With no buyers, Excelsior-Henderson motorcycles were discontinued in 1931.[5] Ignaz’s son, Frank W. Putting all company efforts towards bicycles, he succeeded in developing a low-cost model that brought Schwinn recognition as an innovative company, as well as a product that would continue to sell during the inevitable downturns in business cycles. W. Schwinn returned to Chicago and in 1933 introduced the Schwinn B-10E Motorbike, actually a youth’s bicycle designed to imitate a motorcycle. The Schwinn Le Tour series makes road bikes bicycle designed for frequent riders seeking comfort and grace in a stylish frame. It features a Schwinn Bio-Tuned ergonomic geometry, a Reynolds 520 cro-moly steel frame, and an N’Gauged Gold Label cro-moly fork; all-together, they give the bike the strength and durability to survive years of handling. In the 1950s, Schwinn began to aggressively cultivate bicycle retailers, persuading them to sell Schwinns as their predominant, if not exclusive brand.
Schwinn decided to meet the challenge by developing two lines of sport or road ‘racer’ bicycles. One was already in the catalog — the limited production Paramount series. As always, the Paramount spared no expense; the bicycles were given high-quality lightweight lugged steel frames using double-butted tubes of Reynolds 531 and fitted with quality European components including Campagnolo derailleurs, hubs, and gears. The Paramount series had limited production numbers, making vintage examples quite rare today.
Schwinn’s new company coincided with a sudden bicycle craze in America. Chicago became the center of the American bicycle industry, with thirty factories turning out thousands of bikes every day. Bicycle output in the United States grew to over a million units per year by the turn of the 20th century. Most models of Schwinn bikes have years of images and information via old catalogs, advertisements and Schwinn documentation.
During this period, bicycle sales enjoyed relatively slow growth, with the bulk of sales going to youth models. In 1900, during the height of the first bicycle boom, annual United States sales by all bicycle manufacturers had briefly topped one million. By 1960, annual sales had reached just 4.4 million.[10] Nevertheless, Schwinn’s share of the market was increasing, and would reach in excess of 1 million bicycles per year by the end of the decade.
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. The company’s next answer to requests for a Schwinn mountain bike was the King Sting and the Sidewinder, inexpensive BMX-derived bicycles fabricated from existing electro-forged frame designs, and using off-the-shelf BMX parts. This proved to be a major miscalculation, as several new United States startup companies began producing high-quality frames designed from the ground up, and sourced from new, modern plants in Japan and Taiwan using new mass-production technologies such as TIG welding.
To further improve control from this more-erect riding position, the levers used to move the derailleurs (shifting the chain from one sprocket to the next) were moved from the traditional position on the “down tube” to the top of the headset, on a ring which would turn with the handlebar stem. This feature, attractive to older riders, soon found its way to other Schwinn models, especially those intended for senior citizens. He’s riding that old schwinn mountain bike Benotto bike – which weighs 26 #, (so this Schwinn is a bit lighter), and is easily keeping up with the local ‘old guy’ riders on their sub 20#, $ 3000 + Trek, Giant or Specialized carbon fiber ‘wonder bikes’. With the help of the NFT you can verify that the bicycle was purchased from Steel Vintage Bikes as well as the date and the price of your purchase. The Bike NFT isa digital certification that shows the value and authenticity of your bike.
The Paramount continued as a limited production model, built in small numbers in a small apportioned area of the old Chicago assembly factory. The new frame and component technology incorporated in the Paramount schwinn mountain bike largely failed to reach Schwinn’s mass-market bicycle lines. W. Schwinn, grandson Frank Valentine Schwinn took over management of the company. By 1950, Schwinn had decided the time was right to grow the brand.
Zell moved Schwinn’s corporate headquarters to Boulder, Colorado. By the mid-1970s, competition from lightweight and feature-rich imported bikes was making strong inroads in the budget-priced and beginners’ market. While Schwinn’s popular lines were far more durable than the budget bikes, they were also far heavier and more expensive, and parents were realizing that most of the budget bikes would outlast most kids’ interest in bicycling.
Unfortunately, the same history and heritage which did so much to propel the brand forward over the years brought it to a sad day in 1993 when Schwinn filed for bankruptcy. In my opinion, it’s crazy to go out & spend $ 1,000 plus when one is not sure how much they’ll enjoy road riding / racing. I trust that in a very short while, we’ll be able to give a more substantive description of how this rides & performs, as my son will pound this Schwinn Varsity CF as has hard as possible – both on our club rides & also as he’s starting to ride Criterium races and some longer road races as well. The Schwinn Varsity Carbon Men’s Road Bike frame is made of an aluminum carbon composite (ACC) construction for superior strength. The bike has been fully serviced in our workshop and is ready to be ridden. When Schwinn introduced the Paramount as their top class racing bike in the 1930s, they started a real success story.
Developed from experiences gained in racing, Schwinn established Paramount as their answer to high-end, professional competition bicycles. The Paramount used high-strength chrome-molybdenum steel alloy tubing and expensive brass lug-brazed construction. During the next twenty years, most of the Paramount bikes would be built in limited numbers at a small frame shop headed by Wastyn, in spite of Schwinn’s continued efforts to bring all frame production into the factory. While every large bicycle manufacturer sponsored or participated in bicycle racing competition of some sort to keep up with the newest trends in technology, Schwinn had restricted its racing activities to events inside the United States, where Schwinn bicycles predominated.