I will say, I was helping a friend pick out a bike (before I really got back into it) and at Target, you had the Schwinns and you had everything else (Magna, NeXT, etc). Even to my relatively untrained eye, the Schwinns were clearly higher quality than everything else they stocked once one took the time to take the bike off the rack and examine its design and components.

So from what I've seen I tend to agree with Mike. Schwinns may not be the best bikes on the market, but they may well be the best bikes in their segment of the market - a notch or three above their department store competitors.

And the bikes sold at places like Performance qualify as Real Bikes by most anyone's standards. (You can get $2300 carbon-fiber framed road bikes, etc...)

I commute on a late 70s Schwinn LeTour II. It is one of my prized possessions. It is a 10 speed. Very smooth, very nice ride. I just wish I wasn't so fat so I could spin the big gear a bit better.

So I had a Bianchi Veloce w/ Campy Veloce gruppo. The frame was steel (cro-mo lite). Too small though so I picked up a frame made of Reynolds 853 (oooohhhh!!!). And it's a Schwinn. Now I have a Schwinn w/ Campy Veloce and Mavic wheels.



Just finished putting it together and swapped out the aluminum straight blade fork for a carbon fork. Gonna take it out for a shake down ride today.

A little photoshop made the stick that I propped the bike up disappear.

I love the vintage Schwinns. I really love my High Plains. But I got to tell you I rode a new ranger the other day and was quite a bit impressed.

My '77 Schwinn Le Tour II and my '07 Le Tour GS:


The old Schwinn makes a great commuter but it is heavy. The new one cost 1/3 less than any other comparably equipped road bike I could find. It is fairly light and, although I've only put 1,100 miles on it so far, the Sora/Tiagra equipment works reliably and the wheels have held up well under my Clyde weight. The new one will become my commuter whenever I decide it is time to move to a mid-level road bike but, for now, it is proving to be a nice ride.

I'm generally not a big fan of the Chicago Schwinns, except for this one:
https://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...3&d=1189608970
One of the nicer bikes I've ever ridden, and it is hard to seperate the Schwinn name from it in my head.

I own a dept store Schwinn MTB and a LBS Schwinn World DBX road bike. The road bike is purely kick @ss. I get a lot of compliments/comments about it. Being a mail order bike, I really went over it looking for flaws in case I needed to return it. No flaws at all to the naked eye. None so far on my commute which has parts that are pretty abusive. I couldn't be happier especially with the close out price.

The MTB on the other hand isn't a LBS bike by any means. However, it's paid for itself about 10 times over in gas savings over the last 2 years. I've only had one issue with it and that's when one of the bottom bracket bearing rings got unraveled a bit. $2 part, .10 in grease and good as new. I have not babied that bike by any means and it's still going strong. Had I been more knowledgable, I probably would have passed on it and gone the LBS or used route, but again... what I paid has been paid back multiple times. It's been through mountains, commuting, and even a little tour without a single major hickup other than 1 flat tire and that bearing issue. Comparably, I've had 2 other Wally world bikes in the past that were pure sh*t that I'm surprised lasted the summer.

Look at my avatar. That was a Schwinn purchased in 1981. My roommate at the time thought I was nuts for spending $400 on a bike. That was a Chicago Schwinn... the sort of bike frame that lasted 26 years before I decided to finally go all out and get a real commuter. (I donated the bike in good working condition to Goodwill.) Yes, I looked at a Schwinn model similar to the Specialized I ended up getting. It's just that I remember Chicago Schwinn and perhaps I couldn't go there... I'm sure the new Schwinns (bike shop models) are good bikes. Just not unique. Most likely a good bike for the money. Just please, please.... if you are looking to purchase a Schwinn, go to a real bike shop.

-3bikes..... Specialized FSR Mountain bike, Specialized City 6 Commuter, Felt F-55 Road Bike.

I had a Fastback elite for a little while. It wasn't all that bad. Good enrty level bike. Decent for t he price.

That's a nice bike. My next trip to the LBS this week for tires for my daughters World Tourist, I think I'm gonna look at their Schwinn MTB's or maybe a nice comfy road bike a little closer. I've been tossing the ideal around for something like her Tourist for a while now. But the state park by us just put in a new MTB trail in and the High Plains doesn't really have the right tires or suspension on it for any rough terrain. It's mainly my road and light trail bike. I have rods in my back so a little shock asbsortion really helps. So the MTB will probably be the final decision. I really want to see this trail. It is nothing to write home about but probably will be the limit on off roading that I can ride for a trail.