In this Court, the United States has abandoned its contention that the distribution limitations are illegal per se. The technology of Schwinn’s fillet brazed models has been eclipsed by today’s bicycle frame, shifting, and braking technology. But it is worth remembering this peculiar little chapter in the story of Chicago Schwinns. I appreciate your interest in this special line of Schwinn bicycles, and hope your heart takes a little jump if you see one of the fillet-brazed models out there. Several factors led to the end of Schwinn’s fillet-brazed line. By the mid 1970’s Schwinn’s Super Sport and Sports Tourer/Superior weighed a few pounds more than comparably priced bicycles at a time when light weight was increasingly important to customers of quality bicycles.
Our newest bike, the AC Performance Plus with Carbon Blue, is designed to enhance rider comfort with an infinitely adjustable seat and handlebars, a wider step-through and durable, covered stretch pads – all surrounded by a rust-free aluminum frame. A stronger drive train and carbon blue belt make for easy maintenance while delivering an authentic riding experience indoors. It’s an innovative and stylish design that keeps us on the cutting edge of the indoor mongoose bmx bike cycling industry – and it will keep you coming back time after time. Another problem was Schwinn’s failure to design and market its bicycles to specific, identifiable buyers, especially the growing number of cyclists interested in road racing or touring. Instead, most Schwinn derailleur bikes were marketed to the general leisure market, equipped with heavy “old timer” accessories such as kickstands that cycling aficionados had long since abandoned.
Though weighing slightly less, the mid-priced Schwinn Superior or Sports Tourer was almost indistinguishable from Schwinn’s other heavy, mass-produced models, such as the Varsity and Continental. While competitive in the 1960s, by 1972 these bicycles were much heavier and less schwinn bicycles responsive in comparison to the new sport and racing bicycles arriving from England, France, Italy, and increasingly, Japan. The company also joined with other United States bicycle manufacturers in a campaign to raise import tariffs across the board on all imported bicycles.
They were simply shown on the next catalog page, right before the Continental page. No separate catalog or distinct section for “lightweight touring and racing bicycles,” and no detailed discussion of the benefits of seamless CrMo tubing and fillet brazing. Schwinn’s catalog copy for the last fillet-brazed Superior ( ) did begin to mention “hand made” and a little more on fillet brazing. Again, perhaps Schwinn didn’t highlight the fillet brazed models for fear of overloading its handbuild capacity. Ignaz Schwinn emigrated to the United States in 1891 and make profit from the late XIXth century’s bicycle boom to create a successful bicycle manufacturing company with an American partner, the Arnold, Schwinn & Co.
The turn of the century and the start of the automotive era saw a wave of consolidations in the bicycle business, out of which Schwinn emerged weakened – but even more ambitious. Various takeover made Schwinn one on the big players, and retailing through mass merchants allowed the Chicago-based company to achieve big sales. 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.
“the decree should similarly enjoin the making of any sales to retailers upon any condition, agreement or understanding limiting the retailer’s freedom as to where and to whom it will resell the products.” Schwinn bicycle names such as “Super Sport” and “Superior” have been re-used for different models over the years, in part to hold on to copyrighted names by periodically re-using them. This may explain why the Sports Tourer was renamed the Superior in 1976.
But in terms of U.S. employment, “it’s really a shadow of what it used to be.” From California, the bikes fan out to mass merchants such as Wal-Mart. Once there, cashiers making less than $10 an hour ring up the latest Sting Ray at prices much cheaper than the original. Pacific sells more than a quarter of all bikes purchased in the United States, with just about 350 U.S. employees. The Schwinn Bicycle Co. went bankrupt in 1993 and sold off the brand. But at its peak two decades earlier, the Schwinn family oversaw a labor force of 2,000, the majority of whom never made it past high school.
“And the crook doesn’t have a clue. To him, it’s just another bicycle.” That decision foreshadowed a broader decline in U.S. manufacturing, with the sector supplying 5 million fewer jobs today than at its peak in 1979. Meanwhile, family income growth slowed, rising only about 15 percent over nearly a quarter-century. Americans without a college degree — who make up about three-quarters of the adult population — now earn lower wages in real terms than they did a generation ago.