After a series of production cuts and labor force reductions, Schwinn was able to restructure its operations. The company renegotiated loans by putting up the company and the name as collateral, and increased production of the Airdyne exercise bicycle, a moneymaker even in bad times. The company took advantage of the continued demand for mountain bikes, redesigning its product line with Schwinn-designed chrome-molybdenum huffy mountain bike alloy steel frames. Supplied by manufacturers in Asia, the new arrangement enabled Schwinn to reduce costs and stay competitive with Asian bicycle companies. In Taiwan, Schwinn was able to conclude a new production agreement with Giant Bicycles, transferring Schwinn’s frame design and manufacturing expertise to Giant in the process. With this partnership, Schwinn increased their bicycle sales to 500,000 per year by 1985.
The book is illustrated with photographs of the factory, the Schwinn racing teams, and the bicycles the company produced . But what eventually drove Schwinn into the turmoil that led the company to file for Chapter 11 in 1992 was it’s inability to cope with management and quality problems, as well as some unsuccessful investments. Basically, the company had to choose in where to produce bicycles at a more competitive prices. The Schwinns decided to turn to Taiwan and China, but even though suppliers like Tony Lo’s Giant Manufacturing made high quality products, unlucky sourcing desisions led to supply shortage, angry retailers and receding customers.
Giant Bikeswent from strength to strength – producing over one million bikes in 1986 and supplyingSchwinnwith 80 per cent of their bicycle inventory. At the beginning of the eighties, the factory in Taiwan was sending 100,000 bikes back to America per year. Keep up with the issues, companies and people that matter most to business in the Milwaukee metro area. The company is preparing to use Reynolds 953, a next-generation high-performance stainless steel with corrosion resistance similar to titanium, Schwinn said. The company started implementing elements of lean manufacturing about two years ago. “I think we will get some significant improvements in productivity,” he said.
At the close of the 1920s, the stock market crash decimated the American motorcycle industry, taking Excelsior-Henderson with it. With no buyers, Excelsior-Henderson motorcycles were discontinued in 1931. W. Schwinn returned to Chicago and in 1933 introduced the Schwinn B-10E Motorbike, actually a youth’s bicycle designed to imitate a motorcycle.
In 1870 in Coventry, England, James Starley and William Hillman created the original penny-farthing, the Ariel. The revolutionary use of wire spokes allowed for lighter, larger wheels, making possible the high-wheel bicycle, constructed atop one large front wheel and one smaller rear wheel. Elite Cycles Most of the bikes made by Waterford Precision Bicycles and Gunnar Cycles USA are custom-fitted for specific riders. The company makes specialized racing bikes, as well as touring cycles. Since 1993, a small company based in Waterford’s industrial park has been turning out world-class bicycles, that have won numerous national titles, more than 150 state awards and hundreds of individual races.
Its chrome-plated fork was changed to painted, hubs went to the cheaper “Atom” version , and its rear dropouts went from forged Hurét with an integral derailleur hanger to stamped steel without a hanger. Customers probably saw mongoose bmx bike this Super Sport as a slightly upscale Continental, differentiated primarily by CrMo frame tubing, alloy rims, and a leather saddle. Few realized the Super Sport’s frame, unlike the Continental, was actually fillet-brazed.