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Your First Bike

Old 05-11-08, 11:42 PM
  #1  
Pedaled too far.
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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.

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Originally Posted by Bjforrestal
I don't care if you are on a unicycle, as long as you're not using a motor to get places you get props from me. We're here to support each other. Share ideas, and motivate one another to actually keep doing it.
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Old 05-12-08, 05:05 AM
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Yes, I remember those days when standover height was a negative number.
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Old 05-12-08, 06:52 AM
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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.
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Old 05-12-08, 07:53 AM
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Very cool picture Artkansas.

My first bike was a red Huffy one-speed. It also served as a fighter plane and a horse.
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Old 05-12-08, 08:18 AM
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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 ...
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Old 05-12-08, 09:22 AM
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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
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Old 05-12-08, 09:49 AM
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My first bike was a Colson with 20 inch wheels. That was in about 1947 when I was five years old.
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Old 05-12-08, 10:14 AM
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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
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Old 05-12-08, 10:26 AM
  #9  
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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!
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Old 05-12-08, 10:27 AM
  #10  
Pedaled too far.
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Originally Posted by PaulH
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.
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Originally Posted by Bjforrestal
I don't care if you are on a unicycle, as long as you're not using a motor to get places you get props from me. We're here to support each other. Share ideas, and motivate one another to actually keep doing it.
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Old 05-12-08, 10:45 AM
  #11  
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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.
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Old 05-12-08, 10:55 AM
  #12  
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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.
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Old 05-12-08, 10:57 AM
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I think my first 'big bike' was a green Ross. I do remember having to get on by using my front porch steps.
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Old 05-12-08, 11:08 AM
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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.
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Old 05-12-08, 11:18 AM
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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.
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Old 05-12-08, 02:24 PM
  #16  
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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.
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Old 05-12-08, 02:35 PM
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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.
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Old 05-12-08, 02:49 PM
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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.
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Old 05-12-08, 03:48 PM
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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.
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Old 05-12-08, 04:15 PM
  #20  
Pedaled too far.
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Originally Posted by 10 Wheels
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.
Cool bike, and obviously a chick magnet. I like the "gas tank".
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Originally Posted by Bjforrestal
I don't care if you are on a unicycle, as long as you're not using a motor to get places you get props from me. We're here to support each other. Share ideas, and motivate one another to actually keep doing it.
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Old 05-12-08, 04:36 PM
  #21  
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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.
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Old 05-12-08, 04:39 PM
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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!) 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
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Old 05-12-08, 05:03 PM
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Originally Posted by 10 Wheels
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.
I didn't have a Huffy but I did have an identical shirt, and girlfriends who looked like that.
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Old 05-12-08, 05:13 PM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by leob1
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.
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Old 05-12-08, 11:04 PM
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My Christmas present from Santa in 1953, a Rollfast 26" bike.



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.
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