I rebuilt this bike for a friend who is very tall, then he said he didn't want it.
I went for the 1905 race bike look. Single speed with a coaster brake hub. Black aluminum 26" rims, black spokes and black 26 x 1.5" tires. Modern mountain bike size rims so there are many tire options. The smaller wheels make the bike look even bigger. New KMC nickle chain. The seat is Varsity stock. The handle bars and stem are from a Schwinn Typhoon. Schwinn crank and sprocket. Pedals are regular all steel Varsity pedals. I did leave the cable stops on the frame. I normally remove those on many of my single speed conversions as they tend to bite your flesh every chance they get. The fork is the original chrome plated tubular fork as supplied by Schwinn for the Conti.
The 28" black conti was last listed in the 1982 Schwinn Catalog. The Chicago Schwinn factory was shut down around the time this bike was sold new. Exactly who or where it was built is unknown. One report had Murray building them after 1983. The 1983 and 1984 catalogs don't show the ef bikes, just the newer Asian built models.
The assembly date code is 1883: the 188th day of 1983. July 7, 1983.
Selling price $300. Shipping would be quite expensive due to the large size. I would remove both wheels, crank, seat post, stem, for boxing. Okay, everything, so full assembly will be needed at your location.
How does it ride? Well, I can't reach the pedals! The original Schwinn S rims used on the Varsity and Continental must be the heaviest rims ever put on a 10 speed bike. By changing to 26 aluminum rims these bikes ride much better. Although I can't ride this 28" frame, I have done 5 other varsity/conti single speed conversions using 26" aluminum rims and those all rode quite nice.
