Schwinn Varsity back from the dead (at Walmart!)



Bicycles from department stores are not good a value in end. most of the bloody parts will not last very long and do work quite poorly and are of quite odd sizes so replacement is nearly bloody impossable.frames are made in one frame size only so it may or may not fit proper .The bicycles sold at the discount department stores are constucted of low grade tubing assemled in a haphazzard *****-nilly fashion. heavy and cumbersome for one to ride and just may well discourage one totally from cycling. The best way for the new cyclist to find a quality used bicycle is the local cycle club newsletter or the local bicycle shop , one may come up with a well cared for quality used bicycle and quite possibly for a song..Regards 1 straight line
 
Return it to china and go to the local bicycle shop and see what they have in new or used bicycles hanging about the shop in your price range.in the end you"ll save quite a bit of money and the hassles that come from big box stores. also you will be quite glad you did.Regards 1 straight line
 
I bought one about a month ago and have about 200 miles on it. I am 5ft 10in and weigh 175 lbs. It fits me well and quality seems good. I have the flatbar Varsity hybrid. I love the darn thing. Changed sadddle as my 60 yr old butt complained. It weighs 26 lbs and is quite fast, shifts smooth and quiet and brakes are very strong. Can't say enough good about it. Hope this helps.
 
Originally Posted by bobnuttall .


I never thought i would become one of these people but could you please take a sec to fill out my survey!? I need it for my degree project in industrial design....would REALLY appreciate it! cheers!!!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/T9K93DJ
It'd be really cool if you could actually post your **** in its own thread instead of spamming the forum with your need to use the creativity of others since apparently don't have enough of your own to do your "degree project".
 
Originally Posted by Froze .




For the most part most bikes sold in IBS's today are not going to hold up for 25 years of solid riding like they were made to do 25 years ago...but that's just my personal opinion so it ain't worth much. In 1984 I bought a Trek 660 frame and fork to replace a crashed bike, I transferred all the Suntour Superbe components that I had partially upgrade the crashed bike with then bought the rest of the Superbe group and the Trek was built with all Superbe components.
Sounds like your original bike didn't live upto the reputation of being able to " hold up for 25 years of solid riding like they were made to do 25 years ago." :p

Suntour's Superbe and Cyclone groupsets were very very nice though...
 
Originally Posted by swampy1970 .

Sounds like your original bike didn't live upto the reputation of being able to " hold up for 25 years of solid riding like they were made to do 25 years ago." :p

Suntour's Superbe and Cyclone groupsets were very very nice though...

Swampman, the Trek 660 I now have has roughly 150,000 miles on it give or take 10,000 miles. I still own that bike with the original components and it still runs just fine. The only component that failed on the bike was the front derailleur, the band that fastened it to the seat tube snapped but I had an exact model new in storage. I retired the 660 this summer until I get it repainted and new decals put on, 20 years of California sun just ate the decals and paint.

What's odd Swampy is the rear derailleur is actually a Superbe Tech on the 660, that derailleur supposedly had problems due to it's complexity, but I've never had any issues with it. I bought an extra one of those too back in the late 80's and still have it. I was racing mountains in So Calif, and the Superbe Pro derailleur I had on another bike didn't shift as fast as I wanted it to climbing under power, the Tech just bangs into gear without even having to let the power up to make it happen.

I also have Suntour Mountech on the 85 Schwinn LeTour Luxe and for a wide rear gear range it shifts great, but again it was supposedly another derailleur that had issues.

I don't own any Cyclone stuff, but I will be looking for front and rear Cyclone derailleurs to put on an 84 Fuji Club that has Suntour ARX which is the worst shifting Suntour derailleur I've ever used including the cheaper VxGT, (I think I have those letters in the right order) that was on the crashed Trek I mentioned that I hadn't gotten around to replacing with Superbe yet. In 85 the Club came with Cyclone that's why I want to go in that direction.

All in all Suntour had some of the best derailleurs on the market, but they had some losers like the ARX. But to be fair, I have a couple of bikes with the first generation of index shifting from Shimano and that stuff works great too and has held up quite nicely; but none of my other bikes have anywhere near 150,000, I think my second most mileage bike is around 15,000 give or take a couple thousand. but now I'm riding that one mostly, it's an 88 Miyata Team.
 
I wish people would stop bashing bikes based on their coutry of origin. China has a huge cycling culture and many fine bikes are made there. Yes, there are also factories cranking out cheap **** for the mass market, but the same is true of every other country. Manufacturers produce what the market demands, from top of the line $5,000 carbon fiber dream machines, to $65 disposable bikes that kids can destroy in one summer.
 
Originally Posted by Myosmith .

I wish people would stop bashing bikes based on their coutry of origin. China has a huge cycling culture and many fine bikes are made there. Yes, there are also factories cranking out cheap **** for the mass market, but the same is true of every other country. Manufacturers produce what the market demands, from top of the line $5,000 carbon fiber dream machines, to $65 disposable bikes that kids can destroy in one summer.
Oh! C'mon! You don't actually expect people to think, do you? Hating or being biased against people and products from other countries is what patriotism is all about! Plus, knee-jerk statements about other countries save us calories that would have been used thinking and that can now be used to spew extra hate/stupidity. Are you a terrorist?
 
