Monday, July 28, 2008

Seen at Tour De Fat - Schwinn Varsity Restoration


I saw so many things at Tour De Fat Truckee, I have pictures galore and stories to tell. The first story is about a guy who rebuilt two Schwinn Varsity bikes. A yellow men's frame for himself and a green mixte frame for his lady. They were set up as perfect touring bikes with a Carradice style bag on the back, a triple up front and a comfortable position. Some of the really cool features included handlebar wrapping finished with cork and twine, the leather chainstay protector (also finished with twine) and the upgraded Shimano drivetrain. He was able to do this by getting a bottom bracket shim to fit a late model BB and a by using a rate changing pulley on the rear derailler to drop make an 8 speed shifter work. I'll have to learn more about those parts later. For now, just enjoy the pictures.


Picture showing bottom bracket shim adapter and leather wrapped chainstay.


Picture showing pulley cable rate changer.

2 comments:

-d said...

Whoa! Check out the granny gear on that thing! You could pedal yourself up Baldwin street no problem...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_BJuiK4VGs

-p said...

Perhaps, although it probably isn't the lightest machine out there, so you'd need to eat some NZ lamb chops for energy.

Someone commented on that video saying "I miss the smell of your cast."