Favorite Bike Maker?

[Bendix]

I never get Schwinn bashing. It usually seems to be based on nearly everything under the sun, except the bikes themselves. Any objective person should realize vintage Schwinn bicycles were, and still are, popular for good reason.

I think it's great that a truly rideable, bike shop quality vintage bike is still easily obtained.

Far from everybody thinking Schwinn is the only old bike, I see too many folks thinking just because any bike is old, it was originally good quality. I've had a string of Craigslist 60's and 70's department store ladies lightweights come in the shop for extensive refurbishing this season. If the buyer had just been patient and waited for a Schwinn Breeze, Racer, etc, there is absolutely no question their finished ride would just be so much nicer.

 

[Bendix]

I like my 3 Manton & Smiths. Frame welds on this Chicago made bike.

Those old Manton and Smith welds are unique, I had one frame for a while, but never did anything with it... What were yours branded?

 

[blwnmny]

i have to say..... My best riding bike is my 53 BF Goodrich badged Schwinn Panther. This thing is a Cadillac, and built like a tank.

 

[blwnmny]

And my 46 CWC Roadmaster 3 gill is my 2nd favorite!

 

[deorman]

What if I said Fordsnake or Smoopy?

 

[blwnmny]

Sounds Good to me!

 

[jamesdart]

For a modern cruiser, electra is my favorite. So comfortable. For a vintage cruiser, Schwinn I really like the frame construction my canti frame klunker just feel so solid. Worksman is awsome too I'm having a lot of fun with mine still don't have it where I can say it is my favorite.

 

[MIGZ]

Project 346 nothing rides as nice

 

[blwnmny]

The closest thing I have to a Project 346 are

these tires.

 

[baldwooky]

Gt Bicycles, but more specifically DYNO

A lot of people will squinty eye me here, as I picked a more "modern" brand. But we're talking about a brand here that basically brought innovation and created and grew sectors of the bike market for over 20 years.

BMX wouldn't have existed if not for them. They were the one of if not the biggest player in that area. Multiple brands under their umbrella, huge marketing dollars spent to grow BMX/biking in general. Almost the top BMX riders in the 80s rode for GT.

One of the earliest factory MTB pioneers other than the Marin boys. They had All the top riders in the late 80s-early 90s. One of the innovators and leaders in full suspension bikes.

The Dyno line of Cruisers that came out in the late 90's basically reinvigorated the cruiser bike business. These bikes are classics already; great lines, superb detailing, colors and paint schemes, super smooth rolling tanks.

The designers there were the best in the business.
Their "superbike" was so good, that it was BANNED.

Quite literally, there is NO cruiser market today without GT. No Electra, no Felt, no Kustom Kruisers. All the people designing those bikes today used to be GT guys.

BMX might not even exist without the money GT pumped into it. They were by far the biggest sponsor, and largest manufacturer of "Youth" bikes during BMX's heyday.

The best looking bikes ever made IMO are Chrome GT 's with mag wheels.

If Richard Long doesn't die, the whole landscape of the biking industry is TOTALLY different today. Up until they went public, and were sold off to Pacific/Dorel your talking about the ONLY bike manufacturer that had significant market shares in youth(market leader) and adult(2nd only to cannondale at the time) bikes, there STILL hasn't been a manufacturer like that since GT or Schwinn before them.

Top design, top quality, top innovation, mass market pricing.
It doesn't get any better than GT at their peak, Schwinn may have had them on longevity, but no ones been better.

 

[heartlandcruisers]

I have t say it is tossup between Shelby and Elgin I love love love the Elgin bluebird but the Shelby flyer has some sweet lines to it

 

[gigmata]

Gt Bicycles, but more specifically DYNO

A lot of people will squinty eye me here, as I picked a more "modern" brand. But we're talking about a brand here that basically brought innovation and created and grew sectors of the bike market for over 20 years.

BMX wouldn't have existed if not for them. They were the one of if not the biggest player in that area. Multiple brands under their umbrella, huge marketing dollars spent to grow BMX/biking in general. Almost the top BMX riders in the 80s rode for GT.

One of the earliest factory MTB pioneers other than the Marin boys. They had All the top riders in the late 80s-early 90s. One of the innovators and leaders in full suspension bikes.

The Dyno line of Cruisers that came out in the late 90's basically reinvigorated the cruiser bike business. These bikes are classics already; great lines, superb detailing, colors and paint schemes, super smooth rolling tanks.

The designers there were the best in the business.
Their "superbike" was so good, that it was BANNED.

Quite literally, there is NO cruiser market today without GT. No Electra, no Felt, no Kustom Kruisers. All the people designing those bikes today used to be GT guys.

BMX might not even exist without the money GT pumped into it. They were by far the biggest sponsor, and largest manufacturer of "Youth" bikes during BMX's heyday.

The best looking bikes ever made IMO are Chrome GT 's with mag wheels.

