Schwinn Bikes: Shop for Bicycles and Other Outdoor Essentials

After the bike-boom of the early 1970’s, Paramount was in a poor state of affairs in regards to competition and advancing technologies. In 1979, Edward R. Schwinn Jr. was made president of the company schwinn bicycles and promptly closed down all of the Paramount operations until they could be brought up to date. In time, the Paramount came in a variety of models but remained expensive to produce and purchase.

Schwinn then partnered with 7-Eleven, establishing a team including Eric Heiden. When 7-Eleven decided to hit the big time in racing, Schwinn went its own way due to a lack of funding. Schwinn was, however, able to recruit an up-and- coming rider named Lance Armstrong to its ranks. Most models of Schwinn bikes have years of images and information via old catalogs, advertisements and Schwinn documentation. This page lists schwinn mountain bike models (sorted alphabetically) and links to their details. The original factory in Chicago that once employed as many as 2,000 people is long gone.

I was over the moon getting the Schwinn 290 Recumbent Bike, the reviews I had found were very positive. After setting up the bike and downloading the Jrny app, I was unable to bluetooth it to the console so I called Schwinn. The guy was very friendly, but informed me, the company they used to make the console, experienced a communication problem and it wasn’t made to work with the console even though it shows it working in pictures and even online.

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. As a result, Schwinns became increasingly dated in both styling and technology. By 1957, the Paramount series, once a premier racing bicycle, had atrophied from a lack of attention and modernization. Aside from some new frame lug designs, the designs, methods and tooling were the same as had been used in the 1930s.

schwinn bicycles

The Schwinn Web site had a Collectors’ Page with info on dating, serial numbers, etc. but the page is now available only in the Internet Archive. If you find yourself in Ohio, you might check out the Bicycle Museum of America or in Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry. Designating the width with a fraction instead of a decimal usually signifies a straight-sided rim, not a hook-edge rim. There are similar problems with other Schwinn tire sizes.

Bicycle manufacturing in America has declined significantly in the past several decades. But Detroit Bikes is eager to bring at least a part of the industry back to domestic soil, where demand for all manner of bikes and other outdoor equipment is booming amid pandemic restrictions. Schwinn was born in Baden, Germany and moved to Chicago in 1891, attracted by the opportunities surrounding the Columbian Exposition. After working for bicycle manufacturer Hill & Moffat, and a brief stint designing bicycles for the International Manufacturing Company, Schwinn teamed up with Adolph Arnold to open his own company, Arnold, Schwinn, & Co. 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.

By 1990, other United States bicycle companies with reputations for excellence in design such as Trek, Specialized, and Cannondale had cut further into Schwinn’s market. Unable to produce bicycles in the United States at a competitive cost, by the end of 1991 Schwinn was sourcing its bicycles from overseas manufacturers. schwinn mountain bike 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. Zell moved Schwinn’s corporate headquarters to Boulder, Colorado.