After a series of production cuts and labor force reductions, Schwinn was able to restructure its operations. The company renegotiated loans by putting up the company and the name as collateral, and increased production of the Airdyne exercise bicycle, a moneymaker even in bad times. The company took advantage of the continued demand for mountain bikes, redesigning its product line with Schwinn-designed chrome-molybdenum alloy steel frames. Supplied by manufacturers in Asia, the new arrangement enabled Schwinn to reduce costs and stay competitive with Asian bicycle companies.
Furthermore, the report provides detailed cost analysis, supply chain. Post links to cool vintage or antique bicycles stuff that you saw on eBay, Craigslist, Facebook or other place for sale. Here’s the place to discuss those early mountain bikes from the huffy mountain bike late 1970’s to the mid to late 1980’s. Whizzer, Roadmaster Motor Master, Smith Motor Wheel, Shaw or any other bikes with a motor on it, this is the place to discuss it. Discussion of Vintage and Antique track, road-racing, fixed gear and 6-Day bicycles.
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 late 1970s, a new bicycle sport begun by enthusiasts in Northern California had grown into a new type of all-terrain bicycle, the mountain bike. Mountain bikes were originally based on Schwinn balloon-tired cruiser bicycles fitted with derailleur gears and called “Klunkers”.
But what eventually drove Schwinn into the turmoil that led the company to file for Chapter 11 in 1992 was it’s inability to cope with management and quality problems, as well as some unsuccessful investments. Basically, the company had to choose in where to produce bicycles at a more competitive prices. The Schwinns decided to turn to Taiwan and China, but even though suppliers like Tony Lo’s Giant Manufacturing made high quality products, unlucky sourcing desisions led to supply shortage, angry retailers and receding customers. Edward Schwinn, CEO, just wasn’t as passionate about bicycles as his ancestors were. Yoshi Shimano, who was Edward Schwinn’s personal translator during his business trips to Asia, described him as “a nice fellow“, who “had a lower degree of interest for the business“. Once America’s preeminent bicycle manufacturer, the Schwinn brand, as with many other bicycle manufacturers, affixed itself to fabrication in China and Taiwan, fueling most of its corporate parent’s growth.
With their aging product line, Schwinn failed to dominate the huge sport bike boom of 1971–1975, which saw millions of 10-speed bicycles sold to new cyclists. Schwinn did allow some dealers to sell imported road racing bikes, and by 1973 was using the Schwinn name on the Le Tour, a Japanese-made low-cost sport/touring 10-speed bicycle. Schwinn developed strong trading relationships with two Japanese bicycle manufacturers in particular, Bridgestone and National/Panasonic.
The serial number appears in different places on the bike depending on the year and the place the bike was made. Not all vintage Schwinns have serial numbers or follow a set convention for placement and numbering. If there is a serial number, it will always appear on the actual frame of the bike, rather than on a removable part like the seat, handlebars, or wheels. The Schwinn family bicycle company started in the 1890s by making safety bi…
In the 1950s, Schwinn was selling their bicycles almost exclusively through their own “Schwinn Approved” stores.During the bicycle boom in the early 1970s, Schwinn was selling over 1 million bicycles annually. But the Court inexplicably turns its back on the values of competition by independent merchants and the flexible wisdom of the rule of reason when dealing with distribution effected through sales to wholesalers. In Schwinn’s particular marketing system, this mode of distribution plays a subsidiary role, serving to meet “fill-in” orders by dealers, whose basic stock is obtained through the Schwinn Plan.