By 1961, its share had fallen to 12.8%, although dollar and unit sales had risen. The market leader, with 22.8% in 1961, which had increased its share from 11.6% in 1951, sells mainly to mass merchandisers. Schwinn assigned specific territories to each of its wholesale distributors who were instructed to sell only to franchised dealers in their respective territories.
This feature, attractive to older riders, soon found its way to other Schwinn models, especially those intended for senior citizens. Corvette in 1954, after their catalog, for that year, had been in use. Therefore, with the release of a single photograph, the Corvette was introduced. The picture showed company executives standing behind their new product, that would remain in production for 10 years. 1955 was the first year in which the Corvette appeared in the Schwinn catalog; it was Schwinn’s top listing in their “middleweight” category.
Schwinn also had a very successful BMX racing team made up of some of the best riders of the day. In the late 1960s, the Varsity and Continental pioneered the use of auxiliary brake levers, which allowed the rider to rest hands on the straight, horizontal center section of the ram’s horn huffy mountain bike handlebars, yet still have braking control. To further improve control from this more-erect riding position, the levers used to move the derailleurs were moved from the traditional position on the “down tube” to the top of the headset, on a ring which would turn with the handlebar stem.
Faced with a downward sales spiral, Schwinn went into bankruptcy in 1992. The company and name were bought by the Zell/Chilmark Fund, an investment group, in 1993. Zell moved Schwinn’s corporate headquarters to Boulder, Colorado. 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 top-line Paramount series , with framesets built of silver-soldered Reynolds 531double-butted tubing and Nervex lugs. Manipulated the concepts of ‘sale’ and ‘agency,’ but on the significance of the business practices in terms of restraint of trade.” VIP models include carbon composite, ultra-light frames with stylized forks; SRAM, Vision, Bosch, and Fizik components; LCD display screens; mongoose bmx bike internal wiring cable system. Models for Mountain Bikes in the Schwinn catalog include 5 models with their subsequent customizations and off-shots. Those 5 models are the Mesa, Timber, the Moab, the Protocol, the Traxion, and the Bonafide. All have an aluminum frame design, the difference between one and another lies in its suspension system, wheel size, geometry, and color.