Explain Schwinn...

[danny7147]

Okay, who will be kind enough to explain to a guy from England about Schwinn?

We don't get them over here, I think I've only ever seen one. From what I can understand, they're obviously a BIG make over there who have been going for years, but are they the 'classic' American bike make or something? They certainly seem to fetch big money on ebay!

 

[37fleetwood]

Oh this ought to be good!
Take whatever they say and cut it in half.

For many years Schwinn was the largest and most popular bicycle manufacturer in the U.S.A., they made tons of bikes, and are collected by many, though most Schwinn guys are a bit soft in the head, if you know what I mean.

 

[PCHiggin]

Pre 1983 Schwinn

The Schwinn bikes that demand a lot of money were ballooners,Sting-Rays and middleweights made in their Chicago factory,up to the early 1980's.They didnt adapt to their customers demands for mountain bikes or bmx's fast enough and didnt modernize their factory or adjust the employee pay packages to compete with foreign competition.I dont think they ever could compete with the pay of Taiwan or China but thats another topic. The Chicago factory closed sometime in the early 80's,1983 I believe. They opened a new factory in Mississippi but it was too late,they were broke.They went bankrupt about 8 years later and the Schwinn family lost control of the company with all of its properties including trademarks.The second owners moved the HQ to Colorado and tried to get on top of the mountainbike market, bmx and trick bikes but got too far into debt. They tried to revive the classics with Phantom and Sting Ray replicas but those were too expensive and that company also failed.The current owners are a larger corporation,they make junk with a Schwinn badge for the big box stores and supposedly top quality bikes for speciality shops,the latter being way over priced in my opinion. I think the pre bankruptcy Schwinns demand a lot of money today much for the same reason they always did,they were simply made better and customers got much more for the money.This and the fact that Schwinn was the trend setter in engineering and styling put them ahead of the game at least since the 1930's.They patented the cantilever style frame and the knee action fork in the the late 1930's.These features were and still are copied by most others.No secret why so many still exist.

 

[ducnut]

Wikipedia.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwinn

 

[snickle]

Schwinn can be compared to Ford & Chevy in that, all are classic American symbols of ingenuity and style, there are many around, and for the right price, you can have any one you want. Sure, there are many other bikes that also fall into this category, and even some far more valuable or sought after than anything Schwinn made. But none are as plentiful or parts as easily attainable as Schwinn. Not to mention, they were built like tanks.

I am slowly looking at other vintage non Schwinn bikes that catch my interest but most of the ones Ive seen, they usually have at least 1 funky part that I don't dig. But then there's the ones who's design completely blows away anything the Schwinn designers ever came up with.

 

[danny7147]

Hmm... okay, thanks for explaining that! It certainly explains why they're collectable, I'd guess they're the same as Raleigh are here, where parts are simple. When you say they're a classic American icon, is it the sort of thing where a lot of adults would look back at some of the older frames and think "Hey, I had that one when I was a kid!"?

I'm trying to draw a comparison, as Raleigh came out with a lot of famous designs like the Chopper and Grifter where people see them and fill full of memories!

 

[ratdaddy]

Schwinn

Yes raleigh is a great bike .i have had several and they do fetch top dollar for the parts.i think this goes way back with the schwinn.it is an icon just like a harley davidson or indian motorcycle.and thats what alot of the 20'-50's schwinn repersent to guys like us our dads had those old harleys with that flowing design you know like its moving even when its sitting still.we had to have something that was as cool as our dads.you know schwinn owned harley crocker motorcycle in the 30's and that had alot to do with the design of thier bicycles.heck i keep several of those 30's bicycle in my house so i feel like i going even when i sitting still.thinking bout puttting one on the bathroom wall .if you look back in our history books you will notice that american cars and trains and airplanes and motorcycle and bicycles and tricycles and toy cars and pedal cars have the look cause that what we like.

 

[danny7147]

Makes sense... they're a style icon as well then, like a Stingray or Corvette Raleigh only did that a couple of times, but I get the idea now that you've compared it to those kind of things.

Think Corvette, Harley, Coca Cola, Flying Fortress, McDonalds (not the best example, but still American...), and Schwinn's up there as an icon of the States the 'way it used to/should be! Our bikes were well built, but the problem was that they symbolised Britain the way it was... dull, grey, straight, boring, but very practical Sure, built well, but without looking pretty closely they all follow the same design. Just from some of the forums I've been flicking through though, it sounds like Schwinn had pretty unique designs, ones that people can tell the model at a glance the same way you'd be able to tell a Dodge Charger from a Trans Am? Or would you have to be 'into' Schwinn to know the difference?

 

[OldRider]

Schwinn might have got all the glory but please don't forget there were other manufacturers with very comparable bikes in looks, style and reliability.

 

[ratdaddy]

Schwinn

Acually i think it was excesilor motorcycle schwinn bought.anyway,look at one of those motorcycles and then look at a schwinn of the same time period.same designers.we love our airflow look.