A Short History of Vintage Schwinn Bicycles

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During the factory strike, Schwinn turned to

a small bicycle manufacturer in Taiwan called Giant. Anything but a Giant, the

company desperately wanted to produce bicycles for the dominant company of the

era. Schwinn

managers realized that low-cost, high-quality manufacturing in Asia rather than

in the USA was a real possibility.

To take advantage of

lower wages and favorable exchange rates, many US companies were beginning to manufacture

products in Asia. As an example, Radio

Corporation of America changes its name to RCA Corporation to recognize its

manufacturing of a large range of products and expansion into other countries. Schwinn started the decade

selling 500 thousand bicycles in 1960 and reached close to 900 thousand by 1970

(Petty 2007). The company also was not resting on its laurels because it was busy

introducing popular new models.

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This is the full history of Schwinn as a family company from 1895 to 1992. I also have separate posts for different time periods that are the same as those in this article. The reason for them is that many people don’t want to skim through the whole history to find information on a particular time period. Do you want a bike that they can simply ride up and down the street or around the park? The affordable, indoor cardio solution designed to keep you active.

A growing number of US teens and young adults were purchasing imported European sport racing or sport touring bicycles, many fitted with multiple derailleur-shifted gears. Schwinn decided to meet the challenge by developing two lines of sport or road ‘racer’ bicycles. One was already in the catalog — the limited production Paramount series. The Paramount series had limited production numbers, making vintage examples quite rare today. Other road bikes were introduced by Schwinn in the early and mid 1960s, such as the Superior, Sierra, and Super Continental, but these were only produced for a few years. The Varsity and Continental sold in large numbers through the 1960s and early 1970s, becoming Scwhinn’s leading models.

The company would eventually be renamed the Schwinn Bicycle Company. With his

background as an innovative motorcycle engineer, he set his eyes on developing futuristic

new bicycle products geared towards children. The stage was set for an era of Schwinn

creativity and innovation that would catapult the company into a dominant position

in the bicycle industry. A nice side benefit of purchasing Henderson was they also

produced a line of bicycles that could be integrated into the Schwinn portfolio. In a sense, entering into the motorcycle business saved Schwinn as a bicycle

company by getting through a very rough patch of declining sales.

For the children of the 1950s, bicycles were more than just

a toy. For them, the bicycle was a critical means of transportation and gave

them the first taste of freedom from their parents. Children could independently

ride around their neighborhoods, to a friend’s house, to pick up baseball

games, or to just hang out. With the increasing suburban sprawl creating schwinn tricycle longer

distances but safe low traffic volume streets, bicycles became something of a childhood

necessity. Selling bicycles through smaller shops meant that that

Schwinn had to develop its own marketing strategy. Schwinn boldly stepped out

of its engineering comfort zone and recruited many of Hollywood’s top stars to

promote their innovative bicycle lines.