Schwinn Cruiser 6 - $75

[Marie Anne]

Hello All,

I picked up a Schwinn Cruiser 6 for $75. I have to say, I'm enjoying it, and became curious about it's heritage. From the internet, I discovered some information. The stamp on the head badge is 1066, which I believe means the manufacture date is April 16 1986 or April 15 1996.

There is also a stamped number on the frame itself, down at the bottom by the crank. This number is TY96042927. I can not find out what this means even though I have read about Schwinn bike numbers.

Finally, in looking at comparative bikes online, I can not find anything that looks like this one. I find older cruisers (1950 - 1970s), brand new Schwinn Cruiser 6's that are made differently than mine and are sold at Target and Walmart, and found a written record (but no picture) of a red and black women's cruiser 6. Mine is red and white (or red and cream). Mine also has stickers showing that it was registered in California a couple of times during the 1990's.

I have attached some pictures below. Any information about this bike would be appreciated. Including whether or not I paid too much for it!!!

Thank you all in advance.
-Marie Anne



Thank you!

 

[Oilit]

Marie Anne, your bike is one of the Boulder Schwinns, built after the original company went bankrupt in 1992. They were bought by the Scott Sports Group who moved the company headquarters to Boulder CO. They built their high-end bikes (Home Grown mountain bikes, the Centennial Phantom and the Paramount line) in the U.S, while imports made up the balance. They were successful at first, but it seems they got into trouble when they bought GT/Dyno in 1998, in an attempt to increase market share, and took on a lot of debt just as NAFTA (1994) was starting to take hold, making it difficult to build even high-end bikes in the U.S. In any case, Boulder went bankrupt in July 2001 and then Schwinn was bought by Pacific, who turned the brand into a commodity product, sourced from anonymous Chinese factories and sold in the big box stores. Your bike is probably an import, but even Boulder's imports were decent bikes. I've got a couple and they have some nice details.The fork you have was introduced in 1995, and the Cruiser Six was replaced by a seven speed version around 2000, so your bike dates from 1996. There's not a lot of information on the internet about what sunk Boulder so what I wrote above is just my take on what I can find. If someone out there knows more, then by all means, don't be shy. Some of us would like to know.

 

[Oilit]

T.R. Findley's website has most of the Schwinn catalogs through 2000, and there's a good picture in the 1999 catalog of the women's version. And for $75.00, you did very well. You won't find anything that nice in the stores for anywhere near that price.
http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1991_2000/1999_60.html

 

[Marie Anne]

Thanks Oilit!

I looked through a Schwinn catalogue online earlier and did not find the page you shared. How exciting to see a brand new version! Now I know that my bike originated in China, was moved to Chicago, then made its way to CA, and is now with me on the prairie in South Dakota. She's a world traveler ( : She is a fun, perfect ride for cruising around town and with my kids!

Enjoy your ride today!
Marie Anne

 

[Oilit]

Here are some pictures of one of mine, a 2000 Cruiser Four, with a Shimano Nexus four speed internal gear hub (IGH). Unfortunately, the four speed was geared high, but they also made a seven speed version that has good range on the low end as well as the high. But neither one had the cantilever brakes that the Cruiser 6 had, which is a really nice feature. When it comes to brakes, I'd rather have and not need than to need and not have. I'll have to rig up some kind of drum brake on the front of this thing. But I got it cheap enough that I can afford to splurge a little.

 

[Angeloid]

Marie Anne, did you ever figure out how to navigate the TY serial code? I have the same code! Looks exactly like yours. Whoop whooooop!

 

[GTs58]

Marie Anne, did you ever figure out how to navigate the TY serial code? I have the same code! Looks exactly like yours. Whoop whooooop!

The serial numbers on these are pretty much irrelevant. The head badge will be stamped with four digits and that is the actual build date.