It was a girls bike. A JC Higgins with balloon tires, steer horn flat handle bars, and leather saddle with springs. I rode it until a crank arm came loose and fell off the crank.
What bicycle(s) did you have as a kid?
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Hand-me downs and a cool New Raleigh Chopper, Lime Green 3 speed Sturmey Archer hub.
Never shoulda sold it yet the siren call of the Dodge Dart sealed the deal.
Never shoulda sold it yet the siren call of the Dodge Dart sealed the deal.
Cool topic! So many good memories. I always had a bunch of bikes. Usually I'd have one good one and a few cobbled together anf heavily modified contraptions that were used for stunts and all sorts of mischief. I equipped one bike with the suspension fork of a moped! When I was 12 I had a used but very nice Schauff highriser with every option from bulb horn to wheel driven bell to hub dynamo to fluffy tail. For my 13th birthday I got a 10-speed Motobecane racing bike that lasted me a few years, then a screaming yellow Canondale MTB. Nowadays I ride Specialized and Gary Fisher ATB's.
- Custom built bike - banana seat and sturmey archer rear hub
- Raleigh single speed
- Purple Pugeot 10 speed
- 2 specialized stump jumpers
- 2 Kuwahara's (one KN Trials bike I still have)
- Raleigh single speed
- Purple Pugeot 10 speed
- 2 specialized stump jumpers
- 2 Kuwahara's (one KN Trials bike I still have)
A Schwinn Stingray, didn't last too long. The a Yamaha Moto-Bike, broke at the headtube-downtube junction. A Kuwahara BMX then a PK Ripper!
My bikes were always garage sale specials. Once I stated buying my own I became fond of specialized.
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Originally Posted By: Taildragger
A Kuwahara BMX
I forgot about those! I remember a bmx mag from the early 80s (I still have it actually,maybe called BMX Plus?) and it has a Kuwahara ad. A chrome plated frame with all red anodized alloy parts. I never saw one in person though. Seemed like they were kind've rare. I remember a few other brands that seemed really rare,Cook Bros,CW Racing,and Bear.
A Kuwahara BMX
I forgot about those! I remember a bmx mag from the early 80s (I still have it actually,maybe called BMX Plus?) and it has a Kuwahara ad. A chrome plated frame with all red anodized alloy parts. I never saw one in person though. Seemed like they were kind've rare. I remember a few other brands that seemed really rare,Cook Bros,CW Racing,and Bear.
Kestas
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I had a 3-speed german bike growing up. As I started high school I started getting into bicycles and group riding. I got myself a Schwinn Continental. Then later, a Raleigh Rampar, which I ride to this day.
Started on a JC Higgins single speed, Schwinn Collegiate, 1976 Schwinn Continental (I still have it) and Motobecane Super Mirage from 1978 (still have it). I'm riding a Giant Yukon (2006) hardtail mountain bike I just fixed up to be more comfortable for my bad back.
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
Started on a JC Higgins single speed, Schwinn Collegiate, 1976 Schwinn Continental (I still have it) and Motobecane Super Mirage from 1978 (still have it). I'm riding a Giant Yukon (2006) hardtail mountain bike I just fixed up to be more comfortable for my bad back.
A friend of mine has back and arm/elbow problems. He is happy with a recumbent tadpole. However, he needs that silly pole and day-glo safety flag.
Started on a JC Higgins single speed, Schwinn Collegiate, 1976 Schwinn Continental (I still have it) and Motobecane Super Mirage from 1978 (still have it). I'm riding a Giant Yukon (2006) hardtail mountain bike I just fixed up to be more comfortable for my bad back.
A friend of mine has back and arm/elbow problems. He is happy with a recumbent tadpole. However, he needs that silly pole and day-glo safety flag.
Originally Posted By: BRZED
A friend of mine has back and arm/elbow problems. He is happy with a recumbent tadpole. However, he needs that silly pole and day-glo safety flag.
oilBabe and I were talking on Saturday and she said she might ride more if she had a recumbent. She'll do 10-18 miles with me/group on a Saturday morning, but doesn't relish the idea of a longer ride. It's not that her bike is really uncomfortable, she just doesn't ride frequently enough to build the endurance. She has a Giant Cypress that is well fitted to her. She won't buy into the thinking that a narrower seat may be more comfortable. She replaced the factory seat with a very wide Schwinn offering.
She says she rides, not because she loves cycling, but because she loves me.
