Fat Tire

My first ride was a faded blue Monark. Heavy iron, 2.5" tires. I removed the fenders, not so much to make it lighter, but to ride it in the rain, when the mud built up and with fenders you could not ride. (Any one else grow up around caliche roads?) No photos either, thanks. In that neighborhood, fat tire were a survival trait. I recall the first boy in the neighborhood that had a Peugeot 10 speed. We headed out one day to Bentsen State Park , and left him hung to dry on the back roads. His narrow tires cut right through the sandy roads, until he hit the caliche, and then it began to rain and he sunk into the caliche. I felt bad about it so the next week we began to scrounge parts for him, to build his own 'flotation tired' bike. He polished up the peugeot, and left it parked on the porch for a decade.

It might tell you something that our address was "3 miles north, 3 miles west"/ Mission, Texas 78752 (out among the orange groves).

Artkansas 

My first one was a green Fleetwing that I got for my 6th birthday.

1bluetrek

I have no iea what it was. It was old, rusted and covered with STP stickers that the old man at the gas staiton gave us when we aired up our tires. It had a good front tire and a completley shredded back tire. I traded it, for aa 23 year old Palomino mare who I loved and rode for five more years

nwmtnbkr

I don't have any photos of my first bike, but I remember it well. It was a blue Schwinn with fenders, rear rack, front basket and a built-in head light. I loved that thing; it was heavy and could take lots of abuse. It looked like this one, just blue not green.

Kai Winters

It was a Schwinn English Racer...3 speed...I really wanted an Apple Crate but parents thought I'd grow into the Racer...It turned out to be a nice bike until I ran it into a park bench while looking at the speedo when trying to hit 20mph...didn't hit 20 but did hit the bench hard enough to bend the fork nearly to the down tube...pulled out the fork blades, cut them down with a hack saw, took another fork and cut off the blades, jammed then onto the fork stubs, put on a 20" wheel and voila I had one hell of an odd looking bike but thought I looked cool...lol.

DVC45

Mine was a red and black RedLine BMX bike. Circa 1984.

downtube42

It was red and came from Ace hardware or possibly Wolco. Those were the two stores my dad patronized. I was probably about seven.

Much more memorable were the bikes I built myself from the collection of old bikes and parts in the garage. One benefit of being the youngest of eight was the plethora of old toys to choose from.

HandsomeRyan

HandsomeRyan circa 1989.


This picture is so full of win. I'm digging the rear-only braking and that swanky helmet.

layedback1

We are talking about 1947. My first "bike" was a little contraption with 12 in solid wheels. It had a V belt from the "crank" to the rear wheel. Then my first real bike was Monark with 24 in wheels. It had to be small because I was l really small twirp when I was young. I road that bike 1 3/4 miles to a country school.

Herbie53

first bike was a hard tired training wheel thingy.

second was an Iverson "Drag Stripper".. it was heavy and over geared (mine was pea green metallic and single speed)



favorite was a Huffy "Mr. America" -- won it in a drawing at my dad's plant picnic... great jumper of picnic benches.

RacerOne

I'm not sure on this, but I think your swanky helmet might be on backwards. Maybe not though.. that thing is pretty much round.

Rhodabike

I don't have any photos of my first bike. It was a black mens delivery bike that my father pinched... um, I mean, brought home from the oil refinery he worked in. I think they were used to ride around the tank farms and I'll give him the benefit of a doubt that perhaps they replaced them with motorized transport. It weighed about 50 pounds and my older brother had it first, giving it up for motorcycles the minute he was old enough. I would race neighborhood boys on their banana seat three-speeds and win every time due to the rolling juggernaught/mass in motion thing. I think I spray-painted it gold because I didn't like it's boring black color. I deserted it for a ten-speed Apollo at the first opportunity.

mustang1

Raleigh Budgie, purple, with stabilizers. Not sure how old I was. But first stabilizer-less bike was Raleigh Chopper.

no motor?

My first bike was one of those with the removable top tubes that could be converted to a "girls bike" for my younger sister. It was red, and got us both used to being on two wheels. It was later replaced by an English 3 speed from Western Auto, and I wish I still had that most days.

manicmike

all i remember is that it was green and i was petrified of it. took me forever to get the training wheels off. it's amazing i developed a love of cycling that will never die!

kjc9640

Somewhere around the early 50s mom and dad got me one of these JC Higgans Bikes. I think they bought it at Sears. Boy it was the cats meow then. Horn tank, headlights, luggage rack, coaster breaks.

nivekdodge

My sister had one and it almost was on the hand-me-down list. OOOHHH even less manly than those full fenders on a banana bike. How about #1 on the geek list...Anybdy have a steering wheel?

BA Commuter

I had many 20" wheeled bikes as a youngster. However, my most memorable bike growing up was a 1960's 3 speed Raleigh English Racer. I loved that bike. It gave me freedom and took me to many places. One of my sadest days was when it was stolen out of our garage...

hairnet

I'm not sure how old I was

My dad had a racer friend and gave me one of the bmx bikes he won. I rode that thing a lot, but I out grew it and let it rust away.

beech333

First bike? Mine was nothing special. The only memory of it that I have is from when I ran over my childhood best friend's head after he jumped/fell in front of me. No worries though, he just got a few stitches, which we thought was cool at the time. I think the bike was blue.

Now, my Dukes of Hazzard bigwheel...I loved that thing.

HandsomeRyan

It's on correctly; The 80's was a magical time in helmet design.

RacerOne

I'll take your word for it!

mikesova

When I was six my parents got me a Huffy BMX bike. Red with white tires. It was awesome.

Moozh

I was a kid back in the UK, late 70's or very early 80's. Honestly dont recall the year.

This is what I coveted: The kids 'IT' bike...I present to you...."the Raleigh Grifter"! Back in the day there was nothing more coveted in all of kid bicycledom than this heavy beaut!


My mother decided to get me something like this...this isnt it exactly, I dont recall exactly what it was but seeing this brought back the feeling of disappointment and sadness..what kid trying to be cool wanted this 'country cycle' back in those days??:


This is the first bike I bought with my own hard earned paper route loot back in 1987 I believe.. My Haro Freestyler Sport, loved it! Was the talk of the town.. As you can tell by the color scheme, 'neon' colors and Miami Vice were very much envogue!

Moozh

Dont intend the corrupt the thread but when I saw the title I couldnt help but think of the soundtrack....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa8whR2ZEOU