In the 1950s, Schwinn began to aggressively cultivate bicycle retailers, persuading them to sell Schwinns as their predominant, if not exclusive brand. During this period, bicycle sales enjoyed relatively slow growth, with the bulk of sales going to youth models. In 1900, during the height of the first bicycle boom, annual United States sales by all bicycle manufacturers had briefly topped one million.
“Nice to ride, easy to assemble and make adjustments.” — Mark S.“Great ride! Love my Schwinn….Easy to assemble and charge the battery.” — Stephen G. Although it has an aluminum frame, it weighs in at just over 66 pounds. Maybe that’s not such a big deal, but much of the weight is carried high in the frame. My first impression was that the bike felt unwieldy, like I was carrying a bocce set on the rack behind me.
The LED controls are nice, but also missing some functionality. I mostly used the motor in pedal-assist mode, though I will cover the throttle in the next section. The motor on this bike is very aggressive in that is starts up quickly with even the slightest movement of the pedal, and it goes hard. When riding with level 5 assistance my pedals were free-spinning most of the time even on the highest schwinn ebike gear.
The 100 levels of magnetic resistance are controlled by a knob below the handlebar on the bike’s mainframe. Schwinn is a big player in the home fitness market, and the IC4 is the top-of-the-line model in their range of indoor cycling bikes. In addition to its sturdy build, 40 lb weighted flywheel, and 100 levels of magnetic resistance, it is a smart bike with connected features. With more and more people exercising from home and latching onto the interactive at-home studio and virtual cycling trend, this was a compelling model worthy of testing. We found the IC4 to provide an excellent workout, a high level of comfort, and functionality with popular apps like Zwift, Peloton, and JRNY (it comes with a 1-year JRNY membership).
All three of the new Schwinn ebike models have step-thru and standover versions, 20mph speed limit and 250-watt brushless geared hub drive motor. It’s easy to ride the Marshall for hours at a time. The riding position is comfortably upright but still able to lean into things off-road. It still lets you stand if you’re trying to get up a particularly steep part of a hill or over a rough section on the trail.
I confess I have never heard of most of the companies selling e-bikes these days. There was a certain comfort level right from the start about dealing with a brand I knew and trusted. I live in an oceanside condo community in Florida, which is very nice or will be, at least, until the seas rise and reclaim Florida’s barrier islands once more. All of Florida has been underwater before and will be again, although hopefully not in my lifetime.