A friend of mine has back and arm/elbow problems. He is happy with a recumbent tadpole. However, he needs that silly pole and day-glo safety flag.
oilBabe and I were talking on Saturday and she said she might ride more if she had a recumbent. She'll do 10-18 miles with me/group on a Saturday morning, but doesn't relish the idea of a longer ride. It's not that her bike is really uncomfortable, she just doesn't ride frequently enough to build the endurance. She has a Giant Cypress that is well fitted to her. She won't buy into the thinking that a narrower seat may be more comfortable. She replaced the factory seat with a very wide Schwinn offering.
She says she rides, not because she loves cycling, but because she loves me.
I had a Stingray back in the very early seventies. Big 'ol sissy bar, banana seat, those silly ape hanger handle bars. We used to collect STP stickers and put them on the chrome fender over the back wheel. Lots of fun back then just riding around my neighborhood.
By the mid seventies I needed a bike that could go fast, had gears, was light, and could be ridden long distances. I worked all summer mowing lawns and was able to buy my first ten-speed. It was a [censored] Sears model that was about $70 back then. That was a lot of money for a kid to come up with. With that bike I learned how much I loved riding for miles...away from my parents and out in the countryside.....gave me a feeling of independence that I've never really enjoyed as much since.
Good memories.
By the mid seventies I needed a bike that could go fast, had gears, was light, and could be ridden long distances. I worked all summer mowing lawns and was able to buy my first ten-speed. It was a [censored] Sears model that was about $70 back then. That was a lot of money for a kid to come up with. With that bike I learned how much I loved riding for miles...away from my parents and out in the countryside.....gave me a feeling of independence that I've never really enjoyed as much since.
Good memories.
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Originally Posted By: andrewg
I had a Stingray back in the very early seventies. Big 'ol sissy bar, banana seat, those silly ape hanger handle bars. We used to collect STP stickers and put them on the chrome fender over the back wheel. Lots of fun back then just riding around my neighborhood.
By the mid seventies I needed a bike that could go fast, had gears, was light, and could be ridden long distances. I worked all summer mowing lawns and was able to buy my first ten-speed. It was a [censored] Sears model that was about $70 back then. That was a lot of money for a kid to come up with. With that bike I learned how much I loved riding for miles...away from my parents and out in the countryside.....gave me a feeling of independence that I've never really enjoyed as much since.
Good memories.
Schwinn Stingray! That was my very first bike as a little kid my grandparents bought me that I leaned to ride on. Mid 1970s. It was red with silver decals,banana seat,sissy bar,ape hangers,the works!! I remember going to the huge mom and pop toy store that also sold bikes and sporting goods,and after lots of begging my parents,they bought me this triple tone horn and this thing called Raw Power that attached to one of the grips and made engine rev up noises
Best times ever!!
I had a Stingray back in the very early seventies. Big 'ol sissy bar, banana seat, those silly ape hanger handle bars. We used to collect STP stickers and put them on the chrome fender over the back wheel. Lots of fun back then just riding around my neighborhood.
By the mid seventies I needed a bike that could go fast, had gears, was light, and could be ridden long distances. I worked all summer mowing lawns and was able to buy my first ten-speed. It was a [censored] Sears model that was about $70 back then. That was a lot of money for a kid to come up with. With that bike I learned how much I loved riding for miles...away from my parents and out in the countryside.....gave me a feeling of independence that I've never really enjoyed as much since.
Good memories.
Schwinn Stingray! That was my very first bike as a little kid my grandparents bought me that I leaned to ride on. Mid 1970s. It was red with silver decals,banana seat,sissy bar,ape hangers,the works!! I remember going to the huge mom and pop toy store that also sold bikes and sporting goods,and after lots of begging my parents,they bought me this triple tone horn and this thing called Raw Power that attached to one of the grips and made engine rev up noises
Due to being somewhat poor, my first bike at around age 5 or 6 was a used, yellow girls' bike with a white basket on the front. It might be my mom got it free. When you're 5 years old, usually you aren't brainwashed/peer-pressured into caring about gender specific bicycles yet.
My second one was a boys' bike in blue, with black handlebars and BMX-style pads on it.
Yeah, I still had training wheels in the second picture there, but I was able to shed them not too long after that.
My second one was a boys' bike in blue, with black handlebars and BMX-style pads on it.
Yeah, I still had training wheels in the second picture there, but I was able to shed them not too long after that.
My parents bought me a Roadmaster with 12" tires before I turned 3. I lived on a bike for about a decade. I had an assortment of better end the cheaper bike lines, Roadmaster, Murray. One quick one was a 20" Murray Whiplash with 6 speed grip shift, great bike for racing. My last kid bike was an Army Green Dyno Comp that I rode until I got my license. I still have it.
Now I ride a 1972 Raleigh International that is in excellent original condition.
Now I ride a 1972 Raleigh International that is in excellent original condition.
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