takara14

Wandering the aisles of Waly World yesterday, I saw what looked to be a pair of drop bars on a bike in the top rack! Straining the eyes a bit more I was able to make out Schwinn Varsity emblazoned on the frame. Looks to be a 14 speed bike on an aluminum frame. I thought the Varsity name was retired long ago. Anyone know about this?

mswantak

I saw one at the local Wal-Mart a couple months ago. Actually it seemed to me like a pretty worthy successor to the name -- sturdy, nicely finished, moderately priced at $200. It had an aluminum frame, 700 x 25 wheels, and indexed shifting by way of half-pipes twisties on either side of the stem -- exactly where the intended customer rides most of the time. Personally, I'd spend the $200 on a nicer vintage ride, but all told I thought it was a good effort. Frankly I was surprised to see Schwinn even trying to stick its toe into the road bike market; I imagine the marketing guys told them it was a waste of resources -- the average mart-bike shopper is looking for an MTB, and the average roadie doesn't buy his bikes at department stores.

Better buy one now and squirrel it away; it probably won't be around long.

cyclotoine

In Canada, Canadian Tire sells Schwinn branded road bikes. One of my friends said "I think Canadian Tire owns Schwinn" I told him anyone who wants to brand their bike a schwinn simply has to pay for them name.

tozovr

isn't it all Pacific? Schwinn, GT, Mongoose, Next etc etc?

DieselDan

Dorel owns Pacfic Bicycles and rights to the Schwinn name.

crazyb

They could label a bike a Paramount if they wanted to.

james Haury

I saw a 12 or 14 speed drop bar bicycle labeled Gmc denali or something like that at a wal mart in Addison Illinois?It had the same specs as the varsity mentioned earlier.

jordanb

I'd heard that Pacific Bicycles went bankrupt and Dorel bought the Schwinn name on the block.. or something. But suffice to say that no "Schwinn" entity exists any longer.

John E

I would be very cautious about labeling any new "Schwinn" as "sturdy," particularly with a low-budget aluminum frame. Only time will tell. In the meantime, I am glad I ride a REAL Schwinn.

tolfan

nice looking bike.Wonder why thay picked the cheapest piece of crap in the old line up to name it after

Little Darwin

I have seen mountain bikes on eBay listed as Schwinn Paramount. Were these real Schwinns or Schwinn in name only?

mswantak

Name recognition. In the demographic they're shooting at name recognition is worth a lot more than snob appeal. I can't tell you how many people I've talked to who say, "Gee, I remember my old Varsity..."

And half of them don't even know Schwinn made a Paramount.

DieselDan

I believe the Schwinns still hold the rights to that name for a model of bicycle. There were a few Waterford Paramount in the early 90s.

Vo2min

I remember seeing a Schwinn catalog in the late 80s with a model called a Schwinn Paramountain in the Paramount section. The Paramounts were the only bikes in the catalog not made in Taiwan. I couldn't afford the Paramountain at $1000.00+ so I purchased a High Sierra for $550.00 with Shimano Deore, Rollercam brakes and Biopace chainrings. Great bike for the price at that time. It still rides well.

alanbikehouston

No. Richard Schwinn recently confirmed that Waterford owns none of the Schwinn "names" and that the name "Paramount" belongs to Pacific, a division of Dorel.

Pacific has been trying a business strategy that seems impossible, yet one that has been profitable for them. They are still selling certain models to bike stores, primarily models selling for $300 and up. And, they are selling different models in the $100 to $200 price range at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Sports Authority.

The single speed Schwinn beach cruiser selling at Sports Authority for under $200 was equal in quality to the single speed Schwinns of forty years ago. But, it lacked the fenders, suspension fork, and other "trimmings" of the $300 Schwinn beach cruisers I've seen in real bike stores.

On the whole, the Schwinn models I've seen in "X-Mart" stores are the best bikes sold in that caliber of store. However, they suffer from the flaw of getting their final assembly from "X-Mart" employees, and because "X-Mart" has no spare parts or repair staff, there is no service after the sale. And, the Schwinns sold at discount stores are "one size fits all", which usually means something like "one size that fits almost no one".