As a Chicago native, I have a soft spot for Schwinn. The Chicago Schwinn factory was absolutely incredible in its day: sheet and coil steel went in one end and completed bikes came out the other end. Schwinn electo-forged bikes like the Varsity had an amazingly intricate manufacturing process that required lots of expesive, custom equipment. No company has gotten close to replicating Schwinn's production processes since. Also, Schwinn recognized early the value of European-style racing frame and the resulting Paramounts were always incredible.

I studied the fall of Schwinn in business school. It's a sad story: the company was horribly mismanaged by the Schwinn family and the brand wound up being sold for a pittance. Outside of the brand, none of the company's other assets were ever purchased, indicating how far the company had fallen. Schwinn management managed to alienate all of their partners and destroy one of the iconic American brands in a matter of a few years.