General Cycling Discussion - 3rd Try - "Fess up - do you have a Huffy in your Family Tree?"

First two threads accidentally deleted - please vote again.

Do you have a Huffy or other *Mart/Department Store/Target, etc., bike somewhere in your hidden past.

Or, perhaps, you have one currently???

Fess up, now.

(These threads and poll were deleted in an attempt to correct my previous error)

I had a murray bmx when I was 10. I think that's on par with huffy

Nope, never have. When i was a kid my father owned a Ski/Bike shop so i never had the juxury of a huffy :P

Before I was earning my own income, my parents bought me my bikes and as such I shared my youth with bikes from Columbia, Roadmaster and Huffy. I can say two positive things about them:

[1] I learned the importance (and sometimes difficulty) of maintenance and upkeep of my equipment.

[2] I learned to appreciate the advantages of higher quality components.

The first bike I actually purchased with my own money was a 1987 Specialized HardRock.

I had two from Sears: a bmx and then a Free Spirit ten-speed. Great kid's bikes.

Thankfully I never had any. But once came close to buying one.

Murray branded Target Mountain Bike.

Rode (nowhere NEAR a trail) it a few times back in 94/95 before giving it to a homeless person.

I had an old Sears BMX as a kid.

My father rebuilt a old Sears Womans 10 speed, and welded a bar to make it resemble a mens bike. He did a professional job as he used to do this kind of thing as a hobby.. It got me started riding a road bike... I received this bike when I was 11 years old, rode it for 3 years, bought a Schwinn Prelude from a LBS. Now I ride a 2002 K2Mod 4 . So that old dept store bike got me started.. was over 20 yrs ago..

I have a Huffy (well, what's left of one) in the bed of my truck right now. I am in the process of "relieving it" of the cables and bearings and a few other things before it hits the grave yard. When you are poor, you learn to improvise.

Rode many miles on a Huffy Santa Fe 10 speed in the early to mid 80s.

DnvrFox,

Does my Serotta count? The old 7-Eleven team rode Serottas re-badged as "Huffy".

I delivered alot of newspapers on a Huffy single speed in my youth. I put a heavier grade 'gooseneck' on it with highrise handlebars and hooks for the paperbag. The headlight that was mounted on the toptube didn't last a day but the bike went through hell for years.
Then a Huffy mountainbike got me back into cycling as an adult so Huffys A OK with me
:thumbup:

I never had a Huffy, but I did have a Columbia,
red and white and too big for me. I learned to ride
on that one.
Seeing as I deleted the other 2 threads I guess
I have to get a huffy as penance.
(lotek mumbling to himself) Hmmmn wonder
if I can get one of those Serottas rebadged as Huffy?
hey wait, I have a Serotta, I can repaint it. . . I know
what those 7-11 team bikes looked like. . . yeah
that will work!

Marty

My first touring/commuting/everyday bike was a Huffy 15 speed. Rode it for several years and put many many almost trouble free miles on it.

I am riding the Moxie MTB that I got ~ 6 years ago in addition to my old green Sental Horizon. I think yo'all consider it an x-mart type.

Joe

Sorry it's Motive

Joe

first bike was a pink girls bike (from salvation army, we were poor) second bike was a huffy bmx when i was 8 or 9 (10 bucks used). got my giant boulder when i was 12 (200 bucks at bike shop).

Originally posted by SteveE
DnvrFox,

Does my Serotta count? The old 7-Eleven team rode Serottas re-badged as "Huffy".

I owned one of those... purchased from Alex Stedia. Got some pretty weird looks from people who didn't get the 7-11 connection. It did attract some attention when I went down to the US for some racing.

I have a Huffy "Blade" Mountain bike gathering dust out in the shop. When used for what it is designed(?) it breaks everytime. It will not handle off roading period. I will occasionally clean it up and ride it in winter when there is ice on the roads or road salt for that matter, just to keep the old body in tune.
I ride a KLEIN Quantum the rest of the year and its real hard to go back to the Huffy.

Jim

When I lived in Canada when I was young, I had a CCM Targa, does that count?

Parents bought me a "musclebike" in the very early 70s called a "Cheater Slick" which I'm pretty sure was a Huffy derivative. Cool bike though; yellow/black with a banana seat. A little later I appropriated my father's bike, a Huffy version of the English 3 speed, to deliver an afternoon paper route.

The 3 speed was a Sturmey Archer hub and it worked pretty well. The Huffy built frontwheel eventually tacoed. I think I tried to convert the musclebike into a BMXer when that became popular. Not sure what happened to it, think parents eventually got rid of what was left of it.

My commuter bike is a 10-speed huffy road bike, if you could call it a road bike. It has the 1 3/8 inch wide slicks for tires and weighs in at over 40lbs when empty. I like it for the training. When I switch to my Cannondale road bike, I feel like I'm incredibly fast.

I also have a mountain bike from Walmart. I bought it for getting around campus a few years ago. In fact, in the 3 years I've owned it, I have only had to replace the bottom bracket and the rubber for the rear tire. The bike gets ridden in sun, rain, snow, ice, etc. It is stored outside and never gets cleaned. The chain and rims are still holding up and there isn't much rust.

