Mountain bikes were originally based on Schwinn balloon-tired cruiser bicycles fitted with derailleur gears and called “Klunkers”. A few participants began designing and building small numbers of mountain bikes with frames made out of modern butted chrome-molybdenum alloy steel. Using the standard electro-forged cantilever frame, and fitted with five-speed derailleur gears and knobby tires, the Klunker 5 was never heavily marketed, and was not even listed in the Schwinn product catalog.
In exchange for ensuring the presence of the Schwinn name, distributors retained the right to distribute Schwinn bikes to any hardware store, toy store, or bicycle shop that ordered them. W. Schwinn tasked a new team to plan future business strategy, consisting of marketing supervisor Ray Burch, general manager Bill Stoeffhaas, and design supervisor Al Fritz. By the end of the 1960s, the beginnings of an adult bicycle
boom had begun. With the 1950s kids now entering early adulthood and the environmental
movement in full swing, road bikes were starting to become very popular. Schwinn
had been making lightweight bicycles for decades without much sales success. Given
this experience, they should have been well positioned to develop new
lightweight models for adults.
The lightweights caught on very slowly but the fat tire bikes carried the company successfully through the ‘60s. The historical treatment takes schwinn bicycles the narrative through World War II. The book then becomes more a catalog of models that many of you likely rode during the 1950s and 1960s.
We’ve built our reputation through consistent innovation rooted in authentic cycling. Marc Muller, a young new Schwinn engineer, was given the responsibility to head up the project. The Paramount operations were moved to Waterford, Wisconsin, where the Paramount was reborn with a modern factory and workforce.
Giant further endeared itself to Schwinn during the strike
by delivering on a promise to pick up the slack in manufacturing capacity. Giant agreed to provide Schwinn with an additional 80 thousand bicycles. By
1984, Giant ratcheted up production to 500 thousand bicycles for Schwinn which
accounted for about two-thirds of Schwinn sales (Crown and Coleman 1996). Another change in the bicycle industry confronting Schwinn
was a mountain bike craze emerging in Marin County, California.
Only 3 percent of family businesses are still alive and
kicking by the fourth generation (Zellweger, Nason, and Nordvist 2012). Edward
Schwinn, schwinn mountain bike Jr. was a fourth-generation president of a family business. The 1982 film ET (ExtraTerrestrial) illustrates the intensity
of the BMX craze.