Russ Webb & Charlie Cruising

Schwinn has a wide range of road bikes. In fact, you'll see some listings that probably shouldn't be in the road bike category. But that's how it goes on eBay.

Look for the Schwinn Fastback if you need a good entry level road bike. It's a sharp looking bike with reliable components.

Some of the vintage road bikes have good resale value simply because they are genuine Schwinn bikes built in their heyday.

Russ Webb & Charlie Cruising

The Tandems can be a lot of fun. I've seen a few good tandem bikes on eBay. Watch em' close because they go fast.

Russ Webb & Charlie Cruising

Schwinn has been producing mountain bikes for over a decade now. A few models to look out for are:

Mesa Mountain Hardtail - good quality off-road bike.

The Rocket - high performance yet affordable.

Frontier All Terrain models

Sierra Comfort Tandem -

All of these bikes have a decent lifespan and a legendary name with over 100 years experience to back them up.

Russ Webb & Charlie Cruising

-------------

Schwinn Bike Company:
A Brief History Lesson

Ignaz Schwinn and Adolph Arnold founded the Arnold and Schwinn Company in 1895. The company grew slowly in the first few decades in business. A stroke of boldness in the early 30’s would change the vibe of the company and introduce a whole new look to the fairly traditional bicycle industry, This was the beginning of the cruiser era.

Schwinn made a name for itself by modifying the traditional bike tires to a wider 2” balloon type, they designed a wider and more comfortable seat and supported it all with a strong and sturdy steel tube frame. This was a comfortable ride.

Other classics soon followed. The Black Phantom Cruiser in 1949 and the Stingray in 1963 come to mind. The Phantom was a milestone for Schwinn as true experts in bicycle design and functionality. The cruiser was the reigning king throughout the 50’s and into the 60’s.

The stingray was introduced in the early 60’s and within a few years dominated the market with 70% market share of all bikes sold at the time. The stingray was born from the seeds of some tricked out bikes seen on the west coast. This inspiration gave the Schwinn Company plenty to work with and a new era in bicycling was born.

As all good things come to an end, the stingray’s popularity began to fade in the mid 70’s with the dirt busting BMX bike scene. With the big brother mountain bike soon to follow… it didn’t look good for Schwinn. They did make a comeback in the 90’s with a new cruiser revolution, but it wasn’t enough to keep the company profitable.

Schwinn faced bankruptcy in 1993 and restructured its debt load and eventually was purchased by Pacific Cycle in 2001. The Schwinn brand will always be synonymous with innovative bike design and fabrication. And what a story they have to tell!

Russ Webb & Charlie Cruising

The Schwinn Stingray. A Classic.

When I think of my childhood, I recall my days on a bike and at that time 5-7 yrs, I was pedaling a stingray. This was my very first bike, and I loved it. How could a kid not like this cool chopped out little gem.

In truth, I was just riding the tail-end (1973) of the stingray’s illustrious career. The stingray was introduced in 1963, and inspired by a handful of west coast kids who worshipped the local hot rod scene. These kids were creating mashed up custom bikes with banana seats and crazy looking chopper handle bars.

Word got around to Schwinn headquarters in Chicago, where they dispatched an engineer with orders to observe the scene. Were these kids getting too much of that California sun? Was it a temporary fad? It turned out that these kids knew what they liked and signaled a new direction for Schwinn.

The Schwinn designers and engineers teamed up and produced the first stingray. Adults weren’t too sure what to think, but the kids went nuts. The bike was a top seller for over a decade.

Over the years, Schwinn was smart enough to introduce new colors and unique twists on the stingray styling. The stingray will forever be a classic for the boomer generation and many of these older models are collector’s items now fetching well over $2500.