SirMike1983
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
I will add one more thing about the "serious cyclist" snobbery I mentioned earlier.
The bitterest thing about the snobbery of the 70s and early 80s was that the attitude ignored Schwinn's contribution to adult cycling going back to the late 1930s.
For years, Schwinn was one of the few (and at times the only) American bike manufacturer who offered good bikes for older students and adults. Schwinn produced medium and tall frame bikes like the New World, Continental, Superior, Traveler, etc. for adult riders. They did that at a time when there were few "serious" adult cyclists in the US. This went on for several decades.
When the market finally was there in the 1970s, the attitude that Schwinn made heavy and clunky bikes became the norm, despite Schwinn's many years of efforts to cultivate the very market that now was turning against it. There's something very bitter and ignorant about the "serious cyclist" mentality sometimes.
The bitterest thing about the snobbery of the 70s and early 80s was that the attitude ignored Schwinn's contribution to adult cycling going back to the late 1930s.
For years, Schwinn was one of the few (and at times the only) American bike manufacturer who offered good bikes for older students and adults. Schwinn produced medium and tall frame bikes like the New World, Continental, Superior, Traveler, etc. for adult riders. They did that at a time when there were few "serious" adult cyclists in the US. This went on for several decades.
When the market finally was there in the 1970s, the attitude that Schwinn made heavy and clunky bikes became the norm, despite Schwinn's many years of efforts to cultivate the very market that now was turning against it. There's something very bitter and ignorant about the "serious cyclist" mentality sometimes.
