Originally Posted by
Metacortex
They did try but were too late. Schwinn opened a new factory in Greenville MS in '81 and moved the equipment to produce lugged framed bikes there. Unfortunately they just couldn't make that work cost-wise and depended more and more on imported bikes. The Greenville plant closed in '91 and Schwinn went bankrupt 2 years later:
A Rough Ride for Schwinn Bicycle (washingtonpost.com)
It seems most things that came out of the Greenville plant are well regarded by history- I don't know about at the time. I wonder if by that point "Schwinn = Tank" had been ingrained in society. I recall reading some post on some forum- maybe here, maybe somewhere else- but the poster was unable to comprehend that a bike with the Schwinn name could be among the very finest ever made- and not in a joking sort of way.
I seriously believe my Voyageur SP to be among the finest touring bikes ever- but I never hear it mentioned in the Trek 720/Miyata 1000/Specialized Expedition company. Whether it's a matter of the "Schwinn" name or the "Voyageur" name... or whether there's something that people know that I don't...