Table Of ContentS C H W I N N
The Best Present
Ever
S C H W I N N
The Best Present Ever
A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE BICYCLE
DON RAUF
PUBLISHED IN COOPERATION WITH PACIFIC CYCLE AND SCHWINN BIKES
LYONS PRESS
TITLE PAGE PHOTO: The Schwinn display at the Bicycle Museum of America. Author photo
An imprint of Globe Pequot
Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK
Schwinn® and associated marks are trademarks of Pacific Cycle, Inc.©2017 Pacific Cycle, Inc. All rights reserved. Produced by Globe Pequot under license from
Pacific Cycle, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
ISBN 978-1-4930-3028-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4930-3029-3 (e-book)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
C O N T E N T S
INTRODUCTION . . . 8
CHAPTER 1
The Birth of the Modern Bicycle . . . 10
CHAPTER 2
The Depression Years: The Rise of the Balloon Tire . . . 24
CHAPTER 3
World War II and the Postwar Boom . . . 36
CHAPTER 4
The Fifties: The New Heavyweight Champions . . . 42
CHAPTER 5
The Middleweight Contenders . . . 54
CHAPTER 6
The Faster Sixties and Seventies:
The Multispeed Lightweights . . . 64
INTERLUDE
Variations on a Schwinn . . . 78
CHAPTER 7
The Sting-Ray Strikes . . . 84
CHAPTER 8
Hitting the Dirt: The Leap to BMX
and Mountain Bikes . . . 98
CHAPTER 9
Schwinn: The Next Generations . . . 116
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . 134
THANK YOU TO: . . . 135
THE HISTORY OF SCHWINN—A TIMELINE . . . 136
ABOUT THE AUTHOR . . . 143
I N T R O D U C T I O N
BELOW AND OPPOSITE: Courtesy of the IN THE SUMMER OF 2016
, the sci-fi Netflix series Stranger Things became a
Bicycle Museum of America
smash hit with its nostalgic look back at the early 1980s. Drawing inspiration from
Steven King novels like It and Firestarter and Steven Spielberg films like E.T. and
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the story revolves around a group of kids who
tear around town on their Schwinn-style Sting-Rays and BMX bicycles. The Sting-
Ray, the low-riding “bike with the sports-car look,” became an iconic bike from
the 1960s to the early ’80s With its distinctive banana seat, high-rise handlebars,
and sissy bar in the back, the Sting-Ray was the cool bike every kid wanted
to own. Stranger Things captures the romance of what the Schwinn Sting-
Ray represented—a simpler time when kids could speed off on two wheels to
explore and find adventure.
For so many kids growing up in America, a Schwinn was the ultimate gift. As
one fan said: “One summer day my dad brought home a used Schwinn bike
twice the size of me. Even though I couldn’t sit on the seat and pedal it, I rode
that bike proudly.” In the decades to come, the Schwinn name would remain
a highly regarded and sought-after brand.
Through the years, each generation has sped off on the popular model of the
time to take trips, meet with friends, go to school, deliver papers, or simply
get out in the world—and possibly away from parents for a break and a taste
of independence. Many remember the fun of clipping baseball or playing
cards to the bicycle-frame fork with a clothespin so the
cards would make a loud, motorcycle-like sound as they
hit the spokes. For a century, since its beginnings in 1895,
Chicago-based Schwinn represented the peak of Ameri-
can manufacturing and the bicycle industry. When cus-
tomers bought a Schwinn, they knew they were getting a
two-wheeled machine that was sturdy and built to last.
The Schwinn brand still carries a lot of prestige today for
its style and long-lasting construction, and Pacific Cycle,
which currently manufactures modern Schwinns, con-
tinues to reach back into the past, finding inspiration in
the old styles and features that made the brand a favor-
ite for generations of Americans. From the heavyweight
balloon-tire bicycles to premium racing bikes and sporty
Sting-Rays, Schwinn also established a reputation for in-
novation. Throughout its history, the company has always
endeavored to be on the cutting edge, constantly on the
lookout for the next big thing. Today it continues to incor-
porate modern technology, materials, and features in all
of its bicycles, while still maintaining many of the design
inspirations that have made Schwinn an iconic brand.
The Birth of the Modern Bicycle 9
