New Found bike Glory: Part 2

Today, the construction continues. Picked up some used rims and some new whitewall tires. Tomorrow I will have to sandblast the rims, prime and paint them flat black. This is going to be one mean bike.
So why is all this on your business blog, you may be asking. Well, lately I've been building somewhat of an empire around the idea of preserving materials and using objects that are no longer seen as valuable or useful to the public eye. It came to my attention while riding the old sears bike that junkyards were filled with these beat-up sting-ray frames because every generation seemed to get there own new bikes. Consequently the stingray frame lost it's appeal and kids grew out of their bikes and to the junkyard went the bikes. So that brings me to:

Point A: Thousands of Sting-ray style bikes are wasting away in junkyards.


Next, I noticed the Stingray made a comeback in the form of the new Schwinn Chopper bikes. It seemed that the idea of a cruising bike was still cool to kids. Though I'm sure the new bikes were riding on the trend of Chopper Bike shows such as OCC (Orange County Choppers.) Schwinn has also restarted the production of the original stingray and krate bikes but for a hefty $350.00. I think that these remakes are appealing more to the older generations who want to relive their childhood by purchasing the bike they once owned. Finally, the beach crusier market has taken off in the US with every bike manufacture from Dyno to Pacific carrying a line of crusiers. The beach cruisers are basically replicas of vintage 26" bikes that have been slightly modified to fit a certain aesthetic.

Point B: Vintage style bikes are making a comeback in the US. and the spirit of the 60's bike is very much alive.


So the math is fairly simple and easy to see. Vintage Bikes are selling, and there are a bunch of vintage frames in the junkyards. So where is the industry missing a link?? They don't make a cruiser for kids anymore, with exception to the chopper but that got old because they weren't customizable therefore everyone had the same bike. Lame. Schwinn made the mistake of only releasing 4-6 models, which were all the same with a different paint scheme. Now that's weak. The original Sting-ray was built around the customizing culture that was flourishing in California during the 60's. The bike was made to customize. In my opinion, Schwinn really missed the boat with the chopper because it didn't stay true to the bikes original intent. Choppers are cool because they are all unique and you can make it your own; not just because they have extra long forks and fat rear tires. Today, the original intent of the stingray can be seen in the lowrider bikes that reign in so many Latin American neighborhoods. So, based on Schwinn's miss and the lowrider industry. it's clear that:

Point C: There is still a large market for customized bicycles.

So we can conclude that there is a market for vintage style bikes as well as customizable stingray style bikes and that thousands of stingray frames waste away in junkyards as we speak.