General Cycling Discussion - Does anyone remember.........

your first bike?
I do. I was in the second grade. my father got one for me and my brother, they came from Toy's R' us. It was orange with a banana seat and ape hanger bars. I cannot howevwer remember whatever happened to it.

I was five when I got my first bike. It was blue, coaster brakes, a bike my older sister had out grown. When I out grew it my parents sold it.

An old beater schwinn single speed I got from my cousin. one of the pedals had the cage broken off so only the spindle remained.

I was 8...I had learned to ride on a cousins bike. I was bored at school and making very bad grades.
My father said that if I brought my grades up he would buy me a brand new bike. Of course now with a reason the grades went up.
We went down to the B.F. Goodrich store and bought a bike for $80 . It looked so good in the store, all bright and shiny. But after I got it I hated the bike, it was so big and heavy, and so hard to climb hills with.

The bike was a brand new 1956 Schwinn Black Phantom.

First bike?...I think the year was 1980 and the day was a cold February morning. It was my birthday. Out in the living room stood a shiny new red and yellow Schwinn Stingray. I promptly brought the bike outdoors and went for my first Ice-Bike ride. Steele-Bike the Ice-Biker had been born.

I recall the bike was given away a number of years later during an out of state move. I wonder what those are worth now?

My first bike was a Supercycle from Canadian Tire, I think I was 5.

My Dad and I went to the store, and picked it up from the disribution centre right beside his work.

We put it together, ok I watched him, in the basement, and he promptly threw out the training wheels.

The neighbors son taught me to ride... by pushing me down a a hill. It worked, no harm, but I've been crashing ever since.

It was a Huffy!!!! it was Red with gray shark teeth. I rode it, I loved it, I broke my jaw falling off of it..I still have the picture of me on it just after I got it for my 5th birthday.

Mine was a blue single speed and coaster brake cruiser made by Columbia. I think I was 5 or 6 at the time.

Red and white columbia 26 in wheel with
cut 2x4 on the pedals so I could reach em.

Mine was from a second hand store, with probably 20" wheels, solid tires, coaster brakes, no training wheels.

My Mom & Dad taught me to ride one evening by pushing me down the street, and I've been riding ever since. My second bike was a supercycle from Canadian Tire.

It was a Colson with 20inch wheels and US Royal tires with figure 8 tread pattern. Seems like it had a double top tube without a horn tank if my memory serves me.

Geez, that was a long time ago, 1947 I beleive. I would have been about 5 years old.

It was a full-sized blue singlespeed, and I couldn't reach the pedals from the seat, so I learned to ride standing up. I seem to recall training wheels, and remember that I couldn't get the hang of the coaster brake, and ruined my shoes by dragging my feet to stop, Flintstone-style.

Ah, a Schwinn Mini Scrambler. Got it for Christmas in 1975 and I still have it.

My first bike was a mid-to-late 1950s two-speed black Schwinn middleweight with "paperboy" handlebars and 26 x 1.75" tyres. Since I lived at the top end of a two-mile-long canyon road, it did not take me long to discover that I really wanted more gear ratios.

Six months later, I got a 1962 Bianchi Corsa road bike. It was Bianchi's answer to the Schwinn Varsity, with 26" steel rims, half-step Huret Allvit gearing, and Universal sidepull brakes.

I vaguely remember Mom saying something about my being too young and my Dad replying that I was already riding bikes anyway, why not? All I know for sure is the green single speed bike I got on my birthday. Man, it was too big for me, but it was mine, and I got a thrill just being able to ride it!

Next came a Schwinn Collegiate 5-speed (heavy but "cool,") then years later I bought my own first bike here in Atlanta after graduating high school: another Schwinn, a Traveller III 10-speed, only about $160 (1978-ish.)

Mine was a used late 40's Schwinn and it weighed a ton (got it in the early 60's) My folks bought it from Goodwill and painted it gave it to me for christmas. Like Inkwolf I had a tough time with the brakes my mom could not figure out why I kept wearing out the soles of my shoes. Years later when I told her she nearly died laughing :D

Mine was a hand me down 1968 Columbia Playbike. It was a kind of metalflake orange with a brown banana seat. As it was the 80's I swapped out the apehangers for a BMX handlebar. I broke a tooth on the blasted thing but then again, I also had to have the frame rewelded a couple times, so I guess the bike and I were even

The first one I can remember was a black Schwinn with a 3-speed Sturmey-Archer shifter. Wish I still had it. I let a girl ride it. She didn't know what hand brakes were. Crumpled the bike to bits. (Crumpled her pretty good too.)

I don't remember the brand I got. My dad bought it for me used. It was a heavy steel coaster brake bike. My dad spray painted it yellow and used colored electrical tape to "customize" it. Rode the heck out of it. Come to think of it, I don't remember training wheels. Hmmm, I must've learned on one of my sisters bikes, but I have absolutely no recollection of learning how to ride.

The neighborhood bully stole it and thrashed it. After that I got a string of Huffy's and Murrays from JCPenny or Sears until I was in 6th grade and I got my first "bike shop" bike. It was an Ashtabulah BMX bike. Heavy Steel bike with gussets at every tube junction.

L8R

I got my first bike when I was nine, my mom finally had enough money to buy my brother and I bikes for christmas. It was a pink and white Huffy Desert Rose. I loved that bike and was so sad when I out grew it. My Mom says my Uncle had a hell of a time putting it together, and worried his cussing would wake me up on Christmas Eve.:D

My first bike...

