In the December 1963 Schwinn Reporter, Schwinn announced the arrival of the Deluxe Sting-Ray. This model included Fenders, white-wall mongoose bmx bike tires, and a padded Solo polo seat. Helping parents get kids off screens and outside into nature, one adventure at a time.
Another problem was Schwinn’s failure to design and market its bicycles to specific, identifiable buyers, especially the growing number of cyclists interested in road racing or touring. Instead, most Schwinn derailleur bikes were marketed to the general leisure market, equipped with heavy “old timer” accessories such as kickstands that cycling aficionados had long since abandoned. More and more cyclists, especially younger buyers, began to insist on stronger steel alloys , responsive frame geometry, aluminum components, advanced derailleur shifting, and multiple gears.
The result, a wheelie bike, was introduced to the public as the Schwinn Sting-Ray in June 1963. Riding a bike is a rite of passage for a kid; a passport to worlds beyond the front lawn. Bikes represent fun, freedom, and fresh air – everything that’s good about childhood.
Schwinn’s annual sales soon neared the million mark, and the company turned a profit in the late 1980s. However, after unsuccessfully attempting to purchase a minority share in Giant Bicycles, Edward Schwinn Jr. negotiated a separate deal with the China Bicycle Co. to produce bicycles to be sold under the Schwinn brand. In retaliation, Giant introduced its own line of Giant-branded bikes for sale to retailers carrying Schwinn bikes.
In 1931, a now 71 year-old Ignaz also handed over most of the day-to-day concerns of the company to his vice president and firstborn son, Frank (F. W.) Schwinn, who’d been training under his wing at the Kildare plant since 1918 . The prices of old or vintage Schwinn bikes will vary depending on the condition, model, age, and demand of the bike. The Schwinn Stingray was one of the best-selling bikes in history and was popular due to its stylish design that many youths and young adults back in the day desired.
W. Schwinn returned to Chicago and in 1933 introduced the Schwinn B-10E Motorbike, actually a youth’s bicycle designed to imitate a motorcycle. The company revised the model the next year and renamed it the Aerocycle. For the Aerocycle, F. W. Schwinn persuaded American Rubber Co. to make 2.125-inch-wide (54.0 mm) balloon tires, while adding streamlined fenders, an imitation “gas tank”, a streamlined, chrome-plated headlight, and a push-button bicycle bell.
When they failed to find what they wanted at Schwinn, they went elsewhere. While the Paramount still sold in limited numbers to this market, the model’s customer base began to age, changing from primarily bike racers to older, wealthier riders looking for the ultimate bicycle. Schwinn sold an impressive 1.5 million bicycles in 1974, but would pay the price for failing to keep up with new developments in bicycle technology and buying trends. As a result, Schwinns became increasingly dated in both styling and technology. By 1957, the Paramount series, once a premier racing bicycle, had atrophied from a lack of attention and modernization. Aside from some new frame lug designs, the designs, methods and tooling were the same as had been used in the 1930s.
As all you want is a simple bike that looks good and is both strong and comfortable to ride. Troubles for this brand keep on increasing with the steep increase in inflation. By the late 80’s more and more workers went for strikes on demand for better pay and replacing outdated manufacturing equipments. In 1980 a portion of assembly workers began a strike with 1,400 assembly workers; who walked off the job for the next 16 weeks. Realizing he would never be able to accomplish his dreams working for someone else, Ignaz began his own venture.
The Super Deluxe also gave the rider a choice of White wall tires or the new Yellow oval rear Slik tire paired with a front black wall Westwind tire. After F.W.’s nephew, Edward R. Schwinn, Jr., took over the company, the brand standard dropped immensely. By the 1980s, the BMX trend was in full swing, leading to the development of the company’s BMX factory.