Thoughts of putting an expanding new company called Trek out of business with
high-quality “Made in America” bicycles swirled in their heads. A young Ed Schwinn, Jr. as the heir to the Schwinn family
business would have to be very quick on his feet to meet all the challenges confronting
the company. Schwinn had a bicycle line that was identified as a children’s
product. The Japanese were increasingly making
inroads into the American market. The Chicago factory was aging and in need
of being upgraded or replaced. On top of
all this, the Schwinn family wanted to retain full control of the company and
therefore did not want to bring in private investors to pay for needed
manufacturing upgrades.
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. The Paramount series had limited production numbers, making vintage examples quite rare today. 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. The Varsity and Continental sold in large numbers through the 1960s and early 1970s, becoming Scwhinn’s leading models.
The popularity of Schwinn would make it a national icon and carry it
through the next several decades. With the manufacturing capacities in Europe and Asia decimated,
the company became one of the dominant bicycle manufacturers in the USA. Within
two decades that included a pause for World War II, Schwinn did not miss a
beat. Frank W. Schwinn had changed a failed motorcycle business and a floundering
bicycle company into a powerhouse that was on its way to becoming an American
cultural icon. Once he arrived in Chicago he worked for a series of bicycle companies. In 1894 he had a chance meeting with a fellow German immigrant named Adolph Frederick William Arnold.
The lightweight bicycles were still not selling
very well and in 1954 middleweight bikes like the Corvette, Jaguar and Panther
filled the void for older children and schwinn bicycles young adults. Frank Schwinn and his engineers got to work after his trip
to Europe. The team began to develop a new line of adult lightweight Schwinn
bicycles.
Eventually, Schwinn was not able to pay the Asian
manufacturers for these unsold bicycles. The bankers perceived the trouble at
the Greenville factory and the misadventure in Hungary as a hit to their
confidence that Schwinn could manage its financial woes. This combined with
lower Schwinn bike sales set in motion a series of actions that put the company
under financial stress starting in the 1990s.
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. The bicycle industry entered the doldrums at the turn of the
20th Century. Adult ridership of bicycles plummeted as people’s
attention turned to motorized transportation.
For a company
struggling with cash flow and being supervised closely by its banks, this was
not the time for Schwinn to gamble on becoming a global player. Schwinn pulled
the plug on the unsuccessful venture in 1991 just one year before bankruptcy. He began emphasizing marketing and financing at the
expense of modernizing the factory. He felt most comfortable in finance and
sales but now had to run the whole company.
The Schwinn
family did not want to dilute their shares by offering stock to the public or
other major investors. Appointing an outsider as a chief operating officer or
offering stock to gain much-needed capital for modernization was out of the
question. In addition to its range of bikes, Schwinn also supplies cycling accessories including helmets, pumps, lights, and storage. The Schwinn brand has been revived under the current ownership and it is becoming a household name in bikes again.
The motorcycle
division of Schwinn took up all the creative energies of the company, and the bicycle
division limped along barely surviving its plight. But by purchasing new bicycle companies
during industry consolidation, intentional or not, Schwinn was positioning
itself for the next phase of its bicycle business. For over a decade, the Schwinn has set the standard as the cycle studio workhorse. The sturdy steel frame, heavy perimeter weighted flywheel, traditional chain drive, and direct pressure brake give this bike the strength to keep it moving ride after ride.
Edward Schwinn, Jr. only owned about 3.4 percent of the
company himself and family members held the rest. Even though he made all the major
business decisions for Schwinn, he also had to deal with family politics. schwinn bicycles Although these figures are a bit dated, the odds of family business
survival are generally accepted to be low for several reasons. The charisma of
the early founder fades and business conditions change.