I don't remember that much, except I received it for Christmas the first year after we moved to Trois-Rivières. So I must have turned 5. We had moved to Trois-Rivières the previous summer, and it was a good thing, as when we lived in Québec City, we had an appartment in a hilly street... which is not exactly good for tricycling or single-speed bicycling. BTW, I revisited the area recently, and the hill is long, but has a 3% grade.
The bike was gold, had training wheels. I can't remember whether it had 16" or 20" wheels, but it was a unisex frame. I kept training wheels for 2 full summers, until a neighbouring young adult (18-19 y.o) spent 2 or 3 days to train me to ride without them.

I do remember more vividly my second bike, a dark red Raleigh Robin Hood: single speed, with 24" wheels. I must have got it when I was 9 or 10.

Regards,

My first bike was a red something?? Don't remember the brand. I got it for Christmas when I was 5 years old. My folks got divorced about a year later and I don't remember what happened to it. :(

My first bike that I purchased with my own money was a red 3-speed "English racer". I guess kids like red bikes :D . I got at Montgomery Ward. I was about 13 years old. Bought it with money I earned from my paper route. Rode it almost every day for about 2 years :love: . Then we moved from St. Louis to Olympia, Washington and my folks said they weren't taking it so I sold it to a friend. :(

I got my first at about 5 years of age, too. It was a maroon coloured "Majestic", I think it was an English bike. My childhood was ruined because this bike had white tires and I could not leave skid marks on the sidewalk like all my friends could.:D
I don't remember having training wheels, so I guess they weren't on the bike for long. I also had a "racoon tail" on it for a while (don't know if it was real or fake)

When I was 5 Santa brought me a 20 incher with training wheels. What a rush! After a few months we took the training wheels off and the teenage girls next door taught me to ride without them. Just about that time they started tearing up our street for complete rebuilding, not just re-surfacing. Then we moved to another city where we lived on a main highway so my mom wouldn't let me ride much at all. Within a year we moved again, this time to a huge new subdivision in the suburbs with little traffic so I really went to town. Although I remember riding it a lot I don't remember many details about that bike.

My first Bike was yellow with the Banana seat and those Grape Ape Bars. I do remember getting my First Ten speed when I was about 9. I pleaded for my dad to buy it at this garage sale. When I got it home I remember it was ugly grey. But I had plans for this bike! I went and bought a couple cans of Spray Paint and went to work. The rage back then was each component would have Different colors, So I painted the Frame Red, Wheels turned into Gold, Seat post was Blue, and So on, I was so proud of that bike I rode that thing even into High school (hated riding the bus). Next time I talk to him I'll have to tell him that was one of the best investments he made in me ( Other than College ). Cause I'm still riding now! :beer: Here's to You Dad...:beer:

I think I was about 5 when I got my 3-speed blue banana seat something-or-other, followed a couple years later by a blue, banana seat 5-speed Huffy (with a huge, car style shifter on the top tube...yowch!). But the first bike I really remember with fondness was a red Sears 10-speed I got for Christmas, probably 6th or 7th grade. I remember going out on a snowy day and riding laps up and down the street, trying to find just where the traction ended. I guess I should be doing criteriums or cyclocross now! As I think about it, it sure was nice to not know or care about cycling clothes, components, and heart rate monitors.

It was a red Schwinn Sting Ray with a silver banana seat, the Easy Rider handle bars, and a slick rear tire. COOL! Very cooool.
Of course I painted it blue and trashed it jumping over stuff on home made ramps. Wish I had it in mint condition now.:(

East German single speed 24" with an 'original' Sachs coaster brake (the factory was in the east). It had 'Made in Germany' written on it (i.e. it was pre-wall).

It had been run over by a tractor and broken in two, then braze welded back together. It lasted for about 18 months and then fell apart in two pieces. This was in 1984.

You'll find pictures of a lot of these old rides in our Vintage Bicycle Picture Database. (over 600 pictures and counting)
It's amazing to see how much style (and weight) went into these old bicycles.

-Vin
Menotomy Vintage Bicycles, Inc.
http://OldRoads.com

I got my first bike when I was nine, my mom finally had enough money to buy my brother and I bikes for christmas. It was a pink and white Huffy Desert Rose. I loved that bike and was so sad when I out grew it. My Mom says my Uncle had a hell of a time putting it together, and worried his cussing would wake me up on Christmas Eve.:D


ROFL I just picked one up today! September 7, 2005 A Huffy Desert Rose girl's bike!

Does it bring you back?
http://tinypic.com/dgjigl.jpg

Black heavy single speed Schwinn... got it in the early 60s. Rode it everywhere.

First "10 speed" was a Nishiki International in the mid 70s... Rode it everywhere. Was simply amazed at the smooth feeling of hard tires on smooth pavement... "smooth as glass" feeling.

My first bike was some 5 speed huffy. It was Neon Yellow. I got it for christmas when I was 7. That's about all I remember.

My first bike in 1947 was a Hercules. It was built in the 1930s and was passed down to me from my elder brother. It had stirrup brakes operated by rods and bellcranks from the handle bar levers. It was a bit big for me so I could only start and stop if I had a curb next to me to put my foot down.

The first time on a bike that I can remember was on a wooden seat facing backwards on the back of my mother's bike. I was 3 yrs old. We were going on the bridge over the river in Totnes, S Devon and my brother and sister were running along behind.

Anybody remember the Huffy Sigma? Not my first bike, but one of my firsts. Gray with big white discs on the wheels. It was truly the bee's knees.

First bike was blue and white 26" wheels, fenders, front brake, front spring, and single speed coaster hub. Not sure of the brand. But from 1954 to 1959, I rode that thing everywhere, including out in the Arizona desert. Delivered papers on it and went out on a couple of camping trips, carrying gear in the paper bags. Think I got hooked on riding about then. Also used to play street polo on bikes and a croquet set. Learned to tolerate road crash from that.

sun

Mine was a red Raleigh, can't remember much about it apart from its stabilisers.