W. Schwinn, grandson Frank Valentine Schwinn took over management of the company. The company’s next answer to requests for a Schwinn mountain bike was the King Sting and the Sidewinder, inexpensive BMX-derived bicycles fabricated from existing electro-forged frame designs, and using off-the-shelf BMX parts. This proved to be a major miscalculation, as several new United States startup companies schwinn bikes began producing high-quality frames designed from the ground up, and sourced from new, modern plants in Japan and Taiwan using new mass-production technologies such as TIG welding. By 1950, Schwinn had decided the time was right to grow the brand. At the time, most bicycle manufacturers in the United States sold in bulk to department stores, which in turn sold them as store brand models.
However, to properly answer the question above – it’s perhaps easier to think of it in terms of which Vintage Schwinn Bikes aren’t worth buying. This item is offered by one of our Exchange Plus Partners – a trusted, third party paired with us who ships directly to you when you order on ShopMyExchange.com. The Exchange sells and handles payments for these items, and you can find information and track the status of items purchased from Exchange Plus Partners on your AAFES order details page.
The front triangle is made as its own part and then bonded and wrapped to the rear triangle. The ‘semi’ compact frame has an integrated headset and is available in four sizes (small, medium, large and extra large). Schwinn SmartStart bikes are an incredible feat of kid-size engineering. From top to bottom, they’re designed to help kids in motion stay in motion.
While most people know the Schwinn name, not everyone knows the Schwinn story. Founded in 1895 by Ignaz Schwinn, the bicycle brand was of course the most popular in America for decades to come. Unfortunately, the same history and heritage which did so much to propel the brand forward over the years brought it to a sad day in 1993 when Schwinn filed for bankruptcy. This bicycle has been refurbished to the Blue Tag standard which includes a 30 day warranty. From handmade pieces to vintage treasures ready to be loved again, Etsy is the global marketplace for unique and creative goods. It’s also home to a whole host of one-of-a-kind items made with love and extraordinary care.
However, Schwinn failed to innovate and adapt to the modern bicycle market. Although their models were favored by slightly older buyers, they weren’t able to find huge success in the growing younger market, which had leaned increasingly towards lightweight and technologically advanced road bikes. After an initial schwinn online discount store massive boom in bicycle sales that coincided with the founding of the company, the industry declined. During this period, Schwinn bought up a number of smaller bicycle production companies in order to survive. They then built a small factory in Chicago, which was at that point the center of the bicycle industry.
This, combined with the import-dominated market and outdated factory, meant that the company management shifted the majority of production to Japan. Throughout the 1950s Schwinn continued expanding and buying up smaller companies. Schwinn also began producing a lightweight racing-style bike to rival those being imported from Europe, which at the time had become incredibly popular.
The Paramount used high-strength chrome-molybdenum steel alloy tubing and expensive brass lug-brazed construction. 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. 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. While the Paramount still sold in limited numbers to this market, the model’s customer base began to age, changing from primarily bike racers to older, wealthier riders looking for the ultimate bicycle. Schwinn sold an impressive 1.5 million bicycles in 1974, but would pay the price for failing to keep up with new developments in bicycle technology and buying trends.
Unlike its progenitors, the Klunker proved incapable of withstanding hard off-road use, and after an unsuccessful attempt to reintroduce the model as the Spitfire 5, it was dropped from production. Schwinn was soon sponsoring a bicycle racing team headed by Emil Wastyn, who designed the team bikes, and the company competed in six-day racing across the United States with riders such as Jerry Rodman and Russell Allen. In 1938, Frank W. Schwinn officially introduced the Paramount series. Developed from experiences gained in racing, Schwinn established Paramount as their answer to high-end, professional competition bicycles.