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schwinn varsity
- Thread starter freddy
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Schwinny
I live for the CABE
Good one...
I like those frames. 17" seat post. Its the "Camelback"
Strange though they are, they've been around since 61-2' I think. It's the Speedster frame with braze-ons for ten speed components.
This frame replaced the cantilever Speedster of the 50's till 71' when the Speedster replaced the Racer and changed to a diamond frame. I think there were a couple years when there was both a diamond frame and a camelback Speedster. Next thing you know... its a Varsity. All the way through whatever year this frame is. 79-80'? There was a full size Varsity the same year as this one I'll bet.
These things came in 1sd, 2spd, 3spd, 5spd and 10spd. they covered the full line but get very little love.
I posted a pic of mine in a different Speedster thread. Its tricked out.
People make big Stingrays out of them, and I made a city road bike out of mine. I think @AndyA might be going in a BMX or Mountain bike direction. Anyway its done, its a great way to bring these back to life.
I like those frames. 17" seat post. Its the "Camelback"
Strange though they are, they've been around since 61-2' I think. It's the Speedster frame with braze-ons for ten speed components.
This frame replaced the cantilever Speedster of the 50's till 71' when the Speedster replaced the Racer and changed to a diamond frame. I think there were a couple years when there was both a diamond frame and a camelback Speedster. Next thing you know... its a Varsity. All the way through whatever year this frame is. 79-80'? There was a full size Varsity the same year as this one I'll bet.
These things came in 1sd, 2spd, 3spd, 5spd and 10spd. they covered the full line but get very little love.
I posted a pic of mine in a different Speedster thread. Its tricked out.
People make big Stingrays out of them, and I made a city road bike out of mine. I think @AndyA might be going in a BMX or Mountain bike direction. Anyway its done, its a great way to bring these back to life.
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Arnold Ziffel
Finally riding a big boys bike
Its a great blue color.
Unfortunately those late Chicago Varsities got the ugliest imaginable decals in 1980, 1979 and later.
I don't know what the person placed in charge of designing the overall decal design on those was smoking on the day that he came up with that hideous decal design.
After the classic looking design that served from about the mid sixties to the mid seventies, Schwinn employed that modern SCHWINN graphics design that looked really good too, on some models starting in about 1975.
The problem was that these new modern SCHWINN decals would tend to self-destruct and flake and have bits of the decal fall off within a year or two. I'm guessing it was that those newer modern decals weren't made of a material that could withstand direct sunlight or the combination of heat and sunshine and the decal material shrinking in the cold weather.
Anyway it seems, the yo-yo that was given the task to go more retro with the Varsity decals in 1979, had to be a relative of the person who styled the front end of the initial Edsel with that awful horse collar grille, maybe it was him, now working for Schwinn some 20+ years later. It is just inexplicable that Schwinn let that ugly late Varsity decal set out the door on any bikes.
The bonehead even managed to make the front fork decals as ugly as possible. You can see he took a cue from the earlier Suburban or maybe an older Continental, and though those old decals in their own right look distinguished and nicely understated, our yo-yo designer decides it needs more of something and just ruins the taste. The seat post decal isn't great but it isn't ruined as bad as that yo-yo's other decal re-designs.
1979 & later Schwinn VARSITYs are still great durable bicycles. That blue color is a beautiful color. You may consider carefully removing the '79/'80 on... decals, and give it an upgrade to perhaps the circa '65 or '66 and later through about 1974, or that equally nice looking modern decal design seen on circa '75, '76, '77.. Varsities.
If the yo-yo was trying to recapture some of the ugliness of the 1960, and 1961 Varsity decal designs, it is my opinion that he did succeed in doing that. I remember thinking then, what was Schwinn thinking? After all they had great looking decals on it of two different styles since around 1965, with the modern ones since 1975 being great looking, they just needed to find a manufacturer to make that style decal more durable. I recall thinking that even if they resorted to installing classic style Schwinn decals that were more conservatively colored and classy, like those seen on the first four years of the Suburban, where the decal seems to age quickly and essentially almost blend in to many of the Suburban paint colors during '70 thru '73. It seemed like that would have been better than the hideous monstrosity of decal set that those last years Chicago Varsities got.
