It was black with silver splatter paint and yellow logos. Last time I rode a bike it had skinny road tires and brakes that needed 100 yards to come to a stop. This bike seemed like it was ready to take on any trail or obstacle. As I pondered being out in the woods in my birthday suit, I saw wheels…Two of them in a store window. At that point I asked the budding photographer to pull over into the parking lot of the local Schwinn shop. Back in those days most towns had a local Schwinn shop.
This allows riders to stretch out into an aerodynamic position while riding. Mountain bike frames have a shorter reach and top tube designed to keep the handlebars closer to the rider for improved handling. This creates a more upright – but less aerodynamic riding position.
There were bicycles when I was in grade school, but those were for going block to block to see friends and immediately throwing them to the ground behind a parent’s car in the driveway. Most of the bicycles of my schwinn electric bike youth (think of the 70’s) were rolling tetanus sleds full of rust just waiting to infect. As detailed in a previous post, “My first Bike“, I would be up early and turning pedals. Sadly, as soon as a driver’s permit had my name on it, I dropped cycling from my life faster than you could say “parachute pants” (Oh the 80’s!). The only pedals I was interested in were the gas pedal and occasionally the brake pedal.
He opened Waterford Precision Cycles and briefly renewed production of the highly-prized Schwinn Paramount road racing bikes built there. Waterford Precision would continue to hand build a couple of thousand custom, steel frame bikes a year under the Waterford and Gunnar brands, as well as for other small bike companies. Schwinn followed the Scrambler line with the Predator in 1982,[38] their next step into the competitive modern BMX market. The Predator took just eight percent of the BMX market. Schwinn had a very successful BMX factory supported racing team (beginning in 1976) made up of some of the best riders of the day. They were even used for an episode of the TV show CHiPs.
In 1928, the in-house brand for motorcycles that had been acquired in 1912 and 1917, Excelsior-Henderson, even ranked 3rd in the national motorcycle industry. Old Roads specializes in vintage bicycles from several different brands, including Schwinn. You can browse their selection online, and they also offer a great deal of helpful information about assessing a bike’s condition. Before they are sold, all the bikes are tuned up by professional bicycle mechanics. EBay is a great resource for all kinds of antique mongoose bmx and vintage items, including Schwinn bikes. You’ll see many of the models Schwinn produced in the last half of the 20th century, along with some older models from the earlier part of the company’s history.
Richard Schwinn ran Waterford Precision Cycles out of the same plant in southeastern Wisconsin previously owned by his family.