Fifty Plus (50+) - Your First Bike

Here's the one that got me hooked. It's a 1960 Fleetwing in all its finery. Note the aluminum fenders, rear rack and genuine Wald basket. I guess they didn't expect I'd be riding much at night. LOL. The saddle was cool, with springs going from the nose to the rear, as opposed to the solid steel seats of everyone else's Schwinns. But the Schwinns had a slightly higher gear ratio, so I learned to spin early. The pedal blocks were a temporary attachment till I grew into the bike.

http://www.pointhappy.com/gcf/Gordons1stBikeSm.jpg

Yes, I remember those days when standover height was a negative number.

The first bike that I remember that was 'mine',,,after all the ones we had on the farm,,,was a Gitane 5 speed. I thought I was really in the bicycle world with my multi-speed racer. That's beena while back.

Very cool picture Artkansas.

My first bike was a red Huffy one-speed. It also served as a fighter plane and a horse.

I did not start cycling until just before my 12th birthday -- as I have posted elsewhere, I was an awkward kid with extremely poor and late-developing physical coordination. My first bicycle, a $15 acquisition from a friend, was a black balloon-tired Schwinn middleweight (American? Phantom?) with a 2-speed Bendix coaster hub controlled by a lever which resembled a brake handle. Six months later I graduated to my first road bike, a bottom-of-the-line Bianchi Corsa, which got me hooked on cycling.

What do I ride today? A [much nicer] Bianchi road bike and a fat-tired Schwinn [mountain bike]. The more things change ...

My first bike was a brand new maroon JC Higgins, single speed, coaster brake, 26" white wall balloon tires. I was about 8 years old. I have NO IDEA how we rode those monsters back then (1950). I rode it until I was 12. The pedals had two square cross-section rubber pieces that tended to roll your feet off the pedals when worn.

Given those pedals and top tube about even with my chest, I'm surprised I was able to grow up and father 3 children.

I learned on a friends beat up 26" bike with no brakes. He taught me to head for neighbors' bushes to stop.

Eric

My first bike was a Colson with 20 inch wheels. That was in about 1947 when I was five years old.

I could have used pedal blocks. The saddle was about armpit-high when I stood next to the bike, and I had to use a step or large boulder to mount for the first few months.

Paul

I had a Western Flyer from Western Auto that I kept riding for a couple of years after I rode the training wheels off of it. Coaster brakes were great!

I could have used pedal blocks. The saddle was about armpit-high when I stood next to the bike, and I had to use a step or large boulder to mount for the first few months.

Paul

I did too, only there were no boulders around. Stopping and getting off was usually a controlled crash till I could swing my leg over the seat before stopping.

My first bike was a Randor BMX back in 1980. I had it for 5 years till it was stolen from the garage. I don't think any pictures survived, but it was a standard BMX, red, with coaster break. I loved that bike. I cried the day it was stolen.

My first bike was a fully loaded Schwinn that was waaaaay to big for me. I didn't have pedal blocks but could have used them. Since it was a girl's model I was able to stand and pedal. It was a year before I could reach the pedals while seated.

I gave the bike to a neighbor kid shortly after I bought my first car.

I think my first 'big bike' was a green Ross. I do remember having to get on by using my front porch steps.

I got an old green fixie with hard rubber 12" tires when I was five. Left it in the driveway and got it run over when I was seven. Got a 24" Western Flyer when I was eight. Got an old Columbia 26" balooner when I was eleven. I still have it.

First bike was a little blue Schwinn, not sure of size or model but I have a real clear recollection of riding it around a good while with training wheels and how proud I was then they came off. If there was a bike that "got me hooked" it would be a Raleigh three-speed "English racer" I browbeat my parents into buying me some time in the mid sixties.

first bike or first new bike?
first bike I built?
first bike with multiple gears?
first bike I bought with money I earned?
first bike I crash and damaged so bad it was unrideable?
first bike where my friends said "you paid HOW MUCH FOR A BIKE? ARE YOU NUTS"?
first bike that cost more than my first car?
first bike when my wife said "why do you need a new bike?"?
They are all like old girl friends, I still love them all.

Mine was an off-brand stingray type bike. Black with a tiger-striped banana seat and tiger heads at the ends of the grips. I was 5 and thought it was the coolest thing on earth. A year later I was too cool so I sawed the tiger heads off and recovered the seat.

First new bike at 10 y/o. Huffy with electric horn and front fender light. I worn it out in four years drag racing.
Here it is after one year.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/10wheels/52Huffy.jpg

That Fleetwood reminds me of my first real bike, a Schwinn Corvette, about 1957-58. Aluminum fenders, a rack on the rear...don't remember for sure about the front, 3-speed Sturmey-Archer hub and hand brakes. I was the envy of the town. It was a real Cadillac and expensive...better than $75 as I recall. My folks sold or gave it to the next door neighbor kid about 10 years later, while I was in college or the Navy.

