Schwinn fielded a mountain bike racing team in the United States where their team rider Ned Overend won two consecutive NORBA Mountain Biking National Championships for the team in 1986 and 1987. By the mid-1970s, competition from lightweight and feature-rich imported bikes was making schwinn spin bike strong inroads in the budget-priced and beginners’ market. While Schwinn’s popular lines were far more durable than the budget bikes, they were also far heavier and more expensive, and parents were realizing that most of the budget bikes would outlast most kids’ interest in bicycling.
Right from the beginning, Schwinn and Arnold set the goal of producing a bicycle of undeniably superior design; something that would separate itself from the sea of cheap ramshackle models flooding the market. The company branded its product the “World” bicycle, and loaded its early catalogs with flowery language of international conquest. On bikes with original paint the model decal, “CrMo” decal on the seat tube, bullet-pointed seatstay tops, and round “Schwinn-Chicago” badge on the head tube will indicate one of Schwinn’s fillet-brazed 10-speed bicycles.
In 1895, with the financial backing of fellow German American Adolph Frederick William Arnold , he founded Arnold, Schwinn & Company. Schwinn’s new company coincided with a sudden bicycle craze in America. Chicago became the center of the American bicycle industry, with thirty factories turning out thousands of bikes every day. Bicycle output in the United States grew to over a million units per year by the turn of the 20th century. Schwinn built bicycle are by far the most commonly sought after brand for many collectors.
They are worth recalling as a unique Schwinn production strategy and a sidebar in the evolution of the bicycle industry. If you’re interesting in purchasing an antique or vintage bicycle made by this iconic company, you’ll have plenty of options. Price varies significantly, depending on the condition, age, scarcity, and desirability of the model. For instance, a vintage Schwinn Breeze in need of restoration sells for as little as $70. On the other hand, a 1920s Schwinn Excelsior with the original paint can retail for as much as $900. Whether you’re looking for a fixer-upper or want a bike in mint condition, there are plenty of places to shop.
Careful effort was also made to include plenty of wholesome “All-American” athletes, film stars, and other celebrities as Schwinn endorsers. During the World’s Fair summer of 1893 and on through the nationwide economic depression of the two years that followed, Ignaz effectively grabbed the bike industry by its handlebars. First, he worked his way up to the role of superintendent with the Fowler Cycle MFG Co. (previously known as Hill & Moffat), a large and profitable enterprise. From there, he became the lead designer for the International Manufacturing Company, which employed a workforce of 150 men in its bike plant.
When the sport’s original inventors demonstrated their new frame design, Schwinn marketing personnel initially discounted the growing popularity of the mountain bike, concluding that it would become a short-lived fad. The company briefly (1978–1979) produced a bicycle styled after the California mountain bikes, the Klunker 5. Using the standard electro-forged cantilever frame, and fitted with five-speed derailleur gears and knobby tires, schwinn spin bike the Klunker 5 was never heavily marketed, and was not even listed in the Schwinn product catalog. Unlike its progenitors, the Klunker proved incapable of withstanding hard off-road use, and after an unsuccessful attempt to reintroduce the model as the Spitfire 5, it was dropped from production. By 1975, bicycle customers interested in medium-priced road and touring bicycles had largely gravitated towards Japanese or European brands.