Little 500 bicycles are standardized, single-speed, coaster brake racing bicycles with a 46x18 gearing, 700c wheels, 32mm tires and flat rubber pedals. The unusual specification originated with the famous AMFRoadmaster bicycles of the 1960s and 1970s,

Was just reading about The Little 500 (also known popularly as the "Little Five"), is a track cycling race held annually during the third weekend of April at Bill Armstrong Stadium on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. It is attended by more than 25,000 fans. NOTE: Inspired the famous "Breaking Away" movie.

Does anybody still have any of these machines that were made for this race?
I see there is a BF forumn for this bike brand AMF Roadmaster
There were only a few posts in that thread.

Mad Honk

🙂

"Mount your Roadmaster Bicycles!"

joesch,
I was a mechanical steward for the race for about ten years. The specifications you list are for newer bikes, but when I watched over the race the rules required 27" wheels with 36 spokes, and there was much arguing over whether to allow alloy rims. And today's race is nowhere near what it was when I raced in 1971. We had 26" wheels with balloon tires, the race bikes then were AMF, but practice bikes were the old heavy Schwinn frames. The rage of the day was Tigerpaw tires which were used for the 1971 race.
I coached for about 15 years with a couple of teams and worked with one that finished 3rd. That team practiced riding 50+ miles per day for a whole year, and that is what happens with the teams today. I gave it up after one rider had a hole torn in his arm and nearly lost some ability over it. Reminder; bike racing is dangerous!
I worked with the technical crew for the movie and even have a cameo in the movie but it is all water under the bridge at this point. I have kept two of the jerseys from the race and have the template to remake them should the need arise. A few BF members are lucky enough to have a copy of the original jerseys. HTH, Smiles, MH

and I guess its because of my first 20 in wheeled bike with the ape hangers and banana seat with a small sissy bar.

Even with the crap pinch welds, they held up well if you didnt jump them or weigh too much.

Fast forward to 1999, when my grandmother bough me a Roadmaster from Wal-Mart - a chrome 20 in wheeled 7 speed mountain bike.

Years later, it became my first mod.
A front freewheel crank a from Schwinn 10 speed gives it a 52 tooth and a 39 tooth crankwheel, so with the 7 speed cassette it has 14 speeds.
Tiny chrome handlebars from a kids bmx bike, a comfy seat, and a slant back seatpost make it able to fit most anyone.
The chrome spikes on the handlebar ends are real - yes, they are dangerous.

I have put more than 2,000 miles on this bike, after the mods to it, not counting before.

It is all chrome plated steel but for any plastic or rubber.
It is heavy as the day is long, with a long wheelbase for a bike of its size
I can hold 25+ mph on level ground for around a mile, have hit 35 mph downhill once.

Can ride all day for leisure, and is small enough to go into most places.

All for an original cost of $89 at wallyworld.

my phone is not letting me send pics for some reason

At Christmas 1969, my three older sisters each received a brand-new Schwinn Sting-ray Fair Lady. I didn't realize it at the time, but given our financial situation back then this was a huge concession or donation on someone's part. They were ecstatic, and those bikes got used.

As for me, I received... their old beat-up Hedstrom trike, so I wasn't as enthusiastic about the whole deal. I may or may not have reacted poorly.

Fast forward to entering second grade in the fall of 1970, and receiving my very first bike of my very own. It was not a Schwinn like my sisters', but a brand-new American Machine and Foundry Roadmaster Renegade hi-rise banana-seat 20" bike from FedMart. And it had a boy's frame. Good enough for me! I also rode the heck out of that bike, added reflectors and a raised sissy bar that almost fixed to kill me riding under a playground arch, and in '74 or so rattlecanned and retrofit it as a BMX bike in light of then-current trends. My memory is hazy, but that beloved bike eventually disappeared, replaced by bikes obtained from our elderly next-door neighbor who ran a small bicycle-rebuilding operation and was my primary bike supplier up until I bought my first "real" road bike (a Centurion Super Elite) in the fall of 1980.

So +1 for positive Roadmaster memories. But not the Little 500 kind.