When Schwinn Was King Fitness gear accounted for 25 p.c of gross sales that yr and elements and equipment accounted for one more ten p.c. "The key to getting Schwinn back was the product redesign," Chuck Ferries told the Boulder Daily Camera in May 1995. "Schwinn was not making a top-quality mountain bike. We wished to drive the corporate by way of product." Schwinn's new American-made, top-of-the-line mountain bike, the Homegrown, retailed at $1,750. The ten-year-old company produced bikes within the $2000 to $6000 vary for downhill racers and severe lovers, a market separate from that for Schwinn's Homegrown. Yeti was lured to the merger by the financial increase it might present, whereas Schwinn gained a respected name in a niche market.