pedal.  They are called “Kneesavers” simply because they move the pedals out beyond the frame about ¾” inch so knee contact to the frame is minimized.  This is helpful when you are really on top of the pedals for speed or an uphill climb.  While a tad pricey, these adaptors allow your old Schwinn to adjust to today’s new clipless pedals and shoes.

So, it may seem that some things old are new again.  This makes the SBT crew smile as we have folks here at Sticky Bottle Team with old Schwinns--a '72 Continental (recently restored) and an '87 Le Tour that still generates positive comments from other riders.    

Visit our website www.stickybottleteam.net.  We recently posted a new Product Review of seat bags.  We also have additional Varsity photos and Schwinn ads from the 1960s and ‘70s under PHOTOS.