Bookshelf

Alumni and faculty members who would like to have their books considered for this listing should contact Stacey Himmelberger, editor of Hamilton magazine. This list, which dates back to 2018, is updated periodically with books appearing alphabetically on the date of entry.

No Hands, The Rise and Fall of the Schwinn Bicycle Company, an American Institution by Judy Crown K’74 and Glenn Coleman.

November 11, 2026

Tags Kirkland College Alumna

(Business Cycles Media, 2026).

The publisher notes, “The 1950s was the era of the Black Phantom, the Schwinn Bicycle Co.’s classic balloon-tire bike with chrome fenders that gleamed when you opened the garage door. These were the years when the name Schwinn was synonymous with bicycle, and the Chicago-based family company manufactured one of every four bikes sold in America. Since its establishment in 1895, Schwinn knew the pulse of its market, repeatedly reinventing its product to capture the consumer’s imagination and bring to life so many of the designs that shaped each generation’s idea of what made a real bike: high-rise handlebars, handlebar streamers, balloon tires, and banana seats.

“In sales, too, Schwinn redefined the way the industry operated, building the smartest network of local dealerships in the business. But Schwinn grew complacent in its third and fourth generations of family management. The company missed emerging trends like BMX and mountain bikes and mishandled the many challenges of global manufacturing until tumbling into bankruptcy and takeover by an outsider.”

First published in 1996, this edition of the book coincides with a new documentary film titled No Hands, the Wild Ride of the Schwinn Bicycle Company, which premiered at the Boulder (Colo.) International Film Festival in April. This edition of the book includes a chapter with original reporting by the authors on Schwinn’s wild ride in the decades since its 1992 collapse.