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Cruiser Boom of the 1980's...

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bikemonkey

I live for the CABE
I saw Danny the Schwinn freak's Schwinn Cruiser in the Gallery uploads and I thought I would pass on an interesting tidbit on that particular model with tubular forks.

I worked in a very large bicycle shop in Virginia Beach back in the early 1980's and we were selling 1500+ bikes a years, plus mopeds, skateboards, etc.

Anyhoo...we also sold a ton of beach cruisers - all brands - couldn't keep them in stock. From MCS to Worksman it was a crazy market. We even contracted though Louisville Cycle to import containers from Taiwan with our own brand. If anybody from the area remembers the local cruiser gang, the Surf Nazis who were battling with the Surf Allies on the boardwalk, give me a shout out...crazy daze...

So, it was during this regional cruiser boom we were experiencing that the Schwinn Cruiser became a PITA for our shop to market, as compared to KHS cruisers, and other brands we sold. The Schwinns came stock with a painted bladed fork, "Jet" regular width handlebars, a standard stem, and vinyl grips. The bikes our young customers wanted came stock with chrome tubular forks, alloy block BMX stem, and Super Jet handlebars bars completely covered in black foam. Oakley grips were de rigueur.

As the market developed (more like exploded), almost every Schwinn Cruiser we sold was modified directly after the sale with chrome tubular forks, etc. with a nice little upcharge tacked on and we kept the hardware. The ones we didn't modify at the time of sale often came back to be modded when the kid had enough jack saved up.

The new bladed Schwinn forks, handlebars, grips, and stems that were removed were put in a big cardboard box in the back and soon the box became overflowing.

We bugged our Schwinn rep (Chris K.?) constantly about getting the company to catch up with the current trend and stock their cruisers like we modified them. Other Schwinn shops in the Tidewater area were experiencing the same phenomenon (and certainly other markets as well). Chicago finally figured out what was going on and when the first Cruiser finally arrived with stock tubular forks, etc., we were like, Yeah!...

In the interim, Schwinn agreed to buy back all of the hardware we had accumulated so that was a bonus as well.

Original version - courtesy BMX Bike Museum
image5609e75361_blowup.jpg


From the 1984 catalog - Thanks Metacortex!
schwinn_bmx_84_12-jpg.jpg
 
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Funny how likes or tastes differ between generations. I always thought those forks were a mismatch to the canti frame. They look @ home on a diamond frame to me.
Oh, it was a mismatch...as usual Schwinn was trying to play catch up and burn up the old cantilever stock...tubular forks on a diamond frame came later.
 
I saw Danny the Schwinn freak's Schwinn Cruiser in the Gallery uploads and I thought I would pass on an interesting tidbit on that particular model with tubular forks.

I worked in a very large bicycle shop in Virginia Beach back in the early 1980's and we were selling 1500+ bikes a years, plus mopeds, skateboards, etc.

Anyhoo...we also sold a ton of beach cruisers - all brands - couldn't keep them in stock. From MCS to Worksman it was a crazy market. We even contracted though Louisville Cycle to import containers from Taiwan with our own brand. If anybody from the area remembers the local cruiser gang, the Surf Nazis who were battling with the Surf Allies on the boardwalk, give me a shout out...crazy daze...

So, it was during this regional cruiser boom we were experiencing that the Schwinn Cruiser became a PITA for our shop to market, as compared to KHS cruisers, and other brands we sold. The Schwinns came stock with a painted bladed fork, "Jet" regular width handlebars, a standard stem, and vinyl grips. The bikes our young customers wanted came stock with chrome tubular forks, alloy block BMX stem, and Super Jet handlebars bars completely covered in black foam. Oakley grips were de rigueur.

As the market developed (more like exploded), almost every Schwinn Cruiser we sold was modified directly after the sale with chrome tubular forks, etc. with a nice little upcharge tacked on and we kept the hardware. The ones we didn't modify at the time of sale often came back to be modded when the kid had enough jack saved up.

The new bladed Schwinn forks, handlebars, grips, and stems that were removed were put in a big cardboard box in the back and soon the box became overflowing.

