The book is illustrated with photographs of the factory, the Schwinn racing teams, and the bicycles the company produced . The Typhoon probably dates from the late ’50’s or ’60’s. If schwinn mountain bike I recall, it was what Schwinn called a “cantilever” frame, where the seat stays pass by the seat cluster and continue on in a graceful curve to join the bottom of the head tube.
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. Schwinn was soon sponsoring a bicycle racing team headed by Emil Wastyn, who designed the team bikes, and the company competed in six-day schwinn tricycle racing across the United States with riders such as Jerry Rodman and Russell Allen. In 1938, Frank W. Schwinn officially introduced the Paramount series. Developed from experiences gained in racing, Schwinn established Paramount as their answer to high-end, professional competition bicycles.
The company began operations in a factory at the northwest corner of Peoria and Lake Streets in Chicago. With the collapse of the bicycle market around the turn of the century, the company purchased March-Davis, a competitor which was operating on what was then the city’s far west side, and moved operations there. My wife bought a schwinn beach cruiser as there were none in the store thanks to COVID 19 we had one delivered to our house.
Working as a contractor for Schwinn is how Giant developed its name. I would recommend Schwinn to anyone that averages less than 100 miles a month of bike riding a month. It can handle more miles but I would stay economical if not putting on more than 1,200 miles annually. And with an economical bike if you do ride more miles you can add on more expensive components later.
These rims, like the Chicago frames, were among the sturdiest ever built. The parts that say “Schwinn” were made by Schwinn in their enormous Chicago factory (which I had the pleasure of touring in the early ’70’s). Parts that say “Schwinn Approved” were made elsewhere to Schwinn’s specifications.
At the time, most bicycle manufacturers in the United States sold in bulk to department stores, which in turn sold them as store brand models. F. Goodrich bicycles, sold in tire stores, Schwinn eliminated the practice of producing private label bicycles in 1950, insisting that the Schwinn brand and guarantee appear on all products. 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.