Picked this up free on the curb today

[PCHiggin]

Nice find! I would have grabbed it as well. The weight isn’t that bad, especially for my rides. I’m not carrying them on my back

 

[The Spokemaster]

You found this for FREE, in your neighborhood ?

I think I want to live in your neighborhood !

FREE is a very good price !

 

[Tour De Luxe]

Just gave the “new” bike a quick wash. Fixed the problem with the front D too. A little OA will clean up most of the rust I hope. I’ve never used that stuff before.

Calling these Varsitys a “Lightweight” is a misnomer. I weighed this puppy at 41.6 lbs on my bathroom scale. It’s 15 lbs heavier than my 1984 Cro-moly Le Tour Luxe!

Generator and lights still work!

 

[GTs58]

Just gave the “new” bike a quick wash. Fixed the problem with the front D too. A little OA will clean up most of the rust I hope. I’ve never used that stuff before.

Calling these Varsitys a “Lightweight” is a misnomer. I weighed this puppy at 41.6 lbs on my bathroom scale. It’s 15 lbs heavier than my 1984 Cro-moly Le Tour Luxe!

Generator and lights still work!View attachment 1613434

Those fenders, light set and wheel reflectors must be 5 lbs of dead weight. And that chain ring guard. lol....

My late 1961 Conti Tourist is only 35#.

 

[SirMike1983]

The bike was obviously well-kept, then suddenly sent to the curb for free. Perhaps a moving or decedent's estate type thing? Usually the plastic light lenses are broken, there are dents, and other such things on free curb bikes. You did very well for free, given the completeness and condition. Yeah, it's heavy by most standards today, but you wouldn't get much of a refund, considering what you paid. It looks like you made a very nice find.

 

[Tour De Luxe]

The bike was obviously well-kept, then suddenly sent to the curb for free. Perhaps a moving or decedent's estate type thing? Usually the plastic light lenses are broken, there are dents, and other such things on free curb bikes. You did very well for free, given the completeness and condition. Yeah, it's heavy by most standards today, but you wouldn't get much of a refund, considering what you paid. It looks like you made a very nice find.

Great find without a doubt! I don’t think this bike was ridden very much and then just stored in a garage. I rode it 10 miles yesterday and it did ok, but the brakes squealed like a stuck pig and I was a bit worried about the tires blowing out at speed, so I pulled the front wheel and brakes off today with the idea to take the front wheel from my 84 Le Tour Luxe and swap it with the Varsity temporarily so I can work on the rusty rims. The brake pads had almost no wear.

Wow, are those steel rims and galvanized spokes heavy! With the tire and tube: 2420 g. The nice AL Weinmann rim from the LTL with Zaffiro tire and tube is only 1714 g. More than 1.5 lb savings just on the front wheel. The QR axle on the newer wheel doesn’t exactly work on the Varsity, but seems to be secure. The 32 x 630 Zaffiro mounts really wide on the Weinmann rim and doesn’t quite fit under the fender without interference, so I’ll have to pull the fender off too. I’m curious if the 6 speed rear from the LTL will work with the Varsity. Dropout seems to be the same.

 

[Tour De Luxe]

Those fenders, light set and wheel reflectors must be 5 lbs of dead weight. And that chain ring guard. lol....

My late 1961 Conti Tourist is only 35#.

View attachment 1613467

I pulled the wheels off the Varsity and put my aluminum wheels and Zaffiro tires from the Le Tour Luxe on it. I had to pull the fenders due to the wide stance of the Vittorias. The old Puffs measured only 28mm wide, but the Zaffiros on those Belgian Weinmann rims are nearly 34mm, even though the same size tire. I also temporarily pulled the generator and lights. The stripped down Varsity is “only” 34.8 lbs. Those steel wheels and Puff tires weighed over 12 lbs! Not nearly as pretty without the bling of the chrome. Those fat tires sure gave a smooth ride. I did about 13 miles on it today.

 

[Oilit]

I pulled the wheels off the Varsity and put my aluminum wheels and Zaffiro tires from the Le Tour Luxe on it. I had to pull the fenders due to the wide stance of the Vittorias. The old Puffs measured only 28mm wide, but the Zaffiros on those Belgian Weinmann rims are nearly 34mm, even though the same size tire. I also temporarily pulled the generator and lights. The stripped down Varsity is “only” 34.8 lbs. Those steel wheels and Puff tires weighed over 12 lbs! Not nearly as pretty without the bling of the chrome. Those fat tires sure gave a smooth ride. I did about 13 miles on it today.View attachment 1614507
View attachment 1614508

Those tires look good on the bike, and I can see how they would give a better ride! The biggest problem with the 26" lightweights is there's only one tire available unless you change rims, maybe that's the way to go.

 

[Tour De Luxe]

Those tires look good on the bike, and I can see how they would give a better ride! The biggest problem with the 26" lightweights is there's only one tire available unless you change rims, maybe that's the way to go.

Actually the Varsity has 27” rims. I have some Schwalbe H-159 27x1-1/4 on order, due tomorrow. Hopefully they will mount on the straight sided Varsity rims (no hook that I can see), and mount at 32mm width or less. BTD had them on sale for only $15 ea. Schwalbe does state hooked rims only, but so does Vittoria and Continental. Not sure what tire will actually work on a straight side rim. Perhaps a cheap Wheelmaster is the way to go since it would open up the huge selection of 700c tires. I could just leave the wheels from the LTL on there, since I converted that bike to 700c.

I need to tweak the rear D a little. Shifting on the 6 speed freewheel is a little rough on each end. Need to break everything down, clean and regrease before I get too many miles on that 50 year old grease.

 

[davek]

I just go to my LBS and get Kenda, some folks like them some don't . I use windex to seat the bead and they ride fine.