General Cycling Discussion - It's official, Huffy buys Schwinn

Huffy has just bought Schwinn. I wonder what they will do with the brand.

It's in the CBS market watch website. Here is the link to the story:

http://aol5.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B9BCAAE20%2DC7D8%2D45A8%2DA63F%2D03F257CB1501%7D&siteid=mktw

I think they'd be smart to keep it going as a seperate entity from Huffy bikes. I don't think they will keep them out of the discount houses though.

I sure hope Schwinn doesn't wind-up in department stores.

So what does this mean for us cyclists? Will we see higher quality (Schwinn / GT) bikes in x-marts?

Right from the Schwinn site itself :

All bicycles in the $200-$400 price range, in which Schwinn has the market leading share;

The cruiser bicycle category, a growing segment featuring heavier, simple bicycles with traditional designs reminiscent of the "old Schwinn of your youth";

The BMX and Freestyle segments, popular with teenagers and younger consumers. BMX is the fastest-growing segment of the IBD channel, with a 1997 growth rate of 13.5%. GT gives Schwinn/GT Corp. the upper hand in this segment.


I guess it was a good move for huffy, i hope to see good things come of this, however its very hard to watch one of the great bicycle makers of all time call it quits... good by schwinn

More news links:
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/010716/n16365782.html

I'll be danged! This was a joke about two years ago on the Schwinn Forums on April Fool's Day.

Is this the real deal? Of course, Schwinn is not really Schwinn anymore as they have already been bought and sold and gone bancrupt in the past. The news here is that Huffy now owns them. The mouse eats the cat.

I'm shedding a tear. Does this mean Huffy owns GT also? I remember when GT bikes came out. I was a young BMX guy and GT was considered a high end expensive ride at the time. This is truly a merger I could never anticipate.

I think I've got to sign off, this is hard to swallow.:mad: :confused: :fight: :thumbdn: :irritated

I've never owned a Schwinn. Depending on who you identify with in cycling, they either are excellent or they "suck".

Either way, Schwinn is legendary, and, at least, warrants editorialization. Schwinn, abroad, is not changing. They were already separate business entities. Schwinn, Inc. will still be around, but only manufacturing their other fitness equipment. Apparently, only the bicycle business unit was in trouble.

I imagine that Huffy will allow Schwinn Cycles (including GT) to continue as they have with, perhaps, better support and marketing.

Jonathan

In the shop where I work, I always sell GT as the sportier brand and Schwinn as it's slightly less fashioable brother.

Funnily enough we've just started a contract with Huffy for their range of BMX's.

Lets not forget about the employees!!
All bike side employees were given 60 day notice and a 4 week severence.
Fitness side, as of now, still have jobs!!

I have owned 2 Schwinns a LeTour I bought new in 1974 and kept until 1991 (17 years) and it performed flawlessly... I got $125 for it in 1991 and bought a CrissCross which I still have... I can not say anything negative about either bikes. I really take care of my stuff though.

However, I am looking at other brands for my next purchase because I want something different (Trek or Cannondale).

I really hate to see them go though...

Yes, I heard about this. They are going to call it "Huffin", and they are passing out a free can of paint with every new bike purchased.
Some of the marketing guys wanted to call it "Shwiffy" but they were worried about branding conflicts with the sweeper makers.

i wonder what will happen with warranties. i just bought a homegrown 2 weeks ago.

Interestingly, some of the Schwinn forums postings included complaints about Huffy and some uncomplimentary comments about Huffy.

ALL posts that had anything to say about Huffy buying Schwinn were removed from the Schwinn collector forums.

Through this kind of censoring, we get an introduction to Huffy's management style. I'm guessing they are a bit oppressive.

Originally posted by mike
Through this kind of censoring, we get an introduction to Huffy's management style. I'm guessing they are a bit oppressive.

Two Words can summarize the whole deal:

Huffy Sucks

Well guys, it is NOT official. Huffy has put in a BID, and it seems some people don't think it will hold up. Also, word on the street is there are other parties interested in purchasing Schwinn/GT. See this link for a little more info. http://www.ocregister.com/sitearchives/2001/7/18/business/bike00718cci3.shtml

So, if censoring is going on on the Schwinn board, it's from their own moderators (worried about impending sale?), not from Huffy.

Yaaaaaaaaaahhoooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

I hope Huffy loses!!!!!

Originally posted by Monkey Spud
i wonder what will happen with warranties. i just bought a homegrown 2 weeks ago.

Fortunately, when a company buys part of another company, they buy all their liabilities as well as assets. Huffy - rather, Schwinn, a wholly owned subsidiary of Huffy - will have to honor the warranties made by Schwinn. Since they have more money than Schwinn did, you should get at least the same service.

Jonathan

Originally posted by mgibson
Lets not forget about the employees!!
All bike side employees were given 60 day notice and a 4 week severence.
Fitness side, as of now, still have jobs!!

Fitness won't lay off, since they weren't sold. Apparently, that was the most solvent part of Schwinn, so they kept it.

Schwinn in other countries are separate entities, as well, and aren't part of the Huffy deal.

Jonathan

I feel that I should weigh in here. The one thing I can say about my (former) Huffy is that it was a 50lb work out monster. After I switched to my current Diamondback Expert (24 lbs) I felt like a new man. My LBS should thank Huffy Inc. for creating such solid pigs because at current count, my old machine has sold two bikes at his shop and currently working on a third. However, on any bike that I find that has the Made in Tiawan or made in China label on the steering head, I am curious as to wether or not they came of the same assembly line, read Giant. The entry level bikes from Marin, Giant, Trek and others are quite likely made in the same factory so I don't get too high of a brand loyalty until I see the Hand made in USA label. As to the damage Huffy Inc. will do to Schwinn, I give you Harley Davidson during the AMF years and Cub Cadet as currently owned by MTD (Murray) mowers Ford/Jaguar etc. I am now and always will be known as HuffyMan because the iron pig gave me my start and gallons of sweat later, I'm quite sure what I want in a bike.

If it's not too late, maybe Microsoft could purchase Schwinn and start including a free bicycle bundled with Windows on every personal computer sold in the world. That could start a real fitness craze. Of course, the bikes might be unusually crash-prone... :D

As for the censorship thing (Mike's post about the message board), that pushes one of my really big red buttons. It would be enough to steer me away from any Huffy product forever. I'm of one mind with fubar on that one.

Originally posted by JonR
If it's not too late, maybe Microsoft could purchase Schwinn and start including a free bicycle bundled with Windows on every personal computer sold in the world

Microsoft doesn't give anything away for free unless:
a) a similar product can be obtained for free
and
b) they want to try to put some other company out of business

Jon - see my early post about the message board - censorship sucks, but Huffy's not in control yet.

Originally posted by HuffyMan
I am now and always will be known as HuffyMan because the iron pig gave me my start and gallons of sweat later, I'm quite sure what I want in a bike.
Good enough reason to preserve your HuffyMan handle! There's more than one way to view any situation. :)

I had a huffy ten speed in high school. People used to make fun of it. But I thought it was cool. I figured out how to fix it everyday, and I could get those Thrifty's tires and tubes for it right up the street. I used to ride that thing everywhere, it was probably 35 lbs or something. I think it was rought iron. Or maybe they just took 3/4 in iron pipe and welden it together. The thing was crude.
But, I also feel like JonR. that sums it up.


I am now and always will be known as HuffyMan because the iron pig gave me my start and gallons of sweat later, I'm quite sure what I want in a bike.