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Picked this up/Varsity questions

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island schwinn

Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
No decals and it looks like it never had them.september 61 serial number.original owner bike with correct rear components.any opinions or additional info?
I bought it last week near me and delivered it to Jeff(pedalsnostalgia)in Washington.
 

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I never saw that type shifter on a varsity but did see one on a Continental.
 
I've never seen a 61 Varsity, either 8 or 10 speed without the decals. I'd bet they were flaking off and the owner decided to clean up the bike by getting rid of them. From my 62 R. Blue example I can say those decals were not very weather/sun resistant. It doesn't take much to completely remove them once they are weathered. Rubbing or polishing compound will make them disappear in a flash. It took me all of 30 minutes to remove the downtube decals and fork darts on my Lime 63 Varisty that came from SF. ;) Looks like the freewheel is the correct 15-17-19-22-25 Atom, same as the Corvette 5 speeds.
 
The 61 10 speeds I've seen had the front simplex derailleur,but they all had the huret allvit rear.i've only seen the simplex rear on the earlier 8 speeds.should mention though,lightweights aren't my thing.
 
In all the Schwinn ads and notices it wasn't until the 62 models where they made the change and equipped them with the Huret drivetrain components, including the shifters. The rear derailleurs were more than likely changed out since the simplex was, well, lets say a POC.
I wonder if a black light would show any signs of where the old decals were. It sure shows up all the invisible spots my dog left on the floor. :rolleyes:
 
Awesome bike!! My 60 Continental sports the same derailleurs. Its a pain to adjust the rear derailleur. Mine still shifts pretty klunky but im not sure if thats just as good as it gets or what. I do have a NOS overhaul kit for it tho, maybe ill muster up the courage to break it all down and rebuild it one day.

Another nice bike given a new home by Brian! Thanks for always taking care of us bicycle addicts!

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I concur with Gary about the derailleurs, freewheel and decals. I have no clue about the saddle. The only thing I can add is that the matching color handlebar tape must have been added in '64 or later. This bike should clean up extremely well!
 
Notes from the June 1961 Schwinn Reporter:
Varsity becomes a 10 speed but still has Simplex derailleurs.
Continental gets Huret Allvit front & rear derailleurs both cable operated with downtube shifters and the newer paint & decal scheme.

The Wittkop saddle is interesting. The research that I've done leads to the Ideale Model 41 as being the correct saddle on the Varsity up through the 1963 model, but years ago when asking an original owner of one of these early models which saddle it came with, he said that he thought it had been a Wittkop. I wonder if Schwinn substituted the Wittkop when they ran low on the Ideale.
 
That's a nice early Varsity there!
It also still has the very rare aluminum spoke protector ( this style didn't really protect the spokes, but got chewed up into the spokes if the rear derailure was not adjusted correctly, thus making them more rare! )
Can't wait to see pictures of this all cleaned up.
Love the period correct cable wraps!

Greg M.
 
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