2013: A Bicycle Industry Legend Completes His Life’s Journey

May 7, 2013

Al Fritz, who launched a line of hugely popular and influential bicycles, died in Barrington, Illinois, at the age of 88. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Fritz returned to his hometown Chicago and began his longtime employment with the Schwinn Bicycle Company.  He started out as a grinder and eventually landed a job as secretary to Frank W. Schwinn, the head of the company and the son of its founder. 

Fritz continued to rise through the company’s ranks, becoming vice president for engineering, research and development. It was in that role that Fritz introduced a new type of bicycle called the Sting-Ray, which resulted from a trip that he made to Southern California to investigate a new street fad. It seems that children were obtaining 20-inch bicycle frames and refitting them with long, curved handlebars and banana seats. Fritz, grasping the mass-market potential for bicycles like that, built a prototype to show to his colleagues at Schwinn. He came up with the name “Sting-Ray” because the handlebars reminded him of the fins of a stingray when that marine animal is swimming. 

Fritz managed to convince colleagues of this bicycle’s potential and the first run of Sting-Rays was manufactured in 1963. Millions of the bicycles were sold, with the initial market consisting of young Baby Boomers. More than 25 versions of the Sting-Ray were created, and the colors of the bicycles ranged from Flamboyant Lime to Radiant Coppertone. (The accompanying photo features a 1968 Sting-Ray Orange Kate 5-Speed.) Captain Kangaroo promoted Sting-Rays on his TV show, and a number of other bicycle manufacturers produced similar models.

Over time, Sting-Ray frames were adopted for use in what became today’s BMX racing bikes. Fritz was even inducted into the BMX Hall of Fame in 2010 for his significant if unintended contribution to the sport.

Photo Credit: Nels P. Olsen (https://www.flickr.com/people/7776581@N04/) – licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

For more information on Al Fritz, please check out https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-al-fritz-20130510-story.html