Schwinn Varsity Flashback Turned Weekend Obsession

One day about five or six years ago I ran into a guy in the old Black Sheep Coffee who was selling an old Schwinn Varsity.

I think it was $20 or $25.

It was the shimmering green version, albeit rusted.

I wanted an old bike to turn into a single speed.

I bought it.

I had a lot of enthusiasm for the project and proceeded to completely tear it down. I removed the crank, the fork, all the cables and levers -- everything.

I put all the parts in a box and cleaned up the frame. And then promptly forgot about it.

Actually, I found a better candidate, an 80s era Nishiki that was an easier conversion at the time. I still have that single speed.

But for some reason, this weekend, I decided it was time to attack the Varsity. To be more specific, I decided to move the Varsity. One thing led to another and I was out in the driveway with degreaser cleaning parts and watching YouTube videos on how to reassemble a one-piece crank set. Then the fork, and the brakes.

Then it was a full-on weekend project.

I went to the hardware store to get a pipe cutter to turn the old drop bars into horns, though that may not work out in the long run.

I had to stop by Spoke-n-Sport just before closing on Sunday in search of one small missing brake cable guide, but I made significant progress.

Then I hit a wall. For some reason, I don't have the original wheels. They're an odd size so just any wheels won't do. Fortunately, there's a lot of them out there and I made significant progress on Facebook looking for some.

I'm still not exactly sure where this is going. But I thinks it's a good thing.

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