Schwinn Varsity at Walmart

[Olebiker]

It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by
Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed
road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199.

 

[Olebiker]

It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by
Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed
road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199.

 

[Rich]

Olebiker wrote:
> It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by
> Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed
> road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199.

You should not shop at Walmart. Walmart is evil.

 

[Rich]

Olebiker wrote:
> It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by
> Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed
> road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199.

You should not shop at Walmart. Walmart is evil.

 

[Max Penn]

"Rich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Olebiker wrote:
> > It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by
> > Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed
> > road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199.
>
> You should not shop at Walmart. Walmart is evil.

And, like many bikes, those "Schwinn" bicycles are produced in China under
labor conditions and wages that would not be tolerated in USA (except at
WalMart), Canada, or the EU. Schwinn is now nothing but a name. The
original Schwinn company is a memory; they sold their name to the highest
bidder.

 

[Max Penn]

"Rich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Olebiker wrote:
> > It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by
> > Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed
> > road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199.
>
> You should not shop at Walmart. Walmart is evil.

And, like many bikes, those "Schwinn" bicycles are produced in China under
labor conditions and wages that would not be tolerated in USA (except at
WalMart), Canada, or the EU. Schwinn is now nothing but a name. The
original Schwinn company is a memory; they sold their name to the highest
bidder.

 

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

> It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by
> Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed
> road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199.

If it's not 16-gauge gas-pipe tubing, it's not a Varsity.

I always thought it would have been a cool marketing scheme to put the
Varsity name on something superlight and high-quality. The ultimate inside
joke.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

 

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

> It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by
> Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed
> road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199.

If it's not 16-gauge gas-pipe tubing, it's not a Varsity.

I always thought it would have been a cool marketing scheme to put the
Varsity name on something superlight and high-quality. The ultimate inside
joke.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

 

[Olebiker]

Rich wrote:
> You should not shop at Walmart. Walmart is evil.

I agree and I normally avoid it, but I had no choice last night.

 

[Veloise]

http://www.walmartworkersrights.org

 

[The Wogster]

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
>>It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by
>>Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed
>>road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199.
>
>
> If it's not 16-gauge gas-pipe tubing, it's not a Varsity.

I would have thought 12 guage or maybe 8 guage, 16 is pretty thin for
gas pipe. Isn't there a requirment that Walmart bikes need to weigh in
excess of 20kg (44lbs).

> I always thought it would have been a cool marketing scheme to put the
> Varsity name on something superlight and high-quality. The ultimate inside
> joke.

Kinda like Ford building a nice high quality hybrid mini-van and calling
it an Edsel.....

W

 

[Cathy Kearns]

"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:4%[email protected]...
> > It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by
> > Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed
> > road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199.
>
> If it's not 16-gauge gas-pipe tubing, it's not a Varsity.

Years ago when I went to Davis there were many bikes, and not surprisingly,
some number of bike collisions. Those Schwinn Varsity could pancake a good
racing bike like a SUV in a collision with a compact.

 

[[email protected]]

Dear Mike:
I once thought of putting Varsity graphics on one of those SuperSport
fillet'-brazed straight chromo frames. With a Wald one piece triple
chain-ring crank. Would really impress going up the Del Mar grade.....
So far, the right frame has not come along.

Robert Leone [email protected]

 

[[email protected]]

Olebiker wrote:
About the appearance of a Schwinn "Varsity" in Walmart.

On second thought, I suspect it's a trademark protection thing. If you
have a trademarked product, you can';t just sit on it and file forms to
maintain it. You have to use it in trade every so often. The wider the
use, the better. A one-time limited production run of a bunch of cheap
road-component bikes dumped off at WalMart for sale around the country
counts as use in trade. For further details, please contact an
intellectual property legal specialist -- this is based on this
trademark and copyright law comic book (and I DO mean comic book, art
by the Pander brothers) I read once.

Robert Leone [email protected]

 

[landotter]

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
> > It appears that the venerable name "Varisty" has been resurrected by
> > Schwinn. I was at Walmart tonight and they have an aluminum framed
> > road bike that Schwinn is calling Varsity. It was $199.
>
> If it's not 16-gauge gas-pipe tubing, it's not a Varsity.


Varsity's were "electroforged" from sheets of steel, not from bought
tube stock.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/varsity.html

Yeah, they were pretty heavy, but the process had potential, if they'd
been able to hang in till the newer steels emerged in the late 70s, we
might still have E/F bikes today.

My neighbor has a yellow one he keeps as his brother gave it to him 25
years ago, and he can't bear to part with it. He spent $150 or so and
had the LBS retrofit it with six speed clickshift mounted on the stem,
and some better brake pads.

It rides very very nicely, and is a perfect town bike for his needs--he
loves the slight cheese/nostalgia factor.

 

[Mike Kruger]

"landotter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> My neighbor has a yellow one he keeps as his brother gave it to him 25
> years ago, and he can't bear to part with it. He spent $150 or so and
> had the LBS retrofit it with six speed clickshift mounted on the stem,
> and some better brake pads.
>
He's not the only one. I came across an old Varsity in a bike shop getting a
good, thorough overhaul and upgrade. I asked the wrench about it, and he
said he wouldn't put all that money into a heavy Varsity himself, but the
guy liked his old bike and had the money, so why not invest it in something
you love and use?

 

[landotter]

Are you sure? The only road bike that Wallyworld sell afaik, is the
humorously named "GMC Denial"

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...at=133073&type=5&dept=4125&path=0:4125:133073
http://tinyurl.com/7sgde

 

[Rich]

Mike Kruger wrote:

> He's not the only one. I came across an old Varsity in a bike shop getting a
> good, thorough overhaul and upgrade. I asked the wrench about it, and he
> said he wouldn't put all that money into a heavy Varsity himself, but the
> guy liked his old bike and had the money, so why not invest it in something
> you love and use?

And the use part is largly irrelevant.

Some people spend tens of thousands of dollars (or more) on old,
unreliable, poor-performing, uncomfortable cars all the tim.

 

[Rich]

landotter wrote:
> Are you sure? The only road bike that Wallyworld sell afaik, is the
> humorously named "GMC Denial"

It's Denali.

 

[Earl Bollinger]

"landotter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Are you sure? The only road bike that Wallyworld sell afaik, is the
> humorously named "GMC Denial"
>
> http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...at=133073&type=5&dept=4125&path=0:4125:133073
> http://tinyurl.com/7sgde
>
Well their intended target user doesn;t ride hard or fast, so the bike would
work fine t\for that purpose.
My son rode one in last year's HHH at Witchita Falls Texas.
He did Ok, no problems. But he was a courting all the "abandoned girls" left
behind on the ride.
So for cruising along at a easy pace it was perfect for him.
Besides the aero-wheels make it look more expensive and trick, so it went
over well with all the girls he was talking with along the ride.
I'd change out the Kenda tires for better puncture resistant ones as thorns
go right through them easily.
It uses a two piece handlebar setup so they can slip on the grip shifters.
The frame is aluminum albeit pretty heavy like a MTB or something. So it is
more like a MTB with road wheels and dropped road handlebars.
It actually has Shimano shifters, but the are very low end ones. Shifting is
slow, and the grip shifters are sloppy.
But most of the intended target ridership seems to shift into a lower gear
and just stay there and not shift much.
When and if my son loses interest, I'll convert it over into a single speed
for my purposes.