General Cycling Discussion - Schwinn Woodlands

Hello all, I've been following this forum for the last couple of weeks and this is my first post. I was never big on bicycling and have not biked in about 8 years but want to start again to get some exercise.

I have two bikes, a Bianchi Boardwalk hybrid which I bought back in 1994 for less than $500 and a Schwinn Woodlands mountain bike which was given to me back in 1996 by a former landlord as the prior tenant left it behind. The Bianchi is still in very good condition and practically a new bike as I rode it only about 10 times and have less than 100 miles on it for sure. It has a bit of rust on the cogs as it was left in the basement of my former house for the past 10 years and now resides in my garage. I consider the Bianchi a pretty good bike for my level, but I don't know much about the Schwinn I have.

Can anyone tell me if the Schwinn Woodlands was considered a good bike? I think it was an entry level mountain bike, but I don't know what model year it was. I want to know if it was built before the time people consider Schwinn went down the tubes.

To me, the Schwinn brand is still a decent brand, although I know that a lot of people think its not good anymore as it began selling to mass market retailers back in late 2001/early 2002. I know that Schwinn went bankrupt at one point and has changed ownership a couple of times from Pacific Cycle in 2001 to Dorel a few years later.

Can anyone tell me what year my Schwinn Woodlands or anything else about the bike?
My Schwinn has the following markings: Made in Taiwan
Frame: Schwinn MTB CR-MO Tubing
Fork: GForce Tapered Fork
Saddle: Schwinn Mountain
Front & Rear derailleur: Shmano 200GS
Shifters: Shimano 200GS SIS 7S SL-M201
Brake levers: Shimano SLR
Cogset: Shimano Bio-space SG
Wheel/Rim: WEINMANN 2121 26 x 1.75 Alloy - Made in USA
Tires: 26 x 1.75 to Fit Rim TRA HB-7
Pedals: Wellgo - Nylon pedals - Made in Taiwan

My experience tells me that the Taiwan ( Giant made really) made
were , still are, pretty good Schwinns. Schwinn still owned the
company and was trying stay alive. I have a Schwinn World
Tourist that is a Giant made Schwinn and it is a darn good bike.

Now that Pacific owns the Schwinn name and imports from
China these bikes are on my NOT list. :mad:

Thanks for your reply. It feels good to know the Schwinn I have is considered a decent bike. I'm not sure about the China comment though. Maybe its that I haven't looked at that many bikes lately, but it seems a lot of bikes under $500, even those sold at your LBS are made in China. Some of these bikes are quite decent for the casual rider like me. The main thing is that the bikes sold at mass market retailers don't have experienced people assembling them and that the bikes don't have the best components or components that wear out sooner than they should. That being said, most of the Schwinns that are sold at mass market retailers like Target, ToysRUs and Walmart are the higher end bikes in these stores.

Schwinn also seems to market different (better?) products to the LBS that are listed on Schwinn's website only and not available at these mass market stores.

I have a Schwinn Woodlands in black from the mid 80's (I'm guessing) and it has delivered many thousands of miles of dependable service. It will always have a place in my motorlesspool.

"Schwinn also seems to market different (better?) products to the LBS that are listed on Schwinn's website only and not available at these mass market stores."

Pacific is trading on the Schwinn name now. The Schwinn's sold in big box stores are
shameful junk. The Schwinn's sold at a bike store are only marginally better but they
ARE different Schwinn's. To me the only good Schwinn's are old Schwinn's. :( :(

Pacific is trading on the Schwinn name now. The Schwinn's sold in big box stores are
shameful junk. The Schwinn's sold at a bike store are only marginally better but they
ARE different Schwinn's. To me the only good Schwinn's are old Schwinn's. :( :(

Here's an interesting article on the downfall and "revival" of the Schwinn brand.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29737-2004Dec2.html