Vintage Schwinn Bikes

People look back fondly on Schwinn’s balloon-tire cruisers of the 1950’s. Those were pretty stylish bikes, but they were outrageously heavy and inefficient… And they were designed for children who sometimes weighed less than the Schwinn they were riding. Now, a cursory glance and you may think that this bike is all about form over function. That’s your glance backwards as an adult, not seeing it for the first time as a kid. So iconic that we use a silhouette of a similar bike on the back of our T-shirts and nobody has to wonder what it is. When you look at this bike you probably feel waves of nostalgia for your youth even if you never had one of these bikes as a kid.

And, you’ll love the ergonomic Schwinn seat that keeps you in the lap of luxury. A. Bikes with 26-, 27.5-, or 29-inch or 700C wheels are designed for adult use. Seat height has plenty of adjustment, and if you’re particularly tall, extended seat posts are available. On some models Schwinn quotes a “suggested rider height” to assist you, and on others a variety of frame sizes are offered, with charts to assist you.

The grip-shift drivetrain clicks between gears smoothly and intuitively, and trusty rim brakes bring you to a gentle stop. The classic-looking gumwall tires are 38mm wide, which is great for soaking up small bumps and cracks in the boardwalk, and for giving you lots of grip through the corners on your way to the ice cream shop. The durable aluminum wheels add a bit to the bike’s weight, but should keep their shape throughout any kind of bumps and potholes you might encounter. The slightly-curved handlebar isn’t as dramatic as some super-wide cruiser bars, but still has enough room to attach a bell or basket.

In 2004, Pacific Cycle was in turn acquired by Dorel Industries. Once America’s preeminent bicycle manufacturer, the Schwinn brand was now affixed to bicycles fabricated entirely in China, fueling most of its corporate parent’s growth. In 2010, Dorel launched a major advertising campaign to revive and contemporize the Schwinn brand by associating it with consumer childhood memories of the company, including a reintroduction of the Schwinn Sting-Ray. In late 1997, Questor Partners Fund, led by Jay Alix and Dan Lufkin, purchased Schwinn Bicycles. Questor/Schwinn later purchased GT Bicycles in 1998 for $8 a share in cash, roughly $80 million. The new company produced a series of well-regarded mountain bikes bearing the Schwinn name, called the Homegrown series.

schwinn bike

This bike was hefty enough to keep you safe in the event of a tornado. The 1955 Schwinn catalogue listed the boy’s Hornet at sixty and one-half pounds, so if a twister was threatening to carry you off to Oz, you simply had to hold tight to your handlebars and everything schwinn bicycles would be fine. For most of the 1950′s, one out of every four bicycles sold in the U.S. was a Schwinn. In the summer of ’76, you decided to do some light touring (In those days it would have been “cash touring”, not “credit card touring”) down the coast.

The other line features discount bikes that are available through platforms like K-Mart, Sears, and Wall-Mart. The Schwinn Bicycle company is the equivalent of a classic Cadillac in the bike world, they are just iconic. The company was founded in 1895 in the city of Chicago by German-born mechanical engineer Ignaz Schwinn. For most of the 20th century, it was the dominant manufacturer of bikes in America.

This page lists Schwinn bicycles models and links to their details. SBF Approved StoresThis is a section for Commercial stores to show off their products / sales they might have. Powered mongoose bmx bike by personalized zones, accountability and an instructor who will push riders to be their best, the Z Bike was designed for studios that focus on unifying their members with color.

The bike is also equipped with shiny chrome fenders to keep the puddles from splashing up onto your sandals. The market is broadly divided into road, mountain and hybrid bike categories, with subcategories in each. Gravel bikes, designed for on- and off-road riding, are popular right now. The fastest-growing segment is e-bikes though they represent a small part of the market.