But it was too little, too late, and in the early ’00s, Schwinn got bought by Pacific. The new Schwinn put up a valiant fight through the 90’s and launched a line of covetable made-in-America MTBs. It got bought by some investors and the HQ moved to Boulder. This is after the original Schwinn went bankrupt, and the Schwinn family lost control of the enterprise. My particular Heavy Duti is from the in-between era of Schwinn history: the 1990’s. Tarik Saleh’s Boulder-era Heavy Duti, somewhere near Los Alamos. It was still up there, so I set up an appointment and went down to SE on Friday afternoon, test rode the bike, and handed over the cash. I slept on it a few days, and checked CL again. A few have come up on Craigslist over the years, but they always wanted more than I wanted to pay at the time. It was the industrial grade cruiser in the line-up, offered off-and-on over the years. While I’m totally into the idea of cycle-truck style bikes, if I got another one, it would be a more modern version.Īnd I had been interested in the Schwinn Heavy Duti for some time. At that point I considered the Worksman an albatross, too big to store securely, too heavy to ride much anywhere, and ultimately a bike I had spent too much money on. When we had the apartment in Hosford-Abernethy, I stored it outside the laundry room, and that’s when the Brooks saddle got stolen. When April and I had the apartment in Montavilla, I stored it in the laundry room, where it was okay. But man, was it heavy, and even with adding a three-speed wheel it was a beast going up hills. But moreso, I wanted an industrial style balloon tire bike, one that had a cantilever frame but not as curved as most seen out there.Īnd this is the part where, if you’ve been following this blog long enough, you go, “But wait, Shawn, didn’t you already have an industrial style balloon tire bike?” And yes, it is true, as my Worksman “Cycle Truck”, aka Low Gravity fits that bill. I just wanted a basic good ol’ balloon tire bike. Or they would have extra stuff I didn’t want, like derailleurs or tanks. Lots of department store junk or overpriced “collectibles”. And while there’s shit-tons of vintage and modern cruisers on CL, rarely do they catch my eye. A good ol’ American balloon tire bike was one, since I never really owned one before. While I never really need another bike, there is a short list of bikes that, given the cash and opportunity, I would desire. Then, on that same Sunday night, I came across the listing to undo it all: A Schwinn Heavy Duti was for sale, and just for $80. But since I wasn’t in any particular “need” for another bike, I thought I didn’t have to worry, thought I’d be safe. Most of the time, it’s the usual crap with a few diamonds in the rough. Is four stasis? I hope for now! □Īnyways, while I was selling the Rudge on Craigslist, I did something I’ve stopped myself from doing for awhile: look at Craigslist. On Sunday I got down to three bikes, a number that I hadn’t seen since right after the Big Tour. I sold the Rudge Sports on Sunday September 28 and bought a new bike on Friday October 3. “Wait Shawn, didn’t you just sell a bike? Didn’t you make noises about culling the herd and keeping everything manageable?”
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