mongoose bmx bike has been making bicycles in the United States since 1934 and currently imports about 70 percent of its bikes, from China, Taiwan and Mexico. The company holds 25 percent to 30 percent of the U.S. market, the largest single share. Huffy Corp., now based in Centerville, is planning to move to a 50,000-square-foot headquarters that will give the company 40 percent more space to design and showcase its sample bikes. Of course, Huffy didn’t actually produce these bicycles, but you can’t really hold that against them. Very few companies actually manufacture their own bikes anymore, either.
In 2004, Huffy sold its Huffy Sports division to Russell Corporation. Huffy Sports manufactured sporting goods, including the Hydra-Rib basketball systems used by the NBA. After years of struggling against the cut-rate Chinese bicycles that set the price target guiding Walmart, Huffy essentially had become a Chinese-owned company.
Ask a cyclist, and they would probably say heavy, poor quality bicycles purchased at a department store. Huffy then had to close its plant in Celina, Ohio, laying off 935 employees, and the same thing soon happened in their other two factories in Missouri and Mississippi. Production was subcontracted to China, where workers were paid 25 to 41 cents an hour, yet the company could still not reach profitability even with this cheap labor. If the recalled pedals are incorrectly installed by the retailer during assembly, they can fall off the crank arm of the bicycle, posing fall and injury hazards to the rider.
Of the actual bikes post 1970, there are some dependable transportation available if you know where to look. Cycling on the Cheap is about finding the right mode of transportation as cheap as possible, and for many, a Huffy might make sense. Most likely these will not be light in weight but will get you from point A to point B and have the added advantage of being largely theft proof.
In 1968, in an effort to market a children’s bicycle with an automotive theme, Huffman designers added a car-type steering wheel in place of handlebars to the Rail frame, which became the Huffy Wheel. In mid-1968, Huffman released the Flaming Stack chain guard, which was designed to look like the distinctive side exhaust pipe covers on the Corvette sports car. Later that same year, Huffman released a new Slingshot model with 16″ front dragster wheel, and 20″ rear.
Reluctantly, agreed in order to remain a major player in the market. While the brand does manufacture some great bikes, one of the drawbacks is that they often arrive at your doorstep in parts. This makes Huffy bikes a great option for entry-level cyclists, seniors, or anyone looking for an affordable and comfortable bike for general recreational use.
By the 1990’s the company was in serious financial trouble and closed their US-based plants. In an era of big business, Huffy came through with rides that were totally rad. After watching the 1984 Olympic cyclists take home the gold on Huffy bikes, kids of all ages realized they could be anything they dreamed. 2004– In August, the stock price plummeted by 40 percent and the New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of theHuffy Corporation. This drama unfolded after the company publicly announced that an audit of its finances had exposed serious accounting irregularities.