I bought a Cruiser Deluxe new in 1996. It's been a great bike, and I've put a lot of miles on it. LIked the style, but it was more about utility. I never thought about where it was made, or what parts were used, or any of that. I've only recently become more aware of what was going on with the brand at that time, and the fact that the details of Schwinn cruiser models started to vary quite a bit soon after my bike was made. I've learned a lot from this thread, but I can still get confused when I try to examine things in detail. I'd like to learn all I can about my bike, but also I think that keeping this topic alive as a resource is worthwhile, and may help to educate others and hopefully clarify the history of what was happening with the evolution of the brand.
So when I got mine, I remember that they had them in three different two-tone color options. The memories are a bit fuzzy now, which is an example of why I wanted to resurrect this topic. The three main colors were red (maroon), green, and blue. The red and green bikes had secondary colors of creme and black, but I can't remember for certain which primary was paired which which secondary. Based on a green example posted earlier in this thread, and its similarities to my bike, and from what I've found thus far in online image searches, I think the combinations I saw in the store in '96 were probably red/black and green/cream (but I've seen a number of similar bikes in green/black, and I want to say that I've also seen red/cream). I chose the two-tone blue option. I not only preferred the look of it, but as I recall they said that the blue was more of a limited production thing, which appealed to me. They only had the one blue one, and I remember that there were several reds and greens in stock that day.
So basically I just wanted to try to focus on some details (and ask for help with same) about these bikes, and to try to continue to let this thread be a resource to get into details about similar models that were coming out around the same time and beyond. I guess I'm pretty detail-oriented, but even with my limited knowledge I've been able to detect mistakes that people sometimes make when talking about bikes of the late 90's into the early 2000's (like on youtube, etc). It can get pretty confusing. I mean, the model names ("Cruiser Deluxe", "Deluxe Cruiser", "Cruiser Classic", "Classic Cruiser"), the design detail variations and overlaps... I suppose it all kind of reflects the chaos the brand has gone through. But mainly I wanted to see if details about the models produced in the latter 90's could be sorted out with some clarity.
For a starting point, here are a few images of a blue Cruiser Deluxe that's essentially identical to mine. The only difference is that my bike did not come with a rear reflector or a tail light (and I've never added any "Phantom-like" features to mine. In fact, I removed my rear rack in 1996 and never put it back on!)
Note some differences (chainguard, fenders, seat) between the above blue example like mine, and the C.D. image below, from the 1996 Schwinn catalog. The above chainguard in particular seems to have been a short-lived design feature for these (and later) "reissue" cruisers, and are perhaps the first thing I look at when trying to identify CD's that are essentially the same as my '96 (and likely to have parts of similar design and quality). The flared fenders added a lot to the look (even without all of the Phantom details), and the seat pictured below had that added padding on top that made an already large and rather un-photogenic seat look that much bigger and bulkier (even without the extra padding, the darned things were already very comfortable).
So when I got mine, I remember that they had them in three different two-tone color options. The memories are a bit fuzzy now, which is an example of why I wanted to resurrect this topic. The three main colors were red (maroon), green, and blue. The red and green bikes had secondary colors of creme and black, but I can't remember for certain which primary was paired which which secondary. Based on a green example posted earlier in this thread, and its similarities to my bike, and from what I've found thus far in online image searches, I think the combinations I saw in the store in '96 were probably red/black and green/cream (but I've seen a number of similar bikes in green/black, and I want to say that I've also seen red/cream). I chose the two-tone blue option. I not only preferred the look of it, but as I recall they said that the blue was more of a limited production thing, which appealed to me. They only had the one blue one, and I remember that there were several reds and greens in stock that day.
So basically I just wanted to try to focus on some details (and ask for help with same) about these bikes, and to try to continue to let this thread be a resource to get into details about similar models that were coming out around the same time and beyond. I guess I'm pretty detail-oriented, but even with my limited knowledge I've been able to detect mistakes that people sometimes make when talking about bikes of the late 90's into the early 2000's (like on youtube, etc). It can get pretty confusing. I mean, the model names ("Cruiser Deluxe", "Deluxe Cruiser", "Cruiser Classic", "Classic Cruiser"), the design detail variations and overlaps... I suppose it all kind of reflects the chaos the brand has gone through. But mainly I wanted to see if details about the models produced in the latter 90's could be sorted out with some clarity.
For a starting point, here are a few images of a blue Cruiser Deluxe that's essentially identical to mine. The only difference is that my bike did not come with a rear reflector or a tail light (and I've never added any "Phantom-like" features to mine. In fact, I removed my rear rack in 1996 and never put it back on!)
Note some differences (chainguard, fenders, seat) between the above blue example like mine, and the C.D. image below, from the 1996 Schwinn catalog. The above chainguard in particular seems to have been a short-lived design feature for these (and later) "reissue" cruisers, and are perhaps the first thing I look at when trying to identify CD's that are essentially the same as my '96 (and likely to have parts of similar design and quality). The flared fenders added a lot to the look (even without all of the Phantom details), and the seat pictured below had that added padding on top that made an already large and rather un-photogenic seat look that much bigger and bulkier (even without the extra padding, the darned things were already very comfortable).
