Russ Webb & Charlie Cruising

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Schwinn Krate

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!