It was an unqualified success, other than that it was very expensive to produce and showed little if any real profit potential. Sponsorship of 6-day riders produced a team to showcase the Paramount, the riders such as Jerry Rodman (The Michael Jordan of that time in Chicago) and the rest of the Schwinn Co. bicycle line. For many people the Schwinn brand is one that is steeped in nostalgia. One of its most famous models - the kid's Sting-Ray bike - was the bike that every child wanted to own in the late 1960s. Its iconic ape-hanger handlebars and banana seat were copied by many other manufacturers after they saw Schwinn's success. Afterward, F. W. Schwinn finally became the company president in an official capacity (he’d been handling the responsibilities for years), and the business carried on smoothly into its postwar glory days—the hands-free, coasting period mentioned earlier.

With a Q factor of 162 mm, and smooth belt drive, our drivetrain provides a comfortable ride that users will love. The SC 5 bike combines user-focused features, best-in-class biomechanics and a high degree of adjustability to deliver the optimal bike fit for riders of all shapes, sizes and abilities. To maintain uncompromising quality ride after ride, the SC 5 features a patent-pending bottom bracket that exceeds industry standards, rust-defying materials and rock solid construction. Our patent-pending, durable, threadless Morse Taper design keeps the pedals fastened tightly to the bike and prevents breakage.

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.