Schwinn, 1987 World Championships

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Actually, there are rules about this. The rainbow stripes are a registered trademark of the UCI, and can't be used without permission of the UCI.

For competitors, only the current World Champion can use the rainbow stripes on their bikes or other equipment.

As far as bikes for non-competitors, probably the only rule is that you canonly continue to use the rainbow stripes as long as you keep paying a licensing fee to the UCI.

Ah. I was considering the bands for a bike. Leave it to the "Professor of the Paceline" to burst my bubble. What would an infraction look like besides cynical stares from much faster riders?

[Hellgate]

I was working in a Schwinn shop in Phoenix in '88. It was next to impossible to sell any Schwinn roadbike. They were seen by customers as poorly made, heavy, overpriced bikes. I could sell Centurion and Specialized road bikes all day long.

Schwinn never outgrew the Varsity in the eyes of the buying public. Their success was ultimately their downfall.

I was at another shop in Longmont, Co in the early '90's that had Schwinn after the first bankruptcy, same stigma, nothing had changed. At that shop I sold GTs all day long.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

Ah. I was considering the bands for a bike. Leave it to the "Professor of the Paceline" to burst my bubble. What would an infraction look like besides cynical stares from much faster riders?

There is no enforcement. If you want stripes on your personal bike don't worry about a letter from the UCI's legal dept. If you were making and selling bikes wit the stripes, well then...

[Velocipede]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Actually, there are rules about this. The rainbow stripes are a registered trademark of the UCI, and can't be used without permission of the UCI.

For competitors, only the current World Champion can use the rainbow stripes on their bikes or other equipment.

As far as bikes for non-competitors, probably the only rule is that you canonly continue to use the rainbow stripes as long as you keep paying a licensing fee to the UCI.

It's also specific to the event. LeMond got chastised for wearing his 1989 Worlds Jersey when he did the 1989 Chequamegon Fat Tire race. Rohan Dennis got it for wearing his worlds jersey in the time trial of the 2019 TdF. But it was double-checked and if the Worlds winner won it in that event, they are allowed to wear it.

So while others slammed him, he was legally allowed to wear it. Worlds winners are allowed to wear the stripes on their sleeve cuffs but that's it unless it's their event. LeMond wasn't. He was kind of a test case when it happened. No one else had done it before so no one realized the rules.

Non-competitors can do whatever they want but it's frowned upon. And of course they are looked at like a Fred.

[bikser]

When I was a teen racing late 80's the Schwinn Icy Hot Team came and rode with us (I rode for a big Schwinn dealer in my home town). Vaarten was the their world champion. Nice guy as I recall.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by Hellgate

I was working in a Schwinn shop in Phoenix in '88. It was next to impossible to sell any Schwinn roadbike. They were seen by customers as poorly made, heavy, overpriced bikes. I could sell Centurion and Specialized road bikes all day long.

Schwinn never outgrew the Varsity in the eyes of the buying public. Their success was ultimately their downfall.

I was at another shop in Longmont, Co in the early '90's that had Schwinn after the first bankruptcy, same stigma, nothing had changed. At that shop I sold GTs all day long.

And that was a shame. Schwinn made world class competitive bicycles at every price point from the smallest kids bike up to the Paramount. Someone along the line needed to teach the public about Schwinn quality for real.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by Velocipede

It's also specific to the event. LeMond got chastised for wearing his 1989 Worlds Jersey when he did the 1989 Chequamegon Fat Tire race. Rohan Dennis got it for wearing his worlds jersey in the time trial of the 2019 TdF. But it was double-checked and if the Worlds winner won it in that event, they are allowed to wear it.

So while others slammed him, he was legally allowed to wear it. Worlds winners are allowed to wear the stripes on their sleeve cuffs but that's it unless it's their event. LeMond wasn't. He was kind of a test case when it happened. No one else had done it before so no one realized the rules.

Non-competitors can do whatever they want but it's frowned upon. And of course they are looked at like a Fred.

You didn't need to tell me that to lower my opinion of LeMond.

