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Overcast and Breezy He created the Ross bicycle
Woodsburgh resident transformed father’s company
Former Woodsburgh resident Sherwood B. Ross, who created the Ross Bicycle company, died on June 4 in Pembroke Pine, Fla. He was 92.
Originally Ross Galvanizing Works, founded by Ross’s father, Albert, in 1940, coated the bottom of ships and galvanized pipes. In 1946, it was renamed Chain Bike Corp. and manufactured lawn mowers, wheel chairs and bicycles. The company headquarters was in Rockaway Beach. Products were manufactured in Allentown, Pa.
The bicycles’ popularity overwhelmed the other products and the company turned to just making bikes. Ross bicycles became the third largest seller after Schwinn and Huffy. Ross made about one million bikes annually by the late 1960s and by 1985 had sold 10 million under its name.
Models included touring, cruiser, mountain, racing, wheelie and stationary exercise bicycles. In 1968, Ross created bikes that were part of what was known as the muscle bike craze. The Marlin had a console mounted stick brake. The Barracuda had a chrome twin stick shift console and the Barracuda Beast featured a sports car steering wheel.
Born in Brooklyn on April 5, 1921, Ross attended Pratt Institute and enlisted in the Marines during World War II. Shot in both legs in the Pacific, he received two Bronze Stars.
Known for lavish parties aboard his yacht at trade shows, he became company president after his father retired in 1968. Ross served as president of the Bicycle Institute of America in the early ’70s. In 1980, he bought out his sister, Ruth, and renamed the company Ross Bicycles.
Foreign manufacturers producing cheaper bikes fractured Ross’s share of the market. The company moved its bicycle production to Taiwan in 1986, but three years later declared bankruptcy. Rand Cycles bought the brand, but Ross-named bikes are no longer sold. After retirement, Ross earned a living as an expert witness, testifying in lawsuits involving bicycles, treadmills, wheelchairs and scooters.
Ross is survived by his wife, Francine; a son, Andrew, from his first marriage, to Louise Abrams; a son Randolph, and a daughter, Candace, from his second marriage, to Barbara Levy; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
