The Schwinn Bicycle Co. Is an American bicycle company and a bicycling history icon. From 1948 to 1982, Schwinn pioneered its own models of cruisers, touring bikes and three-speeds, fabricating their own frames and components in-house.
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After the 'Bicycle Boom' of the 1970s, however, Schwinn's proprietary frame-building technology and heavier bikes became less economically viable in an increasingly weight-obsessed industry-resulting in millions of unique vintage and antique bikes that can be identified by their serial numbers. Dating these bikes is usually the first step toward proper appraisal of a vintage Schwinn machine.
(The Schwinn logo badge on the front of the bike, just below the handlebars.) If it is pre-head badge numbers, then you have to locate an online site for tracking Schwinn serial numbers. Many of these can be found by simply searching 'Schwinn date codes' in any search engine. Wipe dirt and oil from the serial number, if necessary, so you can read it accurately. Write it down. Call a Schwinn representative and tell her the serial number. She will be able to tell you the year the bike was made. Otherwise, you can find online databases that match Schwinn serial numbers to manufacturing dates.
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