Today fillet brazing is a fabrication method best suited for custom and specialty bicycles, yet from 1938 to 1978 you could walk into any Schwinn shop and buy this kind of bike off the rack. Unless we invent a fillet-brazing machine, it may never schwinn bicycles happen again. 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.
It continued to churn out the same heavy, tough-to-maneuver bikes that had been the mainstay of the industry for decades. “Durable? Yes. Lasts forever? You bet,” said Jay Townley, an industry consultant and former Schwinn executive. This is the outcome the Schwinn family had desperately sought to avoid. But like many companies struggling to decipher how American production and service workers fit in a globalized market, Schwinn erred badly.
Alternatively, if you are looking for a used Schwinn bike, there are plenty of vintage and used Schwinn bikes that may delight you. Since workers built the company’s first bike in 1895, you can even find antique on eBay. The company considered relocating to a single facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but financing the project would have required outside investors, perhaps even foreign ones. Schwinn’s board of directors rejected the new plant in 1978.
Old Roads specializes in vintage bicycles from several different brands, including Schwinn. You can browse their selection online, and they also offer a great deal of helpful information about assessing a bike’s condition. Before they are sold, all the bikes are tuned up by professional bicycle mechanics. EBay is a great resource for all kinds of antique and vintage items, including Schwinn bikes. You’ll see many of the models Schwinn produced in the last half of the 20th century, along with some older models from the earlier part of the company’s history. If you’re buying a vintage Schwinn on eBay, be sure to ask lots of questions about the bike’s condition.
By 1979, even the Paramount had been passed, technologically speaking, by a new generation of American as well as foreign custom bicycle manufacturers. A growing number of US teens and young adults were purchasing imported European sport racing or sport touring bicycles, many fitted with multiple derailleur-shifted gears. Schwinn decided to meet the challenge by developing two lines of sport or road ‘racer’ bicycles. One was already in the catalog — the limited production Paramount series. As always, the Paramount spared no expense; the bicycles were given high-quality lightweight lugged steel frames using double-butted tubes of Reynolds 531 and fitted with quality European components including Campagnolo derailleurs, hubs, and gears.
The Paramount series had limited production numbers, making vintage examples quite rare today. The 1960 Varsity was introduced as an 8-speed bike, but in mid-1961 was upgraded to 10 speeds. Other road bikes were introduced by Schwinn in the early and mid 1960s, such as the Superior, Sierra, and Super Continental, but these were only produced for a few years.
1950s – Vintage Schwinns from the early 1950s may have a serial number stamped on the frame on the bottom of the crank hanger. Bikes from the later 1950s may have a serial number near the part of the frame where the rear axle attaches. The promotion of Schwinn’s self-interest alone does not invoke the rule of reason to immunize otherwise illegal conduct. Information for this article came from interviews with members of the Schwinn Bicycle Company , Schwinn Consumer Relations, the Schwinn History Center in Chicago, several Schwinn Bicycle Shops, Schwinn catalogs, and Mr. Robert Evans. Brass fillet-brazed of SAE 4130 chrome molybdenum straight-gauge seamless tubing.
The company was originally founded by Ignaz Schwinn (1860–1948) in Chicago in 1895. It became the dominant manufacturer of American bicycles through most of the 20th century. After declaring bankruptcy in 1992, Schwinn has since been a sub-brand of Pacific Cycle, owned by the Dutch conglomerate, Pon Holdings. The Volare has many of the same features as higher-end models, but the emphasis is on weight reduction.