24" Varsities were not terribly uncommon, but they were not common, either. I remember working on a few, but we more often sold the little tykes Stingrays or 5-speed Collegiates in '76. the Collegiate had 26" wheels and came in a 17" "camelback" frame. This was a clever design that allowed the seat to be set low, with the toptube rising up so the little squirt's nuts could be suitably whacked when he got off the saddle. The perfect gift for a rotten kid. I recall an imported bike that had a toptube that dropped down near the headtube and then travled horizontally to the seattube, a design that made far too much sense for the average Schwinn customer. Most of our customers bought their kids Varsities in the 19" framesize. That way, they had a suburban status symbol (27" wheels and 10-speeds) that the kid could "grow into." The fact that the kids beak the crap out of the bikes before they got to the 30-day check, and wore out the 14 tooth cogs because they never shifted out of 5th gear, pretty much trashed that logic. But then, the thought of all those spoiled brats smacking the family jewels against the toptube of a bike that was purchased for all the wrong reasons did make an underpaid mechanic feel all warm and runny inside. Perhaps there is some justice in the the world after all.
Among our unusually popular models were the 26" and 27" frame Varsity and Continentals. These giant bikes were typically purchased by inner-city types who had come into a little dough. It was the cool thing, in some circles, to hang out on Albany, NY street corners with a giant "Swinn." I remember one young gentleman, who should have been on a 21" frame, buying one of these giants. He could not possible have ever ridden the bike, but he walked it a lot on the streets of Albany.
In my opinion, the fat-tired, small-wheel, coasterbrake, heavy Stingray bike always was the best choice for the average suburban American kid. After seeing a rack of $100 Chinese-made, full-suspension mountain bikes at Costco yesterday, I think it still is.
Steve Barner, reliving the Huffy-Throws of the past, in Bolton, Vermont
> Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 20:35:53 -0400
\r?\n> From: "Martin O. Walsh" <mowalsh@erols.com>
\r?\n> To: "classicrendezvous@bikelist.org" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
\r?\n> Subject: [CR]Schwinn Varsity 24" Wheels
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Dear CR List,
\r?\n> I just picked up a Bicentennial "junior'' Schwinn Varsity,the heavyweigh
\r?\n> of lightweights, for my nine year old neice.
\r?\n> I checked on Bob Hufford's Schwinn Lightweight Data Book website
\r?\n> regarding the Schwinn Varsity.
\r?\n> The BM 508310 serial number, indicates that the bike was made in
\r?\n> February,1976.
\r?\n> This jives with the patriotic paint scheme. White mostly, with red bands
\r?\n> and white strips and blue bands with white stars (white, red and blue).
\r?\n> The data for the 1976 model year Schwinn Varsity only indicates that it
\r?\n> was made with 27" X 1 11/4" wheelset.
\r?\n> The "junior" model I have with 140mm cranks and 24" wheelset certainly
\r?\n> is original.Men's (boys) frame is 42 CM seat tube with a 50 CM top tube
\r?\n> (C-T-C).
\r?\n> I had never seen a 24" wheelset sized Varsity bicycle before buying
\r?\n> this Schwinn Varsity.
\r?\n> The frame is your typical Schwinn Varsity design,just like it was put in
\r?\n> the washer and "shrunk".
\r?\n> Is this an unusual size for a Varsity or were there just not many made
\r?\n> with the 24'' wheelset???
\r?\n> Any information regarding this bicycle would be greatly appreciated from
\r?\n> the "Schwinn experts out there".
\r?\n> Yours truly,
\r?\n> Martin Walsh in Vienna,Va.