Schwinn Bicycles Corporate Office

The Schwinn Sting-Ray was known as the “bike with the sports car look.” It was produced from 1963 to 1981 and was one of the best-selling bikes in history. It features a short frame paired with high-rise handlebars, allowing the rider to make quick maneuvers, short-radius turns, and fast starts. After the Wrights made their first flight in 1903, they began to stop manufacturing bikes to focus more on aeronautics. They then sold all their remaining bicycle parts and the rights to the Van Cleve name to a bicycle salesman named W.F. Harry Lawson was a British bicycle designer who developed several types of bikes during the 1870s.

During the next twenty years, most of the Paramount bikes would be built in limited numbers at a small frame shop headed by Wastyn, in spite of Schwinn’s continued efforts to bring all frame production into the factory. He introduced the famous racing bike, the “Paramount” in 1937, and the “New World” in 1940 (trying to reintroduce Schwinn’s most popular turn-of-the century bicycle, the “World”). The lightweights caught on very slowly but the fat tire bikes carried the company successfully through the ‘60s. The historical treatment takes the narrative through World War II. The book then becomes more a catalog of models that many of you likely rode during the 1950s and 1960s. Excellent photos beginning with the famed “Black Phantom” fat tire bike, first produced in 1949, characterize the book.

schwinn bicycles

After the success of the Pugsley, several other companies joined the market, leading to the fatbike popularity we see today. Paul de Vivie is credited for designing the first bike with a functional rear derailleur. His invention required the chain to be moved by hand between two chain wheels, giving him four gears. He combined his invention with the proteon gear from the English Whippet, which used a split chain wheel. This allowed the chain two halves of the chain wheel to open when pedaling backwards.

After the mass production of mountain bikes in the 1980s, Specialized began work on full-suspension designs. Horst Leitner of Amp Research collaborated with Specialized to create the FSR mongoose bmx bike full-suspension design in 1991. The FSR’s four-bar linkage system allows the rear wheel to separate from the front triangle, making active and independent rear suspension possible.

Careful effort was also made to include plenty of wholesome “All-American” athletes, film stars, and other celebrities as Schwinn endorsers. And so, despite the rough economy and clear warning signs that the bicycle bubble was doomed mongoose bmx bike to burst, Ignaz made his big move. He found himself a business partner—a well connected moneyman from the meat packing industry named Adolph Arnold —and together they launched a new company in 1895 called Arnold, Schwinn & Co.

This model is the IC4’s little sibling, with a smaller price and fewer features, but it’s still a good option for streaming workouts from your device. One of the first titanium frames in the history of bike design, the Teledyne Titan was sold from 1974 to 1976. Advertised as being two-thirds as heavy as the steel frames in that era, it weighed just under 4.5lbs. The bike did have several problems, though, including being too flexible and crack-prone.

Therefore you can ride it to the grocery store and go out even when the road is damp. The lightweight aluminum frame is combined with a SR Suntour NEX fork for utmost comfort on bumpy roads. You’ll also get an 8-speed Shimano drivetrain that will allow you to keep pedaling without much effort. In our opinion, eVantage is the best Schwinn electric bike and the best model this brand makes.

Although the market was becoming hostile to investors, Schwinn was flourishing thanks to its motorcycle division. In fact, the company was doing so great that in 1928 it was placed third after Harley-Davidson and Indian. Unfortunately, the market got saturated and as a result, the short-lived bicycle boom came to an abrupt end. In 1891, he made a big move to the U.S in search of greener pastures.