Naturally, the new breed of so-called Schwinns are produced in the same fashion. The company’s official anniversary book, 50 Years of Schwinn Built Bicycles, described Ignaz as a business leader who “helped to build America . One of the men who leaped into the breach and provided work for his fellow man.

It created a whole new riding experience, and—combined with elaborately decorated new chain guards and colorways—caught the attention of a whole new generation. W. Schwinn did not seem hampered by a lack of ambition, nor was he content to sit back and let the world famous family business rest on its laurels. With the semi-retired Ignaz Schwinn still keeping a close watch on things, Frank made some bold decisions that helped launch a second golden age not only for the Schwinn company, but the bike industry as a whole. His ambitions were a tad too big for the old country, however, and in choosing his next move, he carefully calculated Chicago as the ideal destination. “Even if we built every bicycle in this country, you would probably build them with less than 10,000 people. And that’s not nearly as strategic as the automobile industry, which employs half a million people,” Schwinn said.