1965 violet Varsity

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kingsting

kingsting

Joined
Aug 5, 2008
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The Land of Three Mile Island, PA
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This is my next project:

violetvarsity.jpg


I bought it off of a friend back around 1996. I'm a sucker for anything purple and had to have it. A few weeks later it went into storage with all the other things I was a sucker for and had to have. Because it was missing the tough (IE: expensive) parts like the smallcap bow pedals, full chrome fenders, and Sprint rear derailleur, it remained out of sight and out of mind until last week when I finally decided to do something with it...

I'm thinking of maybe doing a flatbar roadbike/hybrid with a few upgrades and some violet anodized trinkets to set it off. I'll have to see what I can dig up in the parts bins in the upcoming days... :roll:
 
outskirtscustoms said:
WOW I didn't know they even came in that color! I got some Schwinn parts cheap if you need them.
Click to expand...


I'm good on Schwinn parts... :wink: I need to take inventory of what's left of all the purple "bike jewelry" that I was hoarding back in the 90's.
 
Now that I have everything to make into a bike again, it's time to make all that stuff work together...

With so many people converting this style of bike to single speeds and fixies, I decided to go in the opposite direction. 18 speeds and maybe rear index shifting later on.

The Shimano light action derailleur should get along with this Shimano 6 speed freewheel with angled teeth. I like these. They're smooth running, quiet, and shift well.
rearderailleurandfreewheel.jpg


I have lots of front derailleurs around that work with triple cranksets. However, none of them have a built in cable stop. A Sturmey-Archer three speed clamp-on stop should work just fine for this.
frontderailleurclamps.jpg


I found a nice light set with a bad generator. After a quick dig through the parts bin, I had another bottle ready to go. I think the lens may get a blue dot sometime in the near future... 8)
generator.jpg


I went retro grouchy and installed thumb shifters. The grips are fake leather Bell jobbies from Wal-Mart. They look nice and seem comfy. I don't know how well they will hold up. The levers came from Porkchop BMX. I bought the bars many years ago and they didn't match any modern bike I had. They look pretty good with this one though.
barsandshifters.jpg


The original brakes work pretty well with the new levers and fresh pads. I wasn't sure how the lavender cable housing would look but I think it will be OK.
headtubeandfrontbrake.jpg


I love these Dudds dice caps.
dice.jpg


The purple pedals were an eBay impulse buy. I've had the toe clips and straps forever and they seem to work with this project.
crankandtoeclips.jpg
 
So, I've been riding this thing around town and on the local nature trails for a couple weeks now and it's quite enjoyable. Since I think I'll keep it, it's time for a few "upgrades"...

The original front axle was bent and the cones were worn. I wanted a quick release anyway so this was a logical upgrade.
QRhub.jpg


Index shifting was planned so I ditched my elegant Suntour thumbie in favor of this ugly Shimano SIS shifter. The rubber lavender Knog light on the handlebars came off of the wife's bike. She hasn't noticed that it's missing yet... :wink:
SISshifter.jpg


A ding ding bell is nice to have on trails that pedestrians use. This bike is so quiet, it's easy to sneak up on them. The bell should keep me out of trouble. I got this cheap purple bell off of that big auction site for a mere penny bid and shipping from Hong Kong was only $1.48! The seller had a bunch of them listed in all different colors.
dingdingbell.jpg


I'm a big fan of this shorty fender from http://www.woodysfenders.com This thing is a work of art! They are handmade from laminated hardwoods. The purpleheart accents on this one really go well with the bike. There are a LOT of beautiful fenders on the website. I'd like to get a full set for one of my bikes sometime.
rackandfenderII.jpg


Fender detail. That's all different kinds of exotic wood. Not paint!
rackandfender.jpg


And what's a rat rod without a bluedot tailight lens?
IMG_0308.jpg



IMG_0303.jpg

IMG_0305.jpg


You can see three Mile Island off in the distance... :shock:
IMG_0304.jpg
 
I love what you've done with the bike so far, One of the first fixed gear conversion I built was a varsity frame.
the chrome rims look great, but have you considered going with matching anodized v rims with a white tire to match your lettering on the frame?
Looks awesome as is anyway, but just throw it out there.
 
smokenshadow said:
I love what you've done with the bike so far, One of the first fixed gear conversion I built was a varsity frame.
the chrome rims look great, but have you considered going with matching anodized v rims with a white tire to match your lettering on the frame?
Looks awesome as is anyway, but just throw it out there.
Click to expand...

I think purple anodized rims and white tires would look great if this were a single speed or a fixie but the steel rims go with all the other chrome parts on the bike and the brown sidewall Continentals match the saddle, grips, and fender. This keeps the retro side of the build in check. (Plus, the bike is very flashy out in the sunlight) 8)
I may put alloy rims on it in the future but they will be polished instead of painted or anodized.
 
Awesome progress. I love the color, I just got in a green Schwinn That I am thinking of doing something similar to. And I got all kinds of green stuff I been hoarding just waiting for another Kawasaki BMX bike that never came.
 

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