The Varsity deserved better respect than that. At least some of Schwinn's paint colors were still nice and the build quality of that two ton tank of a bike was unchanged.
Unfortunately those late Chicago Varsities got the ugliest imaginable decals in 1980, 1979 and later.
I don't know what the person placed in charge of designing the overall decal design on those was smoking on the day that he came up with that hideous decal design.
After the classic looking design that served from about the mid sixties to the mid seventies, Schwinn employed that modern SCHWINN graphics design that looked really good too, on some models starting in about 1975.
The problem was that these new modern SCHWINN decals would tend to self-destruct and flake and have bits of the decal fall off within a year or two. I'm guessing it was that those newer modern decals weren't made of a material that could withstand direct sunlight or the combination of heat and sunshine and the decal material shrinking in the cold weather.
Anyway it seems, the yo-yo that was given the task to go more retro with the Varsity decals in 1979, had to be a relative of the person who styled the front end of the initial Edsel with that awful horse collar grille, maybe it was him, now working for Schwinn some 20+ years later. It is just inexplicable that Schwinn let that ugly late Varsity decal set out the door on any bikes.
The bonehead even managed to make the front fork decals as ugly as possible. You can see he took a cue from the earlier Suburban or maybe an older Continental, and though those old decals in their own right look distinguished and nicely understated, our yo-yo designer decides it needs more of something and just ruins the taste. The seat post decal isn't great but it isn't ruined as bad as that yo-yo's other decal re-designs.
1979 & later Schwinn VARSITYs are still great durable bicycles. That blue color is a beautiful color. You may consider carefully removing the '79/'80 on... decals, and give it an upgrade to perhaps the circa '65 or '66 and later through about 1974, or that equally nice looking modern decal design seen on circa '75, '76, '77.. Varsities.
If the yo-yo was trying to recapture some of the ugliness of the 1960, and 1961 Varsity decal designs, it is my opinion that he did succeed in doing that. I remember thinking then, what was Schwinn thinking? After all they had great looking decals on it of two different styles since around 1965, with the modern ones since 1975 being great looking, they just needed to find a manufacturer to make that style decal more durable. I recall thinking that even if they resorted to installing classic style Schwinn decals that were more conservatively colored and classy, like those seen on the first four years of the Suburban, where the decal seems to age quickly and essentially almost blend in to many of the Suburban paint colors during '70 thru '73. It seemed like that would have been better than the hideous monstrosity of decal set that those last years Chicago Varsities got.
The Varsity deserved better respect than that. At least some of Schwinn's paint colors were still nice and the build quality of that two ton tank of a bike was unchanged.
GTs58
I'm the Wiz, and nobody beats me!
The only connection between the original Middleweight Speedster and the camelback framed lightweight Speedster is the name. The MW Speedster took the place of the American during 1959-1960 and half of 1961. The American was then reintroduced in mid 1961 and the Speedster was dropped being replaced by the American. The lightweight Speedster showed up in 1963 and in the mid 70's it went from a 26" wheel to a 24" wheel for a few years before it was dropped and replaced by the camelback Collegiate with 24" wheels.
Schwinny
I live for the CABE
Yes, the collegiate also had a version, I remember that. There is a yellow one for sale here right now actually. Between the Camelback Speedster and the Varsity it was a collegiate. Those are some of the 5spd versions. There was a black 5 speed 60's camelback Speedster on CL for 2 years in Az. I was very tempted but they don't fit me without changing them terribly and that one was is real nice shape. It was also pricey under the "All Schwinns are worth a million dollars" campaign.
Its too bad these are such a small size, Its been proven by all the configurations that they are quite versatile. They probably would have been more popular if they were an inch or two larger.
As it is, I like them because they are unusual, and done-up right get a lot of interest.
