Albert J. Fritz, former executive vice president of Schwinn bicycle
company. The man, the myth, the creator of the Sting-Ray.
Albert J. Fritz, former executive vice president of Schwinn bicycle
company. The man, the myth, the creator of the Sting-Ray.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned the convergence of the Sting Ray bike and Evel Knievel. We jumped our bikes (or often, failed to with spectacular results) off of ramps we built all the time, inspired by Evel Knievel. Every kid I knew used their Sting Rays or Sting Ray lookalikes to pretend to be Evel.
“In the early 60s, word spread from Los Angeles that kids were modifying old Schwinn frames...”
Now, the kids are learning how to download apps.
My wife and I paired down our tandem bicycle collection and sold our 1968 Stingray tandem. I believe that are listed in only the 1968 catalog, but I have seen enough of them that I suspect that they were actually produced in other years as well. It was actually not in the greatest condition, but I seem to remember still getting $1,500 for it when we put it on eBay.
The article says that people from 30 - 60 remember them, but by the time our oldest kid who is now 41 was ready for a bicycle, the banana seat Stingray was long gone, replaced by bmx bicycles.
I remember that the color was sort of a cross between burnt orange and red, it had a three-speed Shimano Click Stick and a somewhat knobby tire on the rear.
Oh, yeah... I also remember that if you dumped the thing on the wrong side after a botched jump, the die-cast gear change fulcrum that stuck out from the rear hub would break off.
Every time.
I once rode a Raleigh Chopper [small front wheel, banana seat] and did wheelies for literally miles at a time!
Best bike I ever had. Wheelies all day long, I never had a need to touch the handlebars.
It was like a two-wheeled unicycle; NOBODY was cooler than me...
HA!
Bkmk
Thanks for posting.....bflr.
Amazing they only sold 10,000 a year? I had a full size red Schwinn I got in ‘600 with big saddle baskets. It still hangs in the barn. We went all the way to Muskogee to get it for Christmas. Bicycle, motorcycle and then my pickup all were freedom machines. I could easily outrun a Stingray when they came out.
Show me your average kid today who could identify a wrench let alone modify their bike. We used to hack-saw the front wheel forks off of dead bikes and extend our front tires out a foot or so. Our dads, they'd smile and watch.
Ping for the memories
I had one in the 60s...then I got a 3 speed and 10 speed and now a 21 speed mountain bike... Schwinn bikes were great bikes...
I loved my Schwinn Suburban Cruiser in the early ‘60s. Blue. [Sigh. Memories.]
One of my brothers got a Stingray for Christmas when they first came out. For months he was the envy of his pals in the neighborhood.
I’m not sure of the year but it was around 1972-74 I got a lemon yellow Stingray for my birthday. Yellow bike, yellow grips, white banana seat. After 3 or 4 years and many wipe-outs I tore the seat up so we went to the Schwinn dealer and I got new a yellow banana seat for that birthday. I remember it being $20
We used to make jumps out of wood and bricks in the street and jump those bikes hour after hour, all part of being a kid in the 70’s.
One day I rode that bike to the bus stop to meet my friends coming home from another school. It was all down hill for probably 1/2 mile. I put 2 on the seat, 1 on the handle bars and I just straddled the bike and drove. The one friend that I couldn’t fit on the bike (or he was to smart to get on) said he walked around the corner and saw “4 kids laying in the street spread out all over.” We all had a bit of road rash but other than that we were ok, because we were kids.
Never did it again though.
I had a 20” Huffy with a Banana Seat, and my next door neighbor worked at a bicycle shop in Dayton, Oh.... My dad took me Carrollton Park on the very last day that Wright Brothers Shop was open before Henry Ford moved it up to Dearborn, MI to create his museum for the Ford Production LIne, Planes and Edison’s Shop for Electricity.
Couldn’t afford Schwinns. But I could afford Murrays. So away I went. But Schwinns were so cool.