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Richard Schwinn on Schwinn

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Oilit

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
I watched the Youtube video (The Sad Saga of Schwinn) that @Xlobsterman posted at the end of this thread:
And then this video came up, a talk on the history of Schwinn by none other than Richard Schwinn.
I question some of his conclusions, but he's obviously put a lot of thought into it and it's interesting to hear his perspective.
 
An interesting video, thanks for posting it.

I worked for a Schwinn dealer from 77 to 82, and the owner was a good friend of the family. He and his father started the shop in 62 or 63, then he ended up selling it in late 81, or early 82. He was close personal friends with the Schwinn sales rep, and now in hindsight, I think the sale of the shop was directly related to the inside info he had from the sales rep that the Chicago Factory was getting ready to close its doors?

The 5 years I worked at the shop were great years, and my first job working part time after school, and on Saturday. It then became full time after I graduated from high school, and until he sold the shop. I only worked for the new owners for 6 months or so before they fired me to hire one of their family members......LOL That shop remained in business for 54 years up until Oct. of 2017 going through a few owners over the years.

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He also mentioned the Air-Dyne, and I remember the first one of those I assembled out of the box in 79. While assembling it, I wondered to myself just how someone could sit down and design something like that?

I happen to have an Air-dyne, it is a Taiwan built bike from 86. I got it at a thrift shop for $40 a couple of years ago.

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I did a quick Google search this morning to see if I could get an image of the new business that is now where my old shop was back in the day.

Here is what I found.

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I do find it entertaining that he states Schwinn was the first company to enter the market with a production Mountain Bike. I am assuming he is referring too the King Sting that came out in 81?

I was building custom mountain bikes long before Schwinn introduced the King Sting.

Here I am on my custom Champion BMX style MTB in 79 that I built for myself when working at the shop. This pic was taken at a street race in Manhattan Beach, Calif.

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I do find it entertaining that he states Schwinn was the first company to enter the market with a production Mountain Bike. I am assuming he is referring too the King Sting that came out in 81?

I was building custom mountain bikes long before Schwinn introduced the King Sting.

Here I am on my custom Champion BMX style MTB in 79 that I built for myself when working at the shop. This pic was taken at a street race in Manhattan Beach, Calif.

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Do you think he meant the Klunker 5? It had the name, so at least they had heard of the concept. Although come to think of it, Schwinn called the King Sting an "All Terrain Bike", and the Klunker 5 never made it into the catalog. I'd say the 1983 Sierra was their first real mountain bike.
 
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Although some of the "Facts" are shall we say questionable, like the year the Aerocycle came out, I really enjoyed hearing the history of how they distributed their bicycles and the changes over the years. Barry
 
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