Originally Posted by Myosmith .

I wish people would stop bashing bikes based on their coutry of origin. China has a huge cycling culture and many fine bikes are made there. Yes, there are also factories cranking out cheap **** for the mass market, but the same is true of every other country. Manufacturers produce what the market demands, from top of the line $5,000 carbon fiber dream machines, to $65 disposable bikes that kids can destroy in one summer.

Bashing? I'm not bashing, I just won't buy a bike made in China, or anything else made in China if I can find a similar product made somewhere else and that means that sometimes there is no similar product made anywhere else so I don't have a choice if I have a need to have it. I don't call that bashing, I call that using wisdom. But there's more involved with giving China our money then just poor quality control that others are bashing about.

But just based on product issues alone without getting political, here's a bunch of websites that address that issue:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Chinese_export_recalls
http://news.consumerreports.org/safety/2007/06/can-you-trust-c.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11656278
http://www.paulmidler.com/chinese-products-still-suck/
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/recalls-of-chinese-auto-parts-are-a-mounting-concern/

Now if you dared to read any of those sites and still wish to "perhaps" risk your life with a Chinese product then go ahead. Most of the time your going to be ok, a simple failure maybe just results in a bent wheel or cracked fork or frame no big deal you buy another, but then maybe not. It's kind of like riding without a helmet or seat belt, you could ride for years and drive for years and never have a need for either...but one day you might. Problem with that theory is that the more and more stuff you buy made from China the higher the risk becomes of something happening, kind of like driving your car without a seat belt, the more miles you drive the higher the risk becomes.

And I hope you read what I wrote carefully and don't start slamming me for things I didn't say, note I used the word perhaps, perhaps doesn't mean it will happen it means there's a chance it won't happen but there's a chance it could. If I said to you, go down to the Roulette wheel and put all your money on black 5 because you're going to win, is a lot different then saying go down to the roulette wheel and put all you're money on black 5 because you perhaps might win. You could argue against me on the risk of stating you're going to win, but you can't on the other because I put the question of risk on you.
 
I suppose what you're saying is that those of us that cannot afford to pay the exorbitant fees of a non-Asian manufactured bicycle should just stay home. Your suggestion is duly noted.
 
Froze, you need to chill.

There were a lot of people who posted in this thread, you just happened to be the last one before I posted. My post was not specifically targeting any individual or even the posts in just this thread, so I wasn't "slamming" you. I stated my opinion that you need to consider the individual manufacturer or even the specific product line for any product from anywhere in the world.

Nobody is disputing that some real **** comes out of China, but that doesn't mean that everything that comes out of China is ****. There are product recalls from manufacturers all over the world every day.

I have my opinions on world politics, but I have the feeling you wouldn't like those either /img/vbsmilies/smilies/duck.gif
 
Originally Posted by Myosmith .

Froze, you need to chill.

There were a lot of people who posted in this thread, you just happened to be the last one before I posted. My post was not specifically targeting any individual or even the posts in just this thread, so I wasn't "slamming" you. I stated my opinion that you need to consider the individual manufacturer or even the specific product line for any product from anywhere in the world.

Nobody is disputing that some real **** comes out of China, but that doesn't mean that everything that comes out of China is ****. There are product recalls from manufacturers all over the world every day.

I have my opinions on world politics, but I have the feeling you wouldn't like those either /img/vbsmilies/smilies/duck.gif

Well opinions are just that, opinions, neither of us could be right, after all we're just playing arm chair quarterback. You may be right or wrong if I agree or disagree with your view of world politics, but that's life. I happen to disagree with Chinese military politics and social politics, but ours isn't exactly the best either. In no way does that mean if I disagree I would hate you, I have friends who agree and disagree with my viewpoints just as I agree and disagree with theirs, I don't hate them nor do they hate me...if they do hate me 30+ years of friends hating one another is a bit weird!!!, but we agree and disagree with respect and not put words into each other mouths like is done on forums such as this. I guess it's easier to be disrespectful when you're not there talking person to person.

And as far as recalls, sure there coming from all over the world, but the most dangerous ones, as I pointed out, come from China and come at a high level of frequency, and do so with no regard that the product is dangerous, and in many instances China knew it was dangerous and sent the products out anyways. That's the difference between China and other countries.

You are right though, not all stuff made in China is junk, take the LED light bulb, porcelain, some microchips and mother boards, and high end vacuum tubes used in home high end electronics especially Shuguang tubes...I know this because mine come from them, and I'm sure there are other examples. Granted a lot of high end electronic technology is "borrowed" technology from other countries, but who hasn't "borrowed" technology of one sort or another? Japan did that like crazy after WW2, America didn't care, nor should we care if China does it.

By the way, my meaning of slamming was by anyone in general, not to a specific poster like yourself, but I didn't word it correctly so it definitely sounded that way, sorry. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
 
Hello GT Fanatic

I bought a Schwinn Paramount Series 6 (2011) with Ulterga. I Actually thoought about getting the bike you have But went for the series 6. You have a great bike and of course you upgrade your componets and wheel set later.....Let me know how you like it.