The Schwinn Bicycle Company was founded by Ignaz Schwinn in Chicago in 1895 and became the dominant manufacturer of American bicycles through most of the 20th century. The company's rise and fall in fortunes over its lifetime has been widely used to illustrate the issues faced by entrenched companies in a dynamic and changing marketing environment. History Founding of Schwinn Ignaz Schwinn was born in Hardheim, Germany in 1860 and worked on two-wheeled ancestors of the modern bicycle that appea… (More on Schwinn)