Schwinn Road Bikes and Frames for Sale, New and Used
Currently, Schwinn offers a broad line up, including a number of road bikes, several mountain bike models, and a number of hybids and cruisers. BMX bikes are also available from Schwinn, as well as children's bikes. Despite no longer dominating the market, this bicycle classic never fails to deliver, even after all these years. There's a Schwinn for everyone, from those who love to offroad to the daily commuter or casual rider. Here, we're featuring Schwinn Road Bikes and Frames on sale. You may read about the history of Schwinn Bicycles below.
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Schwinn - A Long Standing American Classic
Ignaz Schwinn, a German immigrant, founded the Schwinn company in Chicago in 1895. He'd been working on ancestors of the bicycle for years, and he emigrated because his suggestions weren't being accepted by his employers. With financial backing in America, he started the company under the name Arnold, Schwinn, and Company. Fortunately, the creation of thise company coincided with America's bicycle craze. Chicago became the center of the industry, and thousands of bicycles were produced daily. Over a million units per year were produced in the US by 1900.
Schwinn is known for developing the cruiser, also called the paperboy bike, to imitate motorcycles during the Depression. This type of bicycle soon became extremely popular, and the company quickly expanded, sponsoring a bicycle racing team and introducing the Paramount series of road racers.
The Paramount was Schwinn's answer to the highest end bikes, made for professional competitive use. Paramount bikes were built in limited numbers from 1938 until 1958, when production became larger and the bike was updated with a new frame and new component technology. The company also made a version of the popular English racer, called the middleweight.
Schwinn began to dominate the industry in 1950, as the company ceased to produce bicycles for rebranding. During this decade, the company began to persuade retailers to sell mostly Schwinns. Most cycles still went to children, but Schwinn's share of the market steadily increased.
By the end of the 1960s, Schwinn sold more than a million bicycles per year. During the 1960s, bikes with banana seats and high rise handlebars were produced. This distinctive bicycle is one many people still remember, and it was a hit with kids and teenagers, enabling the company to keep its youth market.
Later, in the 1970s, Schwinn had trouble competing with mountain bikes, ten speeds, and other newly popular models. The company stuck with its old standards, missing out on a number of trends that turned out to be more than just fads. This caused customers to move to other companies for what they wanted, and bit heavily into Schwinn's market share.
The company outsourced much of its production to Panasonic, then to Giant in Taiwan. US production was moved to Mississippi, where assembly was done by US workers, but parts were produced abroad. Schwinn was purchased by Pacific Cycle in 2001, which is responsible for its current organization and lineup.
Tags: bicycle, Cycling, Road Bikes, schwinn, schwinn road bike frames, schwinn road bikes