We bugged our Schwinn rep (Chris K.?) constantly about getting the company to catch up with the current trend and stock their cruisers like we modified them. Other Schwinn shops in the Tidewater area were experiencing the same phenomenon (and certainly other markets as well). Chicago finally figured out what was going on and when the first Cruiser finally arrived with stock tubular forks, etc., we were like, Yeah!...

In the interim, Schwinn agreed to buy back all of the hardware we had accumulated so that was a bonus as well.

Original version - courtesy BMX Bike Museum
View attachment 731491

From the 1984 catalog - Thanks Metacortex!
View attachment 731492
Super cool story! I am a big fan of early post war ballooners, but have always had a soft spot in my heart for bmx-inspired cruisers. The reason being, when I was 10 in 1984, the neighbor’s older son, left for the army. He was the owner of a 1982 schwinn cruiser that he got for his 16th (or so) birthday. He died shortly after enlisting due to an allergic reaction from a vaccine he received. After a length of time, his dad (who was and is like a second father to me still to this day) gave me the bike. It was a blue 82 tubular forked Cruiser with a bmx stem, grips and bars. It also had blue and white checkered pads. I learned to manage that big bike and loved it and rode it for many years. So, recently as I have been building my collection, I remembered the bike and decided I’d like to have one or five (lol) in my collection. So that’s what has sparked my recent interest in these bikes. I love both spitfires and cruisers. In fact about 6 months ago, I bought a really righteous black 79 spitfire for my unborn son. I made the deal the day before he was born, but the seller graciously let me pay him the following day so I could tell my son one day that I bought it the day he was born. I am a sentimental guy at heart. That kinda stuff is really cool to me. Thank you for the cool story and info, @bikemonkey
 
I too have a Red cruiser like that one. But I put fenders & a rack & swapped out the bmx style seat that was on it. Bought it for 50$ from a neighbor who only rode it a few times & never pursued to find Amir's comfortable seat. I'll post pics tomorrow of it
 
I saw Danny the Schwinn freak's Schwinn Cruiser in the Gallery uploads and I thought I would pass on an interesting tidbit on that particular model with tubular forks.

I worked in a very large bicycle shop in Virginia Beach back in the early 1980's and we were selling 1500+ bikes a years, plus mopeds, skateboards, etc.

Anyhoo...we also sold a ton of beach cruisers - all brands - couldn't keep them in stock. From MCS to Worksman it was a crazy market. We even contracted though Louisville Cycle to import containers from Taiwan with our own brand. If anybody from the area remembers the local cruiser gang, the Surf Nazis who were battling with the Surf Allies on the boardwalk, give me a shout out...crazy daze...

So, it was during this regional cruiser boom we were experiencing that the Schwinn Cruiser became a PITA for our shop to market, as compared to KHS cruisers, and other brands we sold. The Schwinns came stock with a painted bladed fork, "Jet" regular width handlebars, a standard stem, and vinyl grips. The bikes our young customers wanted came stock with chrome tubular forks, alloy block BMX stem, and Super Jet handlebars bars completely covered in black foam. Oakley grips were de rigueur.

As the market developed (more like exploded), almost every Schwinn Cruiser we sold was modified directly after the sale with chrome tubular forks, etc. with a nice little upcharge tacked on and we kept the hardware. The ones we didn't modify at the time of sale often came back to be modded when the kid had enough jack saved up.

The new bladed Schwinn forks, handlebars, grips, and stems that were removed were put in a big cardboard box in the back and soon the box became overflowing.

We bugged our Schwinn rep (Chris K.?) constantly about getting the company to catch up with the current trend and stock their cruisers like we modified them. Other Schwinn shops in the Tidewater area were experiencing the same phenomenon (and certainly other markets as well). Chicago finally figured out what was going on and when the first Cruiser finally arrived with stock tubular forks, etc., we were like, Yeah!...

In the interim, Schwinn agreed to buy back all of the hardware we had accumulated so that was a bonus as well.

Original version - courtesy BMX Bike Museum
View attachment 731491

From the 1984 catalog - Thanks Metacortex!
View attachment 731492


That being said, would that mean any 26" canti frame 83 and back with tube forks would be either dealer/owner installed or an aftermarket? And would the 84 and up be made in Taiwan?
 
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