First new bike at 10 y/o. Huffy with electric horn and front fender light. I worn it out in four years drag racing.
Here it is after one year.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/10wheels/52Huffy.jpg

Cool bike, and obviously a chick magnet. ;) I like the "gas tank".

I don't remember the brand of my first bike, but it was a big, single speed cruiser, blue and silver. It had a big spring in front, sort of "suspension" I guess. I was 8. It was too big. My parents gave it to my uncle. I then got a 3 spd "Royal Sabre", which I rode in college.

I don't really remember my first bike, but I do remember learning to ride it in our backyard. My brother's Tonka dump truck was out in the yard that day and I hit it. To prevent that happening again, my mother moved it to a different spot in the yard, and I hit it again. She moved it again, I hit it again. Next she moved it into the house, and sure enough, I hit the house right by the door where she'd put it. That old Tonka truck must have had a really strong bike magnet built into it (at least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!):roflmao2: Like I said above, I don't remember the bike, but I sure do remember that dump truck; it was built a lot more solidly than most real cars are today!
- Bob

First new bike at 10 y/o. Huffy with electric horn and front fender light. I worn it out in four years drag racing.
Here it is after one year.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/10wheels/52Huffy.jpg
I didn't have a Huffy but I did have an identical shirt, and girlfriends who looked like that.

They are all like old girl friends, I still love them all.

Just know that a couple of psycho your ex-bikes have taken out a contract on you.

My Christmas present from Santa in 1953, a Rollfast 26" bike.

http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bierhaus/RollFasttt.jpg

I repainted it 3 times. 3 sets of fenders, a couple chain guards. I had it till 1966, I was using it at New River air base to get around. Some "other" Marines decided to jump on the wheels, since I had it chained fast. Before I could salvage the pieces, someone else stole it. I found it rebuilt my second to last day in the Corp. Figured it found a good new home, so walked away.

My Christmas present from Santa in 1953, a Rollfast 26" bike. http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bierhaus/RollFasttt.jpg

That's a sweet bike. I bet the folks in Alt-Bikes would appreciate seeing it.

here's mine - 1974 KoKo sport P.O.S. bike boom oil crisis 10 speed with gut-rip stem shifts and the world's largest dork disc. 24" wheels. The seat and head tube angles were laid back enough to put you to sleep.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii132/pgoat/TourdeFrance1974.jpg

My wife says the shirt makes her want to sing the theme song from "The Greatest American Hero"

My first REAL (not shared with my older sisters) bike was a Hercules 3 speed "racer." - likely about 1949?? when I was 10. Before that we all shared a couple of bikes - all single speeds.

No idea the model but it was a 53 (used) maroon 24" Western Flyer. (WHY can I remember that but the name of the folks who I was introduced to five minutes ago...gone)
First New Bike. 56 Schwinn (I believe it was a world traveler)3 speed, green. Bob Hufford gave me the model and price (then) and my dad paid a small fortune for that bike back in the day.

My first new bike was a Schwinn Corvette, black frame with chrome fenders and a Bendix two-speed kickback shifter. I tore the Bendix up a couple times but rebuilt it with help from my (very patient) Dad. I went through a lot of back tires on that bike, mostly because of my tendency to slam on the brake and slide to see how big a skid mark it would leave.

The bikes I rode before that one were girls' frames that belonged to my two older sisters. One of my sisters taught me to ride at about age 5 by giving me what she called a "magic flower." As long as I had this flower in my pocket, I could keep my balance, she told me. (She actually was running alongside me and holding the bike seat to steady me, unbeknownst to me, until I got the hang of it.) It was an ingenious bit of confidence-building on her part and one that I've grown to appreciate even more after all these years.

It was 1960 and the bike was a green Schwinn Hornet 20 inch, brand spankin new from Y-not cycles in Mansfield Ohio. My dads first words were "Use the kickstand and if I see laying on the ground I'll whip your butt" Well he didn't say butt and I got the message. I was the coolest guy in the neighborhood that summer

My first bike was a lime green Schwinn knock off my dad bought at a Auto Parts store. I believe it had a decal that said Navaho in white. It looked for all the world like a beach cruiser does today. I thought that bike could take me anywhere.

First real bike: Schwinn Racer single speed with coaster brake and drop bars. Ditched the fenders and chain guard within a year. Guess I was a weight weenie even at age 10. Skinny tires for it's day, 28 or 35mm I am guessing. Only kid in my grade school that had a bike with drop bars. Those were the days, 100+ bikes on the rack behind the school.