New Schwinns any good?

[bean]

I was looking at a Schwinn Heavy Duti at a LBS today and thinking ......Hmmm, rip off the fenders, flip the bars, and fit a set of red bricks and it wouldn't look too bad. Only thing is, it is fitted with a set of cantilever front brakes...yuck. I'd have to either change the forks or make up a set of truss rods that utilise the brake mounting posts. At $400AU, the price isn't too bad either considering a similar set of wheels and tires would be $200 plus.
I love the beefy rims and spokes, they look like they'd stand a bit of kerb hopping .

Can anybody comment on the quality of the new Schwinns?

 

[brentville]

I looked at acouple of the new schwinns at a big box discount store and they styling was pretty sweet. The Jet Star is a girls cruiser that looks to be an aluminum frame and they have taken advantage of the need for big diameter tubing by fashioning a top tube that looks a little like a tank. It's not too bad looking.

If only they could still be be made in Chicago and not China I'd think about one

 

[Anonymous]

Somebody posted on a Schwinn board that Schwinn Dealer bikes are better quality than big box store Schwinns.

I myself have never compaired the two.

 

[benz]

I have two heavy duties, and they can handle most anything, is there anyway you can find one from the 70's or eighties? The ones fitted with only a coaster brake? Oh and that paint really sucks to strip off.

 

[CCR]

The new "heavy duty"s are good bikes

in my opinion

if old chicago schwinns were "great", new bike shop schwinns would be "good", walmart/target schwinns would be "okay"

i would say the heavy duty would be "really good", its kind of a specialty bike and more attention goes to the parts (wheels/frame)

if its what you want get it :mrgreen:

 

[skoda]

I would guess they will probably stand up to most riding, but they are crap quality, no way around it. It's a fact, the welds look terrible, the steel is terrible, the components are terrible with a few exceptions.

Bike store being better than big box isn't saying much, they are all bottom dollar world economy multi-national corporate production garbage. If you like the frame or bike, I can't really see them just disintegrating, but I can see them bending or cracking if you start doing any even moderate curb hopping, etc.

New Schwinns are horrible. The new Waterford Paramount is a nice bike I'm sure, but that's not the same thing at all.

EDIT* Sorry CCR, I wasn't intending that to be argumenative, I just really dislike new bikes/stuff in general. All things considered, a new Schwinn is probably going to do fine for 90% of average cruiser riding. I just get all worked up about this stuff, no offense intended.

 

[bean]

I have two heavy duties, and they can handle most anything, is there anyway you can find one from the 70's or eighties? The ones fitted with only a coaster brake? Oh and that paint really sucks to strip off.

Wish I could!! Unfortunately the only way to get these type of frames here in Australia is to buy a new bike, and I'm guessing (maybe wrongly) that a bike shop sold Schwinn would be of a somewhat better quality than a "no name" bike.
I have thought about buying an older frame from the US, but I'm sure the shipping costs would be scary.

 

[roadmaster]

CCR about nailed it... old chicago schwinns were great (as is my 62' american ), modern bike shop schwinns good and xmart box schwinns are okay. and if you like it, then get it. no new schwinn could compete with the classic chicago or at least american made old school schwinns, and here it is...

pacific cycle company bought out some of the better names from back in the day, absorbing schwinn, mongoose, roadmaster, GT/dyno and putting the name on their bikes. same thing with my nexts (sort of) as my mountainbike is made in china by the bridgeway-lianhung bicycle co and its aluminum cruiser counterpart made in china by kent bicycles.

 

[mrbill]

Hello Bean,

This year I purchased 2 new Schwinns. First was a Wildwood, a tankless heavy steel cruiser,
single speed w/crummy tryes paid $150 in a department store bike weighed about 55lbs
and welds were poor as were fenders,fork,rack ,etc.

Comming from a few decades of riding racers I had the need for various gearing.
Enter the Schwinn Deluxe 7 at $550 from a bike shop {now $699 :shock: }
Shimano 7 speed internal keeps the look of a vintage machine and performs flawlessly,
A way better tig welded frame. Springer front end eats up the bumps. Nicely painted
sheet metal throughout which puts this monster around the 65lb mark maybe a bit more.
The tyres are schwinn typhoon bricks and roll along really well. I ride this beast offroad
regulary and seem to hold it's own I've got 159 miles on it now, no problem mechanics wise
I did have a rear flat{which was a pain in the neck to fix}, I have a mt. bike for full blown
offroading. The seat will be changed for a brooks next spring.

What I'm saying is it seems like bike store schwinns are a pretty well made bicycle.
Definatly not as good as the 50's machines, but what is.
Here is a photo of my last fall ride 12 miles along a canal towpath.
With rain on the way the sign said it all.

Cheers.

 

[sensor]

there is a difference in the box store v.s. lbs schwinns and yes the bike shop ones are better quality but the box store ones are cheap at yard sales and are great for cutting up

 

[Buck Masterson]

I can't afford to pay the 2 prices my lbs charges so i went with a box store Schwinn and let me tell you it gets my fat XXX around just fine. After 3 years the only thing I have had to replace is the kickstand. I use mine to pull my daughter, I load all of my football gear for practice (coach) balls, medicine bag, tee's clip board and 6 full water bottles. Not to mention quite heavy loads of croceries. It is all a matter of how you take care of it. To be quite honest the ones I looked at, at the lbs did not look much better quality, and I saved myself a good $100-$200. It also gave me extra money for lighting a rear carrier and some othe goodies.

 

[RetroSpeed]

I recently purchased the Schwinn Deluxe 7 pictured stripped of its Nexus components at a very good price. Although incredibly happy with my purchase, several parts on the late model Schwinn leave much to be desired.

Specifically, the rear rack's metal is very thin, almost tin, compared to an original Phantom’s. Moreover, some of the frame scallops and tank details are decals, not painted, and the Phantom headlight is plastic. Unfortunately, an original headlight can not replace the Deluxe 7’s as the fenders are smooth underneath the headlight unlike the Phantom’s that have provisions for the headlight assembly. Again, the price paid for the Deluxe 7 minus the Nexus parts was a bargain but I intend to replace the fenders, tank and rack with vintage pieces in order to build a “Retro-Cruiser” that Schwinn should have offered after its 1995 Phantom as a tribute to the other excellent bikes Schwinn offered during their Glory Years.