Schwinn announced recently the reintroduction of the Schwinn Sting-Ray, first launched in 1963, and perhaps THE classic American bike. Only 900 of the special limited edition Schwinn Sting-Rays will be available for sale in four unique colors: Apple Krate, Orange Krate, Lemon Peeler, and Grey Ghost. And to celebrate the launch, Schwinn is offering Facebook fans a chance to win a Schwinn Sting-Ray of their own by voting for their favorite Schwinn Sting-Ray color on Facebook.
The Sting-Ray came about in 1962 when Schwinn designer Al Fritz figured out th0se whacky California kids were retrofitting bike with motorcycle styling, i.e., ape hanger handlebars and banana seats. Schwinn rolled out their commercial version of this style in 1963 as the Sting-Ray, and by the end of 1964, Schwinn Sting-Rays accounted for 70 percent of bike sales in the U.S. It remained in production until 1979.
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That bike reminded me of this picture. I can never understand how people get up on these seats!
http://www.campusbasement.com/syracuse/biking/pictures/3555/extreme-biking
The Schwinn Sting-Ray was not the first commercially made bike done in the “high-riser” style. This distinction goes to the Huffy “Penguin” bike, which predates the Stingray by many months. The Sting-Ray is nearly identical to the earlier “Penguin” bike in all respects, even sharing a number of components – like the tall Wald handlebars, and the Person “Solo Polo” banana seat. The Huffy “Penguin” bike was being sold in stores before the Schwinn company had its StingRay beyond the prototype stage.
Al Fritz was told about the new style bikes in early 1963, not 1962. He was in charge of new model lines for Schwinn and took the pre-existing style (pioneered by the Huffy Penguin) and got the Schwinn Co. to produce its own version to sell through its dealerships.
The Schwinn bike company had about 13% of the American market share for bicycles in the 1960’s. By the late 1960’s “high-rise” style bikes accounted for the majority of bike sales. Of these only about 10 to 13% were made by Schwinn (not 70%).