Here is a picture of a new Serotta in full Huffy dress.
This is a Csi, not the bikes that were ridden by 7-11

Denver, does this count as a huffy?

Marty

I had a Huffy BMX (parents bought for me) when I was about 10. I think that is what turned me away from chrome finshes. This bike was chrome finsh with black and white checkered saddle and the pad covers (you know the ones for the top tube and handle bars), but the chrome finish was scratched off within a year. (the bike was never stored outside, just had many runins with tree and logs as part of the BMX trail that was made in two empty lots) after this bike (several years later), it was off to a trek mountain bike, but never again will I own a bike that is chrome...

I've ridden Schwinn and CW Racing (from my BMX days). I now own a Gary Fisher Fast City (hybrid).

There's one in the house. Ridden ever so infrequently by my daughter. An upgrade wouldn't increase her riding time. Soccer is her game. Yes I've ridden it a couple of times. First when we got it to adjust everything. Another time after I adjusted her seat/handle bars for her.

I had a Schwinn 2-speed coaster middleweight at age 12, followed a few months later by a low-end Bianchi 10-speed. I bought and sold a couple of English 3-speeds with hybrid/derailleur 9- and 12-speed conversions before moving up to a Nishiki SemiPro at age 21. Between then and my current crop (see signature line), I have had a 1974 Schwinn Varsity, a 1974 Peugeot UO-8, and a 1960 Capo.

However, I did answer that I have owned a Huffy (actually, a Magna), because my younger son did have one for a few months, following a bizarre playground incident in which someone stole his 24"-wheeled 18-speed made-in-Taiwan Peugeot US Express mountain bike and left a shiny blue late-model 12-speed 26"-wheeled Magna hybrid in its place. Even he, age 12 at the time, recognized that he was definitely the loser in this "exchange."

I like to tell people about my Orange (meaning it's an Orange-colored Huffy) :D

My parents gave me huffy pro-thunder for christmas in 1983. I still own this bike today and keep it at their house so my nephew can ride it when he visits . It has all the nice stuff on it from that vintage araya 7x wheelset ,cooke cranks, dia-compe brakes, redline bars etc. which was all upgraded by me. The bike is still in great shape but is grungy because my nephew can really rip on it since he races motorcycles. After he outgrows it I will probably restore it and give it to my grandchild since I have only 1 daughter who isnt in to bikes. Did I mention it is one of those old Stu Thomsen replicas.

My first bike was a no-name, because it had already been repainted. My dad bought it for me and I rode it everywhere until it got stolen. I then had a Free Spirit 10 speed (it was waaaaay too big for me, but I wanted one!). Had that for awhile. I then got a Huffy Pro Concept III BMX bike. I was the King of the neighborhood on that bike. It was white with Red pads and red lettering. I was "THE" man for the summer. That all ended when I showed up to school in August and there were 4 other identical bikes in the racks.

After that, I bought an Ashtabula BMX bike. That thing was a TANK, there were gussets welded at every tube junction. I had gold alloy wheels, red cranks, red stem and blue bars. It was a complete palette of colors.

That bike got me into BMX and I then bought an MCS Spyder, then a GT Pro, a Redline 24" Cruiser, a Kuwahara, a SE Quadangle, a Univage Rover 10, a Cilo 12 speed, a GT Karakoram, a GT Richochet, a Gary Fisher Z1, a Specialized FSR Extreme, a GT Pro Performer, Diamond Back somthing or other, a Litespeed Pisgah, a Cannondale F2000SX, a Haro Backtrail 2.2, a Specialized P.3, my current LeMond Zurich, my current Intense Uzzi SL, and my current Nashbar SS.

Somewhere along the way, I inherited an old Schwinn Tandemn, and I didn't list my wife's bikes.

L8R

I have a "Coleman" (it's a Pacific, dressed in Coleman green) MTB that I keep at the office. Paid $89 for it several years ago. Comes in handy for quick errands around downtown Philly, so I don't have to risk my commuter by locking it up outside. It's actually sort of a "pool" bike that several people in my department occasionally use, and once or twice it's gotten people home when their own bikes were suddenly disabled.

Properly adjusted and lubed, it's perfectly rideable.

RichC

Originally posted by lotek
Here is a picture of a new Serotta in full Huffy dress.
This is a Csi, not the bikes that were ridden by 7-11

Denver, does this count as a huffy?

Marty

Similar to mine except I had the eagle head True Temper logo and white forks.

Ah, brings back memories. Did you purchase the bike with those decals? I'm amazed there are any left. I tried to get some in 1988 but Serotta was out.

Well, at the moment I'm riding a Murray Explorer "Mountain Bike". Just started riding after a long absence, and have to prove to Mrs. Aahzz that I'm serious before she'll let me upgrade. Got my eye on a GIant Sedona ST as a decent starting point for something more worthwhile...

