Finito! (Well, close enough)

I'm so very happy to announce that we have finished Operation Varsity.  Well, not officially finished, but it is all back together and in running order.  In fact, I rode it quite a bit yesterday.  The original plan was to finish it on Saturday, but a guy showed up to give us an estimate for painting some rooms in our house (heh, yeah, not happening) and then the lawn needed mowed, and then... well, long story short, we didn't get to it.  I was pretty bummed.  The big plan was to have it all finished that day so I could get the new tires this week.

But, the Mr. said "never fear, we shall complete it!"  So, we got up bright and early yesterday, ate our breakfast in The Shop and wrenched for about 6 hours.  We started with the naked frame at about 8:00am:

I decided I would start with something easy, the headbadge.  Originally, it was painted black and white, but most of that had chipped off.  Instead of trying to redo it, I decided to scrub the remaining paint off and leave it at the bare metal so it would match the rest of the components.

That done, the next task was to get the fork and bars back on.  This required repacking all of the bearings in new grease (we got some high-end auto grease).  Once that was done, we had to remember what order things came apart.  That was a little tricky, but after trial and error we successfully reattached it all.

The great thing about the Varsity is that many things are all one piece.  Unlike today's bicycles with a million separate bits, most of its components stay together.  These are great as beginner wrenching bikes for this very reason.  Ok, next it was time to reattach the crankset.  Once again, the bearings needed repacked, but other than that this step was really easy.  It is all one piece.  As you can see from this excited footage, everything worked as it should:

Next it was time to play with the front and rear derailleurs and reattached the breaks.  This is the part where my husband took over.  Having an engineer around is really helpful during times like these.  For someone who isn't at all mechanically minded, getting two derailleurs reattached and functioning can be really intimidating.  But, for him, it was cake.  30 mins, BAM!

During this time, I had the important job of reinstalling the new Origin 8 saddle.

The next step was getting the chain back on.  No. Easy. Task.  Of course, this had to be one of those times the pin goes flying out!  I've never had this happen.  Getting that sucker back in was a really frustrating challenge.  Its the original chain is still in good shape, so I really didn't want to get a new one just yet, but I was on the verge of chucking that one after 45 mins of fighting with it.

Nevertheless, we finally had it on and shifting smoothly.  I have to admit, we were both very surprised that everything was working.  The shifters were clicking through the gears smoothly (something I don't ever remember it doing) and the breaks were aligned and doing their job.  Neither of us had ever done this before. Half the time, we weren't even sure what we were doing.  But, miraculously, it all worked, even better than before.

Well, of course we had to go for a ride!  I didn't have the new tires yet (now back on schedule for purchase this week), so we put the old mismatched ones back on.  Let me tell you, getting a stiff 34 year old tire back on the rim is a royal pain.

There ya have it!

The old Schwinn Varsity was a brand new bicycle, ready to go for a ride.  So, I hopped on and the Mr. jumped on his Redline and we enjoyed several laps around the neighborhood before we realized it was time to meet my parents for dinner at Luigis'.

"Sorry, Mom, I almost forgot your Mother's Day dinner because I was riding that old Schwinn you got me in college."

It has been about (holy crap!) seven years since I rode the Schwinn.  I forgot how smooth a steel frame was! I also forgot how fast it is!  I forgot how heavy it was!  That thing is a beast!  It is completely different from my other bikes and, yes, I have to admit it might be a little more fun than the rest of them too.

Right now, all I can think about is going for a ride on it again.

Now, there are a couple things left to do before I can say it is completely done.  Obviously, I need some bar tape.  I ordered some Brooks tape about two weeks ago, but it hasn't been delivered yet.  It should be here on Thursday.  Then, of course, I need new tires.  That will be taken care of on Tuesday.  The front tire is original to the bike and past its usability and the rear is newer, but bald.  I can't wait to get some that match!  I would also like to get a basket for the front since this is now my errand bike.  I may install some fenders or a rear rack later on, but the frame isn't compatible with either as is.  I think for now, I'll get just let that lie.  I'm also in the market for some pedals.  Unfortunately the bore in the crank is too narrow for modern pedals, so I'll have to find some vintage ones that are less stained and corroded than it's originals.  But, they aren't a priority either.

Wow, it feels good to have that project complete!