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. The Paramount series had limited production numbers, making vintage examples quite rare today.
Fitness equipment accounted for 25 percent of sales that year and parts and accessories accounted for another ten percent. Adding to the
excitement and the bottom line, Waterford is building a highly-sought after,
limited run of 75th
anniversary Paramounts. 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. At the close of the 1920s, the stock market crash decimated the American motorcycle industry, taking Excelsior-Henderson with it. Arnold, Schwinn, & Co. (as it remained until 1967) was on the verge of bankruptcy.
In time, the Paramount came in a variety of models but remained expensive to produce and purchase. The challenge for Richard Schwinn and Marc
Mulder will be to balance the work and keep Waterford and Gunnar fresh and
appealing. Delivery times on Gunnar frames have grown to three months, compared
to four to five weeks, due to the private label workload. When Schwinn stopped Paramount production in 1994, Richard Schwinn and long-time lead product engineer Marc Muller led the employees in the launch of Waterford. The deal to fabricate 1,000 frames a year
for Shinola adds to an already schizophrenic environment in the
8,000-square-foot factory, surrounded by trees and farm fields on the edge of
Waterford, Wis.
However, after failing to purchase shares in Giant, Schwinn ditched their arrangement and moved manufacturing to China. Meanwhile, Giant was able to retain all of the manufacturing expertise learned through Schwinn, kickstarting its rapid ascent to become the world’s biggest bicycle company in the 21st century. By the late 1970s, Schwinn’s factory schwinn ebike was terribly outdated compared to Japanese and Taiwanese rivals and lacked the financial backing to modernize their manufacturing process. In 1938, the first bike in the Paramount series was issued, a high-end racing bike made of a strong Chromoly frame. During this period, Schwinn briefly had a successful motorcycle production division.
Despite their fall from grace, Schwinn produced high-quality bikes for decades. Many were made in limited quantities and are considered highly desirable nowadays. Schwinn also faced increasing competition from other high-quality US-based brands such as Specialized, Trek, and Cannondale. Schwinn themselves began increasingly importing schwinn beach cruiser bikes from the Japanese producers Bridgestone and Panasonic, which were able to rival prestigious models such as the Schwinn Paramount, yet could be sold at half the price. In conjunction with this, Schwinn, along with other USA-based bike manufacturers, successfully campaigned in 1955 to raise import taxes on foreign bikes.
Ignaz Schwinn was born in Hardheim, Baden, Germany, in 1860 and worked on two-wheeled ancestors of the modern bicycle that appeared in 19th century Europe. In 1895, with the financial backing of fellow German American Adolph Frederick William Arnold (a meat packer), he founded Arnold, Schwinn & Company. Schwinn’s new company coincided with a sudden bicycle craze in America. Chicago became the center of the American bicycle industry, with thirty factories turning out thousands of bikes every day. Bicycle output in the United States grew to over a million units per year by the turn of the 20th century.
The new AC Performance Plus with Carbon Blue bike is in a class by itself. Schwinn launched a phenomenon with the first production bike designed specifically for indoor cycling, and we’ve never looked back. Our newest bike, the AC Performance Plus with Carbon Blue, is designed to enhance rider comfort with an infinitely adjustable seat and handlebars, a wider step-through and durable, covered stretch pads – all surrounded by a rust-free aluminum frame. A stronger drive train and carbon blue belt make for easy maintenance while delivering an authentic riding experience indoors. It’s an innovative and stylish design that keeps us on the cutting edge of the indoor cycling industry – and it will keep you coming back time after time.
The new AC Performance with Carbon Blue bike is in a class by itself. Our newest bike, the AC Performance with Carbon Blue, is designed to enhance rider comfort with an infinitely adjustable seat and handlebars, a wider step-through and durable, covered stretch pads – all surrounded by a rust-free aluminum frame. A stronger drive train and carbon blue belt make for easy maintenance while delivering an authentic riding experience indoors. 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.
By 1960, annual sales had reached just 4.4 million.[10] Nevertheless, Schwinn’s share of the market was increasing, and would reach in excess of 1 million bicycles per year by the end of the decade. In the early 1970s, the US Bike Boom kicked in, and sales of adult road bikes skyrocketed. However, Schwinn failed to innovate and adapt to the modern bicycle market. After an initial massive boom in bicycle sales that coincided with the founding of the company, the industry declined.
This in turn led to further inroads by domestic and foreign competitors. Faced with a downward sales spiral, Schwinn went into bankruptcy in 1992.[59] The company and name were bought by the Zell/Chilmark Fund, an investment group, in 1993. For over a decade, the Schwinn has set the standard as the cycle studio workhorse. Now, 20 years after Schwinn built the first production bike for indoor cycling, we are proud to introduce the IC Classic that combines the proven, traditional drive train of the IC Pro 20 with updated features of the rock solid Studio 3. 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. By the time the fourth generation of Schwinns were running the company, however, Schwinn was sliding from its top position.