Originally Posted by
SloButWide
1970 - helping my Dad patch a flat on my "english racer". It was a Raleigh single speed we got at a garage sale. I tried to convince kids it was cooler than their Stingrays with banana seats, but couldn't do wheelies or jump ramps 'cause my weight wouldn't shift far enough back.
There were some dudes in my neighborhood that could wheelie on a 10 speed, which I thought was pretty cool. I could never pull it off though (I was pretty scrawny growing up). The wheelies were pretty short, compared to what could be done with a banana seat bike, which was pretty much indefinite, subject only to manoeuvers such as stopping for a stop sign, or actual traffic. In my district, there was a special name for a prolonged wheelie, as opposed to one of limited duration; an indefinite wheelie we called a
catwalk.
I suppose the difference in sustainability is due to the high centre of gravity of a 10 speed wheelie compared with a banana seat wheelie, making the 10 speed wheelie much less stable.
Originally Posted by
noglider
I have a fairly new pair of these and still like them.
That is the only kind of gloves I wear, at least on the warmer half of the cycling days per year. Fortunately, there are many retro suppliers, still.
Originally Posted by
noglider
Do folks remember fondly Anybody's Bike Book? That was a load of fun and very informative, too.
Certainly I do, my copy that I still have, somewhere
, handed down from my dad.