Schwinn Mountain Bike Reviews

Schwinn Mountain Bikes

The Schwinn brand is not the first thing that you think of when you are looking to buy a mountain bike. This is reasonable as Schwinn is known for the Stingray and their Beach cruiser bike. Schwinn does though manufacturer full suspension mountain bikes, and they are some of the top sellers on Amazon. Popularity does not always mean quality. So, is The Schwinn MTB worth purchasing? Read along and find out with my Schwinn mountain bike review.

Potential Bike Shortage? Covid 19

All Schwinn bikes are now manufactured in China. Covid-19 originated in China, which resulted in a major disruption of China’s manufacturing and supply chain disruption. Schwinn’s website only shows the following bikes being available for purchase: High Timber, Schwinn Mesa, and the Schwinn Amalgam (E-Mountain Bike). The rest of the bikes are sold out. I am not sure whether or not the sold-out bikes aren’t available because of Covid-19 and supply chain disruptions or Schwinn has stopped making these bikes altogether. Many of these sold-out bikes are currently available on Amazon. So, if you are interested in any sold-out MTB models, I would buy them ASAP.

Schwinn’s Most Popular Mountain Bikes

According to Schwinn, their most popular mountain bikes are the High Timber and the Mesa. A brief overview of the High Timber is shown below.

High Timber

Schwinn’s High Timber MTB is a highly rated, number two best-selling mountain bike on Amazon that came out in 2018. The High Timber comes in three options:

• Aluminum Frame
• Aluminum Frame with Disc Brake,
• Steel Frame

Schwinn High Timber-Models

Rough Price: $300+ to $450-(To find out the current price click the image at the front of this section.

Colors For All Models: Yellow, Navy Blue, Light Purple, Light Grey, Pink, Teal, Silver, Red, Orange, Coral, Black, and Blue

Summary

This is a decent bike to get you to A to B and (depending upon where you ride) it could be a decent commuter or city bike. However, you will be disappointed with it, if you want to take it off-road in rough terrain.

Other Schwinn Mountain Bikes-Likely Discontinued Or

Temporary Shortage

Schwinn sells numerous other MTB models, and the ones available on the Schwinn website are the High Timber, Protocol, Mesa, and the Amalgam. However, many other Schwinn MTB brands are available on Amazon. So, you might be able to get a decent deal on either Amazon or elsewhere if you see some of these models for sale.

• Schwinn Traxion -(Sold Out)-
• Schwinn Moab 3 -(Sold Out)-The, aluminum framed, Moab is their flagship and most expensive mountain bike as it costs more than $700.
• Schwinn Sidewinder-(Not Listed)
• Schwinn Bonafide-(Not Listed)-This, 24 speed, mountain bike features an aluminum frame with mechanical disc brakes.
• Schwinn Ranger-(Not Listed)-
• Schwinn S29 (Not Listed)
• Schwinn Protocol 1.0 (Sold Out)
• Schwinn Axum (Not Listed)

*-(Sold Out)- Indicates that they are shown as being sold out on the Schwinn website.

*-(Not Listed)-Indicates that they are not even listed on Schwinn’s website.

CONCLUSION

To many, mountain bikers, the only thing that they care about is if their bikes are good. Well, I hate to sound wishy-washy, but, the answer to this question concerning Schwinn is that “It depends.” With the Schwinn mountain bike, you are getting what you can expect to get when purchasing a mass-produced bicycle that is featured at Wall-Mart, Target, etc. which is an affordable mountain bike that will get you from A to B.

None of Schwinn’s mountain bikes are made for professional or serious hobbyists who want to go off-road on a regular basis.   This doesn’t necessarily make Schwinn MTB a bad MTB. Also, as you are paying hundreds of dollars less for their mountain bike over higher-priced brands, it is not reasonable for you to suspect them to perform as well as top-of-the-line mountain bikes that cost over $4,000. As such, your Schwinn S29 bike, for example, will not take the abuse or perform as well as a top-of-the-line MTB’s like the Diamondback Scapegoat Full-Suspension MTB that costs over 3k. But, a Schwinn mountain bike will get you where you want to go and allow you to ride over places other than paving roads.

Appendix

Schwinn Hybrid Bike

Schwinn also offers several Hybrid Bikes. However, most are sold out. As of this article, the only one available was the Collegiate. You can buy many Schwinn brand hybrid bikes through Amazon. I.E. The Schwinn Discover is listed for sale.

Schwinn History

The Schwinn Bicycle Company was initially established, in Chicago, by the German-born engineer-Ignaz Schwinn (1860-1945) 1895. Schwinn took over as the dominant manufacturer of U.S. bicycles through the 20th century. Schwinn chose to specialize in the adult road bike and they were a leading seller of beach bike cruisers. In their heyday, almost every kid wanted a Schwinn.

Being a child of the 70s and 80s, Schwinn, in my opinion, made a quality bike that was as American as Apple pie. After all, the Sting Ray was an iconic, US-made cruiser that was high quality. And, for a while, they were one of the top bicycle manufacturers in the US.

However, like many companies, they failed to evolve with the times. For example, their first mountain bike was made in 1978 by Joe Breeze, and Schwinn only became serious with Mountain bikes in 1995. Schwinn also did not take the BMX bike craze seriously.

Schwinn’s complacency resulted in them being forced to file for bankruptcy in 1993, and in 2001, Pacific Cycle purchased the Schwinn brand. Subsequently, in 2004 Pacific Cycle was acquired by the Canadian Company Dorel Industries.

Now, Schwinn bicycles are entirely manufactured in China. Schwinn’s being made in China has resulted in them being able to compete with the low-priced Chinese bikes. Additionally, Schwinn is now a mainstream brand that is featured at Walmart.

The following is a brief timeline of Schwinn Bicycle Company

1860-1891-Ignazt Schwinn was born and when upon reaching adulthood he became a machinist, where he was introduced to bicycles.

1891 Ignatz Schwinn, a trained machinist moves to the United States from Germany.

1895-For four years, Schwinn worked with several bicycle manufacturers. Schwinn met with Adolf Arnold and they set up a bicycle company that was originally called “World Bicycles.”

1949-Schwinn first started becoming mainstream with the Black Phantom, Tank Cruiser, which could be recognized by its balloon tires.

1963- The American Icon, Sting Ray Bicycle was born. The Sting Ray can be recognized by its banana seat and high-rise handlebars. It was the bike that every kid wanted in the 60s and early 70s.

1985-Swinn’s first effort to get into the mountain bike market was the Schwinn Cimmaron.

1993-Schwinn filed for bankruptcy

1995-Schwinn started the “Project Underground, which was Schwinn’s late entry into mountain bikes.

2001-Pacific Cycle bought Schwinn out of bankruptcy and now all Schwinn bicycles are made in China

2004- Dorel Industries, a Canadian company purchased Schwinn bikes.

‘2018-Schwinn offers a limited edition, Strange Things, Sting Ray named after one of the characters Mike.