THE FRITZ FIFTY - LIMITED EDITION STING-RAY
- Thread starter Rat Rod
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I have to admit, I got excited when I saw the title of this thread! 
But looking at the bike.... :| :? not so much, I will save my dollars for something else...
Luke.
But looking at the bike.... :| :? not so much, I will save my dollars for something else...Luke.
chrome frames are boring after a few years od polishing them ,it's not like a painted frame that you can change up the look & make cooler! just save your money & wait till the hit craigs list they wil not be worth more than what they paid for it , i see them as the brat bike just anothe failed atempt to get people's money
Rat Rod
Owner & Founder
It's funny though because last year they put out a limited edition line of Krates that all of the dealers were buying up and I haven't seen many of them show up for sale. I remember seeing an Orange Krate model and the orange was just too day-glow looking. The Lemon Peeler that they made looked pretty decent because the yellow was closer.
They were still made from this same model of Sting-Ray so it wasn't as if they were like the 90s Krates either. Seems like they may have been a tad better than the BFK bikes, but not much.
They were still made from this same model of Sting-Ray so it wasn't as if they were like the 90s Krates either. Seems like they may have been a tad better than the BFK bikes, but not much.
CCR
Mouth-Breather
I still see a few of the pea pickers around $270 from the shops that can't move them. Also know of one shop that still has a lemon peeler and is still trying to get $550.00 for it too. If I get one it will be because the price bottomed out like they did with the 5 speed grey ghosts :mrgreen:
Rat Rod said:
I agree with this; my BFK has been stored indoors and has never seen a drop of rain, as a result, the paint and chrome are in excellent shape! When taken on the Summer Streets NYC rides, they have always been on clear sunny days.
It’s too bad however that the quality that Schwinn has always been known for has suffered; most likely due to Penny Pinching, profits per unit sold accountants. Nonetheless, modifications done on them can be done without any concerns, unlike a frame/paint modification done on an original (considered sacrilegious by some, myself included).
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Have to agree witht he comments so far - what a terrible waste / shame.
Al's memory has been severly tarnished by this joke - the chrome & black look is cheesy at best, the new style stem and alloy wheels are sic, the sweetheart sprocket looks way out of place.
Wonder if Al hand signed the stickers ? they won't last well if he did.
Some collectors will buy em though, keep in the boxes, never to be seen, and collect the cardboard box for years to come.
for half the price of a nice Krate, I htink I'll pass, thank you .
Al's memory has been severly tarnished by this joke - the chrome & black look is cheesy at best, the new style stem and alloy wheels are sic, the sweetheart sprocket looks way out of place.
Wonder if Al hand signed the stickers ? they won't last well if he did.
Some collectors will buy em though, keep in the boxes, never to be seen, and collect the cardboard box for years to come.
for half the price of a nice Krate, I htink I'll pass, thank you .
Uh... Al worked on the bike himself "with the Schwinn team"-- or at least thats what the promotional literature claims. Maybe this is a case similar to George Lucas making Episode 1 of Star Wars. The fans of the originals didn't like the new ones either. :lol:
Regards,
It's especially hard to see since Schwinn chrome was the best chrome in the bike world. You can still pull 50, 60, and 70 year old Schwinns out of barns, sheds, and basement. With a little polish, the chrome shines like new. It's never ceases to amaze me. New Schwinn chrome is the same junk as every other overseas bike. It has no chance if it sees the elements for a couple years.
Well, they could have at least, for Al Fritz's sake, put a forged steel goose neck on it instead of that Chinese cheap aluminum alloy job. But then it's too late, the U.S.A. is sold out and out of business. I'm a Schwinn Stingray collector. I own nine Stingrays in all, ranging from 1963 to 2007. At least one for every decade after the sixties. One of them is a 2007 Black Friday and I don't care to own another Chinese made model. During the nineties, before Schwinn screwed them over, the Giant bicycle company in Taiwan did a great job of reproducing the same high quality Schwinn Stingrays that were made in Chicago, and they even improved on the design. The fork on my 1999 Country Time Stingray is a lot beefier than the Chicago built Stingray forks, and the chain stays and seat stays are wider, so that you can squeeze in a three inch wide slik tire, which is what I did. The "INNOVA 72-406" tire. I customized that bike, turned it into a drag racer. My 2007 Black Friday is now a customized Chopper. Since those two bikes aren't even considered to be collectible, I could customize the heck out of them, but I do believe that the Giant made bicycles are on the way to being collectible as well.
I will see if I can post two picture links of those two bikes here. First is the Giant made 1999 Country Time, "Lemonator," as I named it, and then the link to my 2007 Black Friday Chopper. Also, check out my new products for bikes at ZiggyboyBullet.com. One of my products, the Ziggyboy Bullet Z-VSC valve stem caps, were made in China, but I want to get an American manufacturer, if I can, for my next order. There are not that many choices left here in America for manufacturing. My sissy bars are made in Canada.
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z220 ... 4e67dd.png
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z220 ... 1381335038
The Schwinn story exemplifies what happened to the American industry and how American corporations have sold out American workers and the American people in general, all for the sake of slave labor in China, bigger profits, etc. Now we can't even get things manufactured in America, there just isn't hardly any American manufacturers left. The pride that we used to hold for quality made American products vanished after fascism beat down Americanism.
Yeah, I wonder if it's possible to order the slik tires they are making. ???? I wouldn't mind being able to buy a few of those as well. Sliks with raised white letters are really hard to come by without spending a fortune. I've been using "Hot Tires" white paint pens to paint my blackwall raised letter sliks. They just plain look better with white letters. Guess I'll have to contact the Schwinn company and find out, or should I say, the "pseudo" Schwinn company? Because the true Schwinn company of yesterday at least sold parts. Seems "dismal," doesn't it?
I will see if I can post two picture links of those two bikes here. First is the Giant made 1999 Country Time, "Lemonator," as I named it, and then the link to my 2007 Black Friday Chopper. Also, check out my new products for bikes at ZiggyboyBullet.com. One of my products, the Ziggyboy Bullet Z-VSC valve stem caps, were made in China, but I want to get an American manufacturer, if I can, for my next order. There are not that many choices left here in America for manufacturing. My sissy bars are made in Canada.
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z220 ... 4e67dd.png
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z220 ... 1381335038
The Schwinn story exemplifies what happened to the American industry and how American corporations have sold out American workers and the American people in general, all for the sake of slave labor in China, bigger profits, etc. Now we can't even get things manufactured in America, there just isn't hardly any American manufacturers left. The pride that we used to hold for quality made American products vanished after fascism beat down Americanism.
Yeah, I wonder if it's possible to order the slik tires they are making. ???? I wouldn't mind being able to buy a few of those as well. Sliks with raised white letters are really hard to come by without spending a fortune. I've been using "Hot Tires" white paint pens to paint my blackwall raised letter sliks. They just plain look better with white letters. Guess I'll have to contact the Schwinn company and find out, or should I say, the "pseudo" Schwinn company? Because the true Schwinn company of yesterday at least sold parts. Seems "dismal," doesn't it?
