Schwinn Varsity back from the dead (at Walmart!)

zaternine

hey i did the same thing on my first road bike, it was a 2005 diamondback century (before the new DBR came out) once i knew i was for sure going to ride i did a make over and put carbon fork, carbon seat post, full 105 drive drain, vuelta wheels, better brakes, and man it rides just as smooth as my Allez, total was 550 after all upgrades, the best part is riding next to those who drop more than 2grand on their bike (although i would do the same if had the cash)....have fun

jv1126

i bought that bike as my first road bike, just ordered the fork and seat post for now. yeah sure that im gonna get snubed and looked down upon at local rides, but that still wont fix the fact that they were beat by a guy in a Wally World bike. But then again im that kid of guy that likes to bring the unexpected to a new level. I bought a v-6 camaro instead of the Z-28. after some TLC im leaving the v-8 guys dumbfounded in the dust. all in all, you can have your $3,000 bike, just dont be upset when the guy ahead is in a $200 bike.

mydaughterchili

The exact dilemma I faced when I got started 8 months ago.... I went ahead and spent the $750 on a new cannondale R500 and haven't looked back since. My rationale was that I could resell a decent brand like cannondale and recoup most of my dinero back.

cheapie

good for you. but keep in mind that not all "concern" over the place of origin of your bike is mean-spirited. many of us have bought cheaper bikes and realized pretty quickly that we really like cycling and have gone out very quickly and upgraded, and therefore realize that it was kind of a waste of money getting something that cheap.

artmichalek

Some of your fellow Texans are well on their way to proving this theory:
http://www.teamroadmeister.com/

seth556

Any body know if the frame from the GMC bike is any good because I've been riding a steel frame from the 90s and might consider the GMC bike for the frame. Then I would use all the stuff I already have. Oh and are the brake levers shifters too?

tyler1212

dude get real, that bike isn't worth jack. Find a used 70's 10 speed at a pawn shop for 25 bucks, invest another 75 tops, and that makes sense. Oh, and for the record, "tender loving care" doesn't make your car faster, but it can get your chevy pregnant.

tyler1212

Kinesis 7005 alum. frame on nashbar.com for 119 us.

tcar5

I would agree and use the frame from another bike instead. No reason to spend $150 on all the other stuff you will not need. However a friend bought the GMC bike and its not very good. The brakes always need adjusting and the shifting is loose and it doesn't hold when properly adjusted.

tcar5

Can anyone find the similarties between these two bikes:
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dougadam

Cool, I had one and I loved it.

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tcar5

Which one?

n1ey

My friend did a stint at Walmart. He puts it almost as a jail sentence. He was doing "one to two" while looking for a new job after his layoff. If he got good behaviour he was out of there!

He told me that the worst possible person was assigned to assembling the bikes in the back of the store; I gathered that the managers found the whole aspect of assembling a product to be a burden.

A Sams Club about 30 miles from me just closed due to lackluster sales.
The walmart about .25 miles away from me just had its manager fired this year for poor performance. I've seen a ton of those bikes go to the bike
shop across the street for a tune-up. I've also seen alot go to the bike
store in the next town.

The bikes aren't cheap. They can cost $200. My LBS charges $45 for the tune up. He could had got them into a nice cruiser for the road or mountain bike for the same amount to get started that the people placed all together.

They don't sell any of their bikes for $25, but they do try to have the bike companies sell them the entire bike for under $15! This is why their last vendor went bankrupct. Their margins on the bike are insane. There is no effort to have their managers do a decent job on one of their most profitable items in the store, either. It just doesn't make sense.

Don't buy a Varsity.

bill

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Bill
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tcar5

I think everyone can agree and have come to the conclusion that ANY department store bike should have a through inspection for problems. Your totally right that its insane to think you can get on one and just start riding. But hey for your own sake as a purchaser, learn how to do this and if needed take it all apart and put it together yourself. Aside from the crank all you need are a few houshold tools. Everyone puts a lot of stock in their local bike shop and they are supposed to be the experts, but they can be just as crooked as the local auto repair shop. Educate yourself on bike assembly and repair, no one is going to be more concerned about safety and stability then you. As far as the quility of the Varsity as a bike not considering who assembled it, its a good quality bike with fair quality parts. Opting for a used bike is just not my style, to me its like buying a used mattress.......