From Bicycle Retailer: Schwinn Sting-Ray inventor Al Fritz remembered

That's exactly what somebody who never owned one as a kid might say. <g> For a kid in the '60s I speak from experience in saying the Schwinn Sting-Ray was the ultimate neighborhood bike, and a fantastic bike for jumping, skidding, sliding, riding wheelies, up and down hills, on streets, over curbs, sidewalks, dirt trails, up and down hills, or just about any other kid-type riding in general. They were built so well they could really take the abuse, and of course they were the spawn of BMX even though Schwinn as a company ignored that for a while.

Mr. Fritz was also largely responsible for the Air Dyne exerciser, a product which many believe saved the company in the '80s. Much of what Schwinn produced during its '60s and '70s heyday could be attributed to Al Fritz and Frank Brilando (Schwinn's top engineer). I believe those two largely ran the company while Frank V. Schwinn became more and more incapacitated during the '70s. That is up until Ed Schwinn took over, got rid of them, and the rest is history...