Arnold, Schwinn & Company was incorporated in Chicago, USA in October 1895 by Adolph Arnold (a wealthy meat packer) and Ignaz Schwinn. The launch of the new company coincided with the bicycle craze and they very quickly became a major player in US bicycle manufacturing. By the turn of the century there were thirty factories producing bicycles in Chicago, but the craze was short lived. Over the years, as bicycle sales declined, Schwinn bought up much of their competition and by 1950 was established as the pre-eminent brand in North America. It remains by far the most well known American bicycle manufacturer. Many of their older models are highly collectible and sought after.
The Black Phantom was produced in 1949. In 1950 there were three colour schemes available – black, green and red – but these were called only ‘Phantom’ not ‘Black Phantom’. The Black Phantom was the first one. Rare and exclusive, to this day original Black Phantoms are among the most desirable and collectible of all of Schwinn’s 100 years of production.
Schwinn were justifiably proud of their long history. When the company decided to release a limited edition replica of an historically important model to celebrate their Centenary in 1995 the legendary Black Phantom was the obvious choice. They planned to make 5000 of them. In the end they produced no more than 3000 and perhaps fewer than 2000, almost all of which quickly disappeared into the hermetically sealed garages of private collectors where they remain in their un-opened boxes. They retailed for $3000 a pop.
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to purchase what I’m pretty sure is the only example in the UK, and possibly the whole of Europe (it didn’t cost me $3000 I hasten to add!).
The attention to detail is quite extraordinary – the closer you look the more it becomes clear that this is a bike made by people who had enormous respect for Schwinn’s heritage and for the original bike. In 1995 Schwinn still owned the factory which made the original bikes and the factory still contained almost all of the original machinery and tooling. So to make the reproduction they were able to use the actual machines which originally turned it out. Everything about the bike, from the fillet brazed frame to the tyres was as authentic as it is possible to be. It is a blue-printed original. The only part they couldn’t remake exactly as the original was the (incorporating a steering lock) fork crown. The equipment no longer existed so they couldn’t cast it as per the original. So they made it better – exactly the same shape but a stronger process. I’ve taken the tank, chain guard and fenders off mine. For safekeeping, though they do find their way back on for special occasions. And I’ve swapped out the knee busting original steel chainring for a lightweight, and stunning, Profile Racing Imperial. The tyres change with the wind and my whim- wide whites, cinder-block black walls, Dyno ‘Flames’ or Tioga dirt tyres. I dyed the saddle black. I don’t do brown.
For ninety seven years the company was headed by someone with the surname Schwinn and the companies’ place at the top the hierarchy of US bicycle manufacturers seemed assured. Until that is, they were faced with the tsunami of good quality inexpensive bikes which arrived from the Far East propelled by consumer demand for mountain bikes. The mid nineties was a hard time for Schwinn. The companies’ factories, machines, production line processes and tooling had suffered from a severe lack of investment and the company simply couldn’t adapt quickly enough to compete in this new world. Within a very few years Schwinn floundered and the name is now owned by one of the very Taiwanese companies which drove them out of business.
By sad coincidence (irony #1) the Schwinn Black Phantom Anniversary, the bike built to celebrate 100 years of production became the very last bike Schwinn made in the USA.
My bike is a memorial to the rise and fall of Arnold, Schwinn and Co. the greatest American bicycle manufacturer that ever was. They went out of business because they failed to modernise their factories but it was only the existence of those outdated vintage manufacturing machines which made production of the ‘Anniversary’ possible. (irony #2)
The last beautiful hurrah of legendary company put out of business by the rise of the mountain bike. Which was, ironically, a craze started by people riding down Californian mountains on old Schwinns! (irony #3)
And they say Americans don’t ‘do’ irony.
I think of all those unfortunate collected Schwinn Black Phantom Anniversaries asleep in the darkness of their original unopened shipping boxes. Commodities accruing value. Well let me tell you, my Anniversary isn’t a commodity. It is a bicycle. I love it, and so I ride it. When the weather is good I ride it a lot. Because it is a bicycle and bicycles are for riding not for hiding away.
I think it’s what Ignaz would want.
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