Yep my first new bike that I got from my parents was a Huffy from Toys R Us when I was in the 7th grade. It was a Huffy Bullcruiser. Got it when mountain bikes were first becoming popular. All my other bikes were hand me downs from my older brothers. I got probably about 5 years out of the bile before it finally fell apart on me one day. I mean it actually fell apart all at once. The front stem and handle bar came apart, the chain broke, and the crank fell apart. All within about 2 minutes. That sucked.

Thats when I went up and bought a Schwinn Woodlands that I still have but never ride anymore.

Yes, I have a Huffy right here in my basement. It's a blue and white girl's bike. I got it for my 9th birthday in 1957.

Kathi

Had one when I was pretty young. Looking at picking one up now as a disposable bike come winter so I dont have to worry about salt. Also want something i can leave out late at night and not worry about getting stolen or vandalized.

I was given a Huffy MTB as a father's day gift about 10 years ago. I used it very seldom and started really riding last year. It didn't take long to relaize I needed a better bike so I bought a GT MTB. I still have the Huffy, it just hangs in the garage now though.

I have been riding a 10 speed Huffy all Summer. I picked it up at the recycle center this Spring because it looked like new. It is heavy so it is not the quickest bike in the shed but I take it to the store and don't have to worry about someone taking it. I commute 10 miles each way and have found it to be a reliable ride.

However when I jump on my Fuji Ace it is like going from a Dodge truck to a Porsch.

I had a Schwinn Predator BMX bike when I was a kid. It got stolen from behind my house and the thief left behind a somewhat beat-up but rideable Huffy or Murray BMX bike with blue tires. I rode that for a while to get to school and the pool. It wasn't that bad. Made cool blue skids on the road.

It may even still be at my mom's house. Hmm...

You live...you learn! I had a department store bike many years ago.

My first bike was a Huffy "Pro Thunder" BMX bike.

I recently purchased a duel suspension Pacific Mountain bike from Toys R US. I'm using it as my second commuter and ride it a total of 40 blocks each day in New York City. I bought it hoping it would last 30 days and not get stolen as the toy bike stays outside 24/7 on the cruel streets of Manhattan. To my surprise, the bike is now 3 months old and the crooks leave it alone since it's a junk bike.

I noticed people fooling around with the shifters trying to see if the dam thing works. When they see that it doesn't, the crooks leave the bike along.

Other than the rear brake, I've haven't had any probems with the toy bike. It's basically a beach cruiser since it no longer shifts anymore. I don't care. To date, that bike saved me close to $300.00 from not having to take the subway.

My whole opinion on Toy Store bikes changed. In my opinion, these are the BEST junk bikes to leave outside 24/7. I don't know why other people in the city haven't discovered the usefulness of these cycles. For my sake, I hope they don't!

I'm going to ride this thing till it breaks or gets stolen. When it is time to replace that bike, I'm going right back to Toys R US and get another one.

Praise the maker for TOY BIKES!
:)

My first bike was a HUFFY CONVERTIBLE. I got it in about 1950 when I was about 5 years old.

It had training wheels and and special trailer hitch that attached to the bottom of the back fender - when you got done with the training wheels, you could make a cart or trailer with them and attach to the back of the bike. Swivle action of the hitch allowed the trailer to remain upright on both wheels while the bike was laid down.

My sister now has the bike in her basement - it was her first ride as well.

Don't have a "huffy" they aren't that common in New Zealand but I do own a dept store mtb which was given to me as a present... and you know I have had some of the best times riding with my kids on that bike... They don't want to hang out with me when I'm on my recumbent :D

Yes I have a Huffy right now I commute on. It is an aluminum cruiser i got off e-bay. It really is a pretty decent bike . I have never seen another one like it. The model name is Trident.Has anyone else heard of these?

I am the proud owner of two huffy's.

My freinds and I have a humor intended bike group called "huffyXcore" and we all ride huffy's around town playing games and having races, and random thing like that. Its great fun..makes for a lovely afternoon on a bike.

They hold up suprisingly well! I have a green Mohave Gulch..(I know I'm spelling that one wrong) and some random grey one..both of them were purchased around 1998 for me from my parents. I was in..eighth grade, perhaps? Once I hit high school and realised what bikes really were, and started building them, I moved on, but my sister and brother use the huffies, as they are not allowed to touch my bikes (I'm not even sure they know what a U lock is..) So, I still have two in my eight (and a half) bike household.

My first ten speed was a pink girl's Huffy-that was 1976. I rode that bike everywhere for years. I remember all of my friends were jealous, they just had 3 speeds.

Team Murray X-24, baby! It was basically either a single speed mountain bike or an overgrown BMX. But one thing was for certain- it weighed as much as a tank! :p

It did have a front brake, however.

This thread made me feel guilty for coraling my fine stead in the garage for so long. Took the 15 year old, 42 pound, 18 speed, "Sledge Hammer" mountain bike with square tires (2.1") for a ride. Hubby & I rode 20 miles. It was a test to see if we were really improved cyclists OR if, "It's really about the bike".