[unterhausen]

Originally Posted by bikinchris

And that was a shame. Schwinn made world class competitive bicycles at every price point from the smallest kids bike up to the Paramount.

There were some lean years. The shop I worked at was a schwinn dealer in about 1980 and they had the made-in-Japan world travelers and nothing else up to the Paramount. I think the varsity at that time cost $1000 in today's dollars, there really was no point for them to offer it. We didn't. Then they went to China and had some poorly built bikes. I think most of them went out at fire-sale prices.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by Velocipede

It's also specific to the event. LeMond got chastised for wearing his 1989 Worlds Jersey when he did the 1989 Chequamegon Fat Tire race.

This isn't quite accurate According to the Chequamegon Festival History web page, Lemond did not race the event until 1990 (when he was no longer World Road Champion). The photo on this page from the 1990 event shows him in his team jersey, which is not a World Champion jersey, although it does have the rainbow stripes on the collar (as he was allowed to wear as a former champion):



Although NORBA has just come under the UCI umbrella in 1988, the Chequamegon 40 was not a NORBA (or UCI) sanctioned event, so the UCI rules on the rainbow stripes didn't apply.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

This isn't quite accurate According to the Chequamegon Festival History web page, Lemond did not race the event until 1990 (when he was no longer World Road Champion). The photo on this page from the 1990 event shows him in his team jersey, which is not a World Champion jersey, although it does have the rainbow stripes on the collar (as he was allowed to wear as a former champion):



Although NORBA has just come under the UCI umbrella in 1988, the Chequamegon 40 was not a NORBA (or UCI) sanctioned event, so the UCI rules on the rainbow stripes didn't apply.

He won the world championship in October of 89 and wore the jersey in 90 up until October. Then after that and in the following years he would have had the rainbow bands on his team jerseys. The pic just have been after the 90 world championship race.

[Look585]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

He won the world championship in October of 89 and wore the jersey in 90 up until October. Then after that and in the following years he would have had the rainbow bands on his team jerseys. The pic just have been after the 90 world championship race.

Technically, he was entitled to wear the Arc en Ciel arm/collar bands for his entire pro career as he won the junior world road race in 1979.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by Look585

Technically, he was entitled to wear the Arc en Ciel arm/collar bands for his entire pro career as he won the junior world road race in 1979.

Well he also won the pro worlds in 1983. I don't think the Junior worlds would have given him the right as a pro.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by Black Dog

He won the world championship in October of 89 and wore the jersey in 90 up until October. Then after that and in the following years he would have had the rainbow bands on his team jerseys. The pic just have been after the 90 world championship race.

Yes, the pic would have been after the '90 world championships. But back then, the UCI road championships were held in August (August 31st, 1990, for the year in question) and the Chequamegon 40 was held in September, so this picture (and his first appearance at the Chequamegon race) would have been a few weeks after Lemond relinquished his rainbow jersey.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Yes, the pic would have been after the '90 world championships. But back then, the UCI road championships were held in August (August 31st, 1990, for the year in question) and the Chequamegon 40 was held in September, so this picture (and his first appearance at the Chequamegon race) would have been a few weeks after Lemond relinquished his rainbow jersey.

Yes, I totally forgot that the October Date for the WC race is a recent phenomenon.

[Michael Maddox]

I rode for a Schwinn shop in the late 80s, and am happy to have several examples of the Paramounts and other lightweight road bikes from this period, PLUS a Ned Overend-signature edition Paramountain.

We were lucky to be in a town where our shop was well-known and to be able to sell Schwinns, even amidst the rising tide of triathlon-specific bikes like Centurion. Several of our local riders rode Prologues during that time...even one on the funny bike edition.

I look back at those years of 1987-1989 as the best years for Paramount. The Waterford frames were, and ARE, still top-notch examples of a marque that had seen greater popularity but which was clearly waning in the onslaught of Specialized and other brands. My Schwinns are still loved and ridden...even the 1987 50th Anniversary edition Paramount. I even just spent a bundle having my 1988 Premis repainted....an amount far exceeding its actual worth.

While we've gained an awful lot, these are still things we've lost.