Originally Posted by
Sierra
AFAIK, it was Schwinn's first aluminum framed bike. It was supposed to be called the Avion, but that is the name that brought on the dispute, so it was renamed the Ontare. I think that name only lasted for one year. The next year the model had a three digit numerical name, and I believe there were about three different models.
Pretty sure the name "Ontare" had to be changed for trademark reasons as well - maybe that's why Schwinn finally went with numbers for those aluminum-framed models.