For many, the word “Klunker” connotes a large, heavy, massive, and somewhat clumsy item. The “Klunker” was actually a bicycle model created by the Schwinn company in the late 1970s to respond to the desire for the off-road bike or “mountain biking.”
Schwinn has a history of developing strong, heavy, and long-lasting bicycles. The history of the Schwinn company dates back to just before the early 1900s, in Chicago. The center of the bicycle universe was there, and there were more than 30 bicycle manufacturers making approximately one million bicycles a year between 1900 and 1905. Unfortunately for them, the automobile was becoming more popular as were motorcycles. There was a sharp drop in bicycle sales until 1910.
Although many bicycle manufacturers went out of business, some survived, including Schwinn. In the 1930s, Schwinn designed a bicycle that deliberately resembled the popular motorcycle. It had a steel frame, steel wheels, and huge inflated tires. It was tough and built to last, and those features were more important than being lightweight at the time.
Schwinn continued to make steel bicycles, although Europe and Japan began experimenting with light metals in their designs. In the 1970s in California, children began modifying the Schwinn Sting Ray bicycle and began off-road racing. This style of off-road cycling became known as “Mountain Bike” and the equipment used was called “Mountain Bikes”. Schwinn modified one of his Sting Ray bikes by adding a 5-speed shifter and nicknamed it the “Klunker.” Due to its swollen wheels and heavy steel frame, the Klunker became synonymous with heavy and clumsy objects.
European and Japanese bicycle manufacturers also modified their lightweight bikes to meet the new craze for off-road bikes. Schwinn thought it was going to be a fad and at first ignored the market. When freestyle bike tricks, known as BMX, became popular, Schwinn called them “unsafe” and “dangerous” behavior. Both mountain bikes and BMXs are here to stay, and Schwinn began adapting late to capture most of the increase in bike sales throughout the 1970s.
Today, the Schwinn bike is remembered for the Sting Ray and the durable, well-built bikes of the 1950s and 1960s. The younger generation has a different view of Schwinn and hardly recognizes the name at all. The “Klunker” is no longer known as a word associated with the bicycle manufacturer. It is a term that the older generation can easily identify and that the younger generation has never used.
Schwinn filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and its name and assets were bought by other bicycle manufacturers. Unfortunately, the quality and enduring attributes associated with that name no longer have any meaning in the cycling world, today.
