No Hands: The Rise and Fall of the Schwinn Bicycle Company: An American Institution

This is a fascinating cautionary tale about what happens to a business -- no matter how famous -- when it loses focus on its customers and competitors. For anyone who grew up riding a Schwinn, it's hard to avoid rooting for the company to succeed, even though one knows (in advance) that in the end the company failed. It's a little like watching a horror movie where you want to yell out to the screen, "watch out," in the vain hope the actors in the movie can here you -- I kept wanting the management of Schwinn to wake up and save the company, even though you know they won't. Highly recommended -- too bad this is out of print. Worth buying a used copy to read.

This review is from; No Hands: The Rise and Fall of the Schwinn Bicycle Company, an American Institution As an avid Schwinn collector myself, I found this to be an interesting read and a depressing read at the same time. This book reminds of us of a time when Schwinn was a household name for American bicycles with outstanding quality second to none. Now-a-days you find Schwinn bicycles at your local Walmart, Target or Toys R Us at the cheapest prices in town and of the lowest quality. I proudly own a Schwinn Phantom, Paramount and two mountain bikes that I refuse to let go of. I'm still looking for an original Stingray to add to my collection! The book gives a detailed account of the development of the bicycle in the earliest years at a time when the automobile was just beginning to gain popularity. We learn of Schwinn's founder Ignaz Schwinn who was a German immigrant that migrated to Chicago with a vast, mechanical knowledge and how he formed Schwinn with Adolph Arnold (a financial investor who was also from Germany) to form the Arnold & Schwinn Company in 1908 at Chicago. We learn of Ignaz's son Frank W Schwinn who took over after his father died and help excel the company to be the industry leader in bicycle production. Schwinn bikes carried the reputation as being one of the best and most durable bikes ever built. It's amazing for any company to last for more than a hundred years, but Schwinn slowly started to decay within itself when it either failed to adapt to changing trends in bicycles or they simply adapted too late. Schwinn was innovative in developing the fat tire bicycles such as the Phantom and popular children bicycles such as the Stingray, but was slow in developing the BMX and mountain bikes. Schwinn's bicycle fat tire was largely responsible towards the development of the mountain bike. The late mountain bike development proved to be the most fatal blunder by Schwinn because the mountain bike became the most popular bicycle innovation of the eighties and is just as popular today. We also learn of the other bicycle companies that blossomed and was able to take advantage when Schwinn couldn't such as Specialized and Trek. Schwinn became a financial mess when its Chicago plant failed to upgrade its own equipment and subsequently fell behind other bicycle manufacturers in overall bicycle quality. The failures of the Chicago plant forced its closure and the financial problems began with the huge financial debts owed in that plant. Further financial problems continued with other financial mismanagement by Schwinn in addition to some overseas deals in Asia & Europe that simply did not workout. The book was quick to point out some of the trends or business decisions that Schwinn could have made to stay afloat in the bicycle business such as their failure to lock up some shares in the Giant Bicycle Company which imported a lot of bicycles for Schwinn in their early years before they literally became a "Giant" company themselv

This is the often rather grim story of the fall of a great empire. The Schwinn company was built by an immigrant with a knowledge of mechanics and a fierce dedication to quality. Over several generations, the company gradually fell apart, as subsequent, born-privileged Schwinns took less interest in the company product, focusing on marketing at the expense of manufacturing, and arrogantly believing that the prestige of their name brand would endure over their stubborn reluctance to innovate or modernize. Along the way we get informative and interesting glances into the beginning of BMX and mountain biking, fascinating portraits of the personalities involved, and a strange sense of the interconnectedness of all the big names in the bike industry, as Schwinn's errors lead to the rise of Trek and Giant, and effect many other familiar bike companies. Definitely worth a read.

Since hubby and I are both avid cyclists and also work at a bike shop (myself part time, him full time) this book interested me. It is at once a history of the bicycle in general, and about Schwinn in particular. Ms. Crown and Mr. Coleman relate in vivid detail the creation of the Schwinn bike by Ignaz Schwinn, and how subsequent generations of the family (who owned the company up until the 1990's) developed new products, but later let opportunities (such as the development of the BMX and mountain bike -which was created with old Schwinn parts) slip through their fingers. By the 70's the controlling family members appeared to have little or no interest in bicycles -- only in their annual incomes from their family trust -- and failed to realize that they were letting down the family name and reputation for quality.The book also touches on other bike manufacturers, such as Specialized, Gary Fisher and Trek, and how these companies profited by Schwinn's 'falling asleep at the wheel' old boys' club-type school of thought. Apparently, Schwinn never realized until it was far too late that there was/is a vast adult market out there! This book is compelling reading for anyone interested in bicycle history, or just American business in general. Highly recommended if you can find it!

Frankly, this is the first book I've read cover to cover in a long time. Whether you like bicycles, business stories, or want to read a fascinating behind the scenes look of an American icon, this book is for you.