If Richard Long doesn't die, the whole landscape of the biking industry is TOTALLY different today. Up until they went public, and were sold off to Pacific/Dorel your talking about the ONLY bike manufacturer that had significant market shares in youth(market leader) and adult(2nd only to cannondale at the time) bikes, there STILL hasn't been a manufacturer like that since GT or Schwinn before them.

Top design, top quality, top innovation, mass market pricing.
It doesn't get any better than GT at their peak, Schwinn may have had them on longevity, but no ones been better.

I think I owned 20 bmx GTs. About 8 years ago I bought a GT Chucker 1.0. That thing was great in every way.


- by Gigmata

 

[Bicycle808]

Gt Bicycles, but more specifically DYNO

A lot of people will squinty eye me here, as I picked a more "modern" brand. But we're talking about a brand here that basically brought innovation and created and grew sectors of the bike market for over 20 years.

BMX wouldn't have existed if not for them. They were the one of if not the biggest player in that area. Multiple brands under their umbrella, huge marketing dollars spent to grow BMX/biking in general. Almost the top BMX riders in the 80s rode for GT.

One of the earliest factory MTB pioneers other than the Marin boys. They had All the top riders in the late 80s-early 90s. One of the innovators and leaders in full suspension bikes.

The Dyno line of Cruisers that came out in the late 90's basically reinvigorated the cruiser bike business. These bikes are classics already; great lines, superb detailing, colors and paint schemes, super smooth rolling tanks.

The designers there were the best in the business.
Their "superbike" was so good, that it was BANNED.

Quite literally, there is NO cruiser market today without GT. No Electra, no Felt, no Kustom Kruisers. All the people designing those bikes today used to be GT guys.

BMX might not even exist without the money GT pumped into it. They were by far the biggest sponsor, and largest manufacturer of "Youth" bikes during BMX's heyday.

The best looking bikes ever made IMO are Chrome GT 's with mag wheels.

If Richard Long doesn't die, the whole landscape of the biking industry is TOTALLY different today. Up until they went public, and were sold off to Pacific/Dorel your talking about the ONLY bike manufacturer that had significant market shares in youth(market leader) and adult(2nd only to cannondale at the time) bikes, there STILL hasn't been a manufacturer like that since GT or Schwinn before them.

Top design, top quality, top innovation, mass market pricing.
It doesn't get any better than GT at their peak, Schwinn may have had them on longevity, but no ones been better.

I fully agree that GT (and the various marques that fell under the GT umbrella) was an awesome company with huuuuuge influence, especially late 70s through early 90s, particularly on BMX. GT also had a huge impact on the mtb world, uniquely combining innovation with accessibility in terms of mtb design-- but the mtb craze was well underway by the time GT joined the fray. And, even though GT was one of the earliest purpose-built bmx manufacturers, BMX was gonna happen anyway, with or without GT. GT did, indeed, shape a lot of how BMX evolved in the 70s, and was definitely influential in the 80s with the freestyle movement, but again, that all would've happened regardless of GT. Still, looking back, i'm glad GT was there, for sure.

I have t say it is tossup between Shelby and Elgin I love love love the Elgin bluebird but the Shelby flyer has some sweet lines to it

Elgin never made any bikes. It was just a badge that Sears put on its higher-end bicycles. The Bluebird was designed by John Morgan and built by Westfield (aka Columbia). I've never owned a Shelby, but i think most of them look fantastic.

 

[heartlandcruisers]

ahh ok I did not know that about the elgins but they were still cool

 

[Bicycle808]

SO cool, but produced by a couple of different firms, for Sears.

 

[blwnmny]

I love the round fender braces on some of the Shelby's, they are a little more curved than the CWC's. I love the looks of those fender braces!

 

[Chief]

And my 46 CWC Roadmaster 3 gill is my 2nd favorite!

Lets see your 46 3-gill.

 

[Duchess]

Iver Johnson. Really impressed with the workmanship and build quality for ~1910 and, if I obtained a beat up frame only, building it up with modern parts would be easier than a couple of early 80s bikes I modernized. The only weirdo is the 90mm OLD front hub, but I have a spare. The tubes on these were made from bored-out billets and rolled to the required gauge and they were assembled with internal sleeve lugs, leaving a clean appearance at the joins that I haven't seen any other construction match.

I think a lot of junk department store bikes survived because there were a lot of them, they were not great to ride, bought by new cyclists to try it out, and abandoned in the garage/basement in short order.

 

[Jay Moore]

i have had a lot of bikes in the 30 years i have been riding. had pre-war and modern bikes. for me my fav is the dyno. i raced bmx in the 90s and always rode a gt then in the late 90s when i found out dyno made cruisers i was hooked.

 

[Ichoptop]

Peek Cycles, Lowlife Bike, Lowtide Customs, Tudor Bicycles, Alejandro's Garage, Fiebikes.....because factory sucks