With a Q factor of 162 mm, and smooth belt drive, our drivetrain provides a comfortable ride that users will love. The SC 5 bike combines user-focused features, best-in-class biomechanics and a high degree of adjustability to deliver the optimal bike fit for riders of all shapes, sizes and abilities. To maintain uncompromising quality ride after ride, the SC 5 features a patent-pending bottom bracket that exceeds industry standards, rust-defying materials and rock solid construction.
Parts that say “Schwinn Approved” were made elsewhere to Schwinn’s specifications. The Chicago Schwinns were among the most bomb-resistant bikes ever built, and they were built with unique technology . With the exception of the Sports Tourer, Super Sport, and Superior, schwinn tricycle they are welded, not brazed. The head tubes look as if they were fillet brazed, but they weren’t. There are necked-down parts that fit into the top tube and down tube, like internal lugs. The Netherlands is one of the leading bicycling countries in the world.
In late 1997, Questor Partners Fund, led by Jay Alix and Dan Lufkin, purchased Schwinn Bicycles. Questor/Schwinn later purchased GT Bicycles in 1998 for $8 a share in cash, roughly $80 million. The new company produced a series of well-regarded mountain bikes bearing the Schwinn name, called the Homegrown series.[62] In 2001, Schwinn/GT declared bankruptcy. Despite the successful imports, Schwinn was not ready to
give up its “Made in America” branding. While winding down the antiquated
Chicago factory, in 1981 the company opened a new bicycle production facility in
Greenville, Mississippi. The
region was anti-union so they imagined that their labor problems would be solved.
Older Schwinn “cruisers”, such as the Excelsior that was the inspiration of the first mountain bikes, used a straight lower top tube from the bottom of the head tube to the seat tube. Schwinn also was being challenged by new competitors in niche
markets such as mountain, BMX, and high-end road bicycles. Japan and Europe
also were competing with Schwinn in the US market. This was made worse by Schwinn
abandoning its wholesalers who then were freed up to market these other bicycles
brands.
G. Spalding and Alexander Pope, both
major bicycling manufacturers, realized that adults were quickly moving away
from riding bicycles. With the slide in adult sales, Spalding and Pope joined
hands with some others from the bicycle business to form the American Bicycle
Company, a consolidated trust of manufacturers. In the spirit of industrial capitalism
at the turn of the century, the goal was to monopolize the market and to put small
independent bicycle companies out of business.
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.
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. His vision
for the company was either prescient or just plain lucky. Starting in the 1930s,
he turned towards building stylish bicycles with flashy chrome and marketing
them to kids. He also introduced a line
of state-of-the-art lightweight bicycles for adults that were way ahead of their
time. In an era of inexpensive cookie-cutter bicycles sold by large retailers, he
gambled that consumers would pay for style and quality.
We brought the feel of the road to indoor cycling with the same expertise and education that drives the industry forward. Schwinn is an informational and educational source for all things Indoor Cycling. With the winding down of the Chicago factory, in the early
1980s Schwinn increasingly looked to overseas manufacturers for bicycles.