“But being made in America is not just about the warm feeling of giving jobs to people. We control the process. We invented it. And we’re doing it the best way we can by keeping control of it.” Schwinn was among those that began to shift to foreign parts and imported bikes. But in its initial forays into globalization, it got burned badly. Its foreign suppliers, especially Taiwan-based Giant, soon became its toughest competitors, applying Schwinn technology and techniques to their own, cheaper lines. The Schwinn brand lost its cachet, its bikes indistinguishable from many of the rest. In the aftermath of the bike boom, the tariffs on foreign bikes were lowered and it became easier to import.
The Greenville plant was not a success, as it was remote from both the corporate headquarters as well as the West coast ports where the material components arrived from Taiwan and Japan. Additionally, Asian manufacturers could still produce and assemble high-quality bicycles at a far lower per-unit cost than Schwinn at its plant in Mississippi, which had to import parts, then assemble them using higher-priced United States labor. The Greenville manufacturing facility, which had lost money each year of its operation, finally closed in 1991, laying off 250 workers in the process.
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 Schwinn bicycles 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.
By 1975, bicycle customers interested in medium-priced road and touring bicycles had largely gravitated towards Japanese or European brands. Unlike Schwinn, many of these brands were perennial participants in professional bicycle racing, and their production road bicycles at least possessed the cachet and visual lineage of their racing heritage, if not always their componentry. One example was Peugeot, which won several Tour de France victories using race bikes with frames occasionally constructed by small race-oriented framebuilders such as Masi, suitably repainted in Team Peugeot colors.
Bring your bike to us and we’ll help you choose the perfect selection of parts and accessories to make your bike shine all year long. Our attention to detail, creative designs, and play features take favorite play themes and licensed characters and bring them to life for the child. Judith Crown, who is a senior correspondent for BusinessWeek in Chicago and worked for Crain’s Chicago Business, started the book in 1992 after she heard that Schwinn was in serious financial trouble. With Glenn Coleman from Crain’s New York Business, they started investigating the reasons for the turmoil of America’s most notorious cycling brand.
The Paramount Force is one of Schwinn’s flagship bikes and also one of the most expensive, but it provides impressive performance. Almost all huffy mountain bike require some assembly on arrival. Although it isn’t complicated, online videos can be very helpful. Protect yourself from potentially lethal head injuries with a stylish and comfortable helmet from the same brand that makes your bike. There’s a quick and easy dial adjustment system for fit and comfort, air vents to keep you cool, and a choice of a dozen colors to match your ride. If you’re using a bike for commuting to work or going out with friends, you might want to think about a model that has full mudguards, though bikes supplied without them still have fender mounts, so you could add them if necessary.
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.
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 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.