Schwinn Bicycle Company

The Schwinn Bicycle Company was founded by German-born mechanical engineer Ignaz Schwinn (1860–1945) in Chicago in 1895. It became the dominant manufacturer of American bicycles through most of the 20th century and today, after declaring bankruptcy in 1992, it is a sub-brand of Pacific Cycle, owned by the multi-national conglomerate, Dorel Industries.

History

Founding of Schwinn

Ignaz Schwinn was born in Hardheim, Baden, Germany, in 1860 and worked on two-wheeled ancestors of the modern bicycle that appeared in 19th century Europe. Schwinn emigrated to the United States in 1891. In 1895, with the financial backing of fellow German American Adolph Frederick William Arnold (a meat packer), he founded Arnold, Schwinn & Company. Schwinn's new company coincided with a sudden bicycle craze in America. Chicago became the center of the American bicycle industry, with thirty factories turning out thousands of bikes every day. Bicycle output in the United States grew to over a million units per year by the turn of the 20th century.

Mountain bike

A mountain bike or mountain bicycle (abbreviated MTB; or ATB, for all-terrain bicycle) is a bicycle created for off-road cycling.

Mountain bikes are typically ridden on mountain trails, fire roads, logging roads, single tracks and other unpaved environments. These types of terrain commonly include rocks, washouts, ruts, loose sand, loose gravel, roots, and steep grades (both inclines and declines). Mountain bikes are built to handle this terrain and the obstacles that are found in it like logs, vertical drop offs, and smaller boulders.

Mountain bike construction differs from a typical bicycle in many ways. The most noticeable differences are the inclusion of suspension on the frame and fork, larger knobby tires, more durable heavy duty wheels, more powerful brakes, and lower gear ratios needed for steep grades with poor traction.

Since the development of the sport in the 1970s many new subtypes of mountain biking have developed, such as cross-country (XC) biking, all-day endurance biking, Freeride-biking, downhill mountain biking, and a variety of track and slalom competitions. Each of these place different demands on the bike requiring different designs for optimal performance. MTB development has included an increase in suspension, typically up to 8" or 203mm, and gearing, up to 30 speeds, to facilitate both climbing and rapid descents. However, advancements in sprocket design has recently led to the "1x (pronounced one by)" trend, simplifying the gearing to one Chainring/Sprocket in the front and multiple sprockets on the rear of the drive train, more commonly, 9, 10 or 11 speed.

Pacific Cycle

For the Taiwan-based folding bicycle company see: Pacific Cycles

Pacific Cycle, Inc. is an American division of Canadian conglomerate Dorel Industries that imports and distributes bicycles. It was founded in 1977 by Chris Hornung. The company pioneered the sourcing of bicycles from the Far East for distribution in the U.S., developing relationships with suppliers primarily in Taiwan and China. The company now owns several well known bicycle brands as well as diversifying into bicycle accessories and other types of children's play equipment. Pacific Cycle sells more bicycles than any other company in North America and is one of the most prolific bicycle suppliers in the world. In 2006 Chris Hornung left Pacific Cycle leaving President Jeff Frehner in control. Alice Tillett has been the President of Pacific Cycle since 2008.

The company headquarters is located in Madison, Wisconsin, with a corporate branch office in Olney, Illinois (former home of Roadmaster). They also operate distribution centers in Olney, IL, Vacaville, California and Rancho Cucamonga, California (formerly of PTI).

American Pickers

American Pickers is an American reality television series that premiered on January 18, 2010 on the History channel, produced by A&E Television Networks in collaboration with Cinefix Productions. The series' eighth season premiered on May 6, 2015.

Overview

The show follows antique and collectible pickers Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, who travel around the United States to buy or "pick" various items for resale, for clients, or for their own personal collections. They originally travelled in a Mercedes Sprinter van and now a Ford Transit. Danielle Colby runs the office of Wolfe's business, Antique Archeology, from their home base in LeClaire, Iowa, and more recently at a second location in Nashville, Tennessee. Fritz sells his acquisitions at his own shop and on his own website), Frank Fritz Finds, upriver in Savanna, Illinois. The men go on the road, not only following up leads that Colby has generated, but also "free-styling" - stopping at places that look like they might hold items worth buying. They also pick some places more than once.

Bike

Bike may refer to:

Places

People

Vehicles

Art, entertainment, and media

Brands and enterprises

See also