Schwinn -

In 1895, the Schwinn Bicycle Company was founded by a gentleman named Ignaz Schwinn. Ignaz was born in Germany in 1860 and was drawn early on to work on the ‘two wheel’ ancestors of the modern bicycle which appeared in the 19^th century in Europe.

When Ignaz became frustrated with local manufacturers unwillingness to accept his design suggestions he decided to immigrate to the United States where unfortunately, he found similar difficulties with American bicycle makers. Miraculously he met a fellow German American named Adolph Arnold who would eventually provide the financial backing the two would need to start up their company. In 1895 the two began their business together called the Arnold, Schwinn Bicycle Company

In the following years the company Schwinn became extremely popular and was widely known as the best-made American bicycle and was often referred to as the ‘Cadillac of American Bicycles’. However, due to unfortunate circumstances in the late 1980’s, Schwinn declared bankruptcy and in 2001 was auctioned off and purchased by Pacific Cycle. Currently, Schwinn bicycles are being sold in discount stores such as Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart and Target. Higher priced Schwinn bicycles are still being sold at specialty bike shops because the bikes attract customers by their price and looks.