Johnny Mullet

This might be a long read for some, but it's a cool story! Let me introduce myself first. I am John. I am 44 years old and a new cyclist. I have not been on a bicycle since I was a teenager. After getting back into cycling a year ago, I felt like that kid once more and never stopped! When I started cycling last year, I was pushing 270 lbs and borderline diabetic. I made changes in my diet by dropping pop and carbs and combined with cycling, my weight came down dramatically. I am now at 230 lbs even after losing the winter weight I put back on.

The bike that I rode as a kid was a Huffy Pro Thunder BMX and it served me well for many, many years trouble free. When I got back into cycling, the bike I had was a USA built Huffy mountain bike. I joined a few group rides and met other cyclists and everyone I talked with told me the same thing......

“That bike is a piece of junk. You need a better bike.” Even though my Huffy NEVER let me down and I was able to keep up with them.

I took the advice from a few cycling friends and I purchased a real road bike. It was a 1989 Panasonic DX 4000. This bike had no mechanical flaws minus numerous flat tires and one day the bottom bracket started clicking. I replaced the bottom bracket and all was good except the COMFORT issues. I could not ride this bike more than an hour unlike my Huffy due to numbness in the hands, arms, and shoulder pain. I ended up selling this bike for the same price I bought it for.

Link to my Panasonic DX 4000............. https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...ic-dx4000.html

I continued to ride the Huffy and I thought maybe since I was no fit enough I could not ride a road bike. After time I purchased a 1990 Fuji Ace road bike. Same issues as the Panasonic. Numbness in the hands and wrists and arm, shoulder pain. After a hard ride, I had a crank arm strip out and the bottom bracket and crank arm was junk. I gave the Ace every chance I could. I even replaced the 25MM tires with 35MM tires to soften the ride and still had issues.

Link to the Fuji Ace........... https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...road-bike.html

Before the snow started flying last year, I fell upon the Drop Bar conversion thread and was interested! I swapped the Fuji Araya 700c wheels, tires, stem, handlebars, brakes, etc over to the trusty Huffy mountain bike and for the first time in my life, I could ride a drop bar bike for hours on end with no pain or discomfort. Through the winter months I built this Huffy as my commuter and still ride it almost daily............

Link to my Huffy commuter build......... https://www.bikeforums.net/mountain-b...tain-bike.html

A few of my friends were totally upset with me that I stripped a Black Fuji Ace to upgrade a Huffy.

In the meantime, I had a few other bikes. some were cheap and some were good. I still have my 1989 Reflex ALX Carbon mountain bike and it has never let me down. The ride is stiff, but being a mountain bike, it’s still very comfortable. I use this bike as my long distance touring bike to this day.

Link to my Reflex ALX Carbon........... https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...lx-carbon.html

I had a Roadmaster girly bike that I manned up and I rode it all winter long with no issues............

https://www.bikeforums.net/mountain-b...eater-mtb.html

I also had a Raleigh M20 that was not ridden much because the bottom bracket and crank arms ended up junk because they came loose on me........

https://www.bikeforums.net/mountain-b...gh-m-20-a.html

So I wanted to keep my N+1 under control and decided I only needed 3 bikes. My commuter, my touring bike, and I wanted a road bike for group rides and charity rides and for quick after work runs. I was scared to buy another road bike because of the discomfort issues I had with 2 other road bikes I owned and 4-5 other high dollar road bikes that I borrowed or rode for a day. All had the same issue with discomfort yet my Huffy with a drop bar conversion was not an issue.

So what did I need in a road bike? Was it the gaspipe steel? Was it the frame geometry? Was it the one piece "Ashtabula" crank? I had no idea what I was wanting for a road bike. All I know is I did not care about weight. I did not want a 3 piece crank, I did not want a short frame geometry, and I totally had no interest in carbon or aluminum bike frames. I just wanted a fast, reliable, and comfortable road bike.

I was browsing Craigslist one day and found this guy who was always posting ads in the local listings and he does buy, trade, and sell. One day he posted a bike and I immediately fell in love with it just from the pictures! I called him up and told him I wanted the bike and in exchange I was willing to trade my Raliegh M20 complete bike and a Fuji Ace frameset for the bike and he agreed. The next day I drove an hour away and made the deal.

Yes, that's right! First I sacrificed a Fuji road bike to upgrade one Huffy bike and traded a Fuji road bike frameset along with a Raleigh MTB bike to get another Huffy bike. As soon as I got home, I rode the hell out of this bike and for the last 3 weeks I been riding it, I have had no discomfort issues and no pain. The best part about this bike and my other Huffy is I have yet to have an issue with the cranks! Ashtabula Crank for the win!

I thought that all Huffy bikes were cool, but any Huffy built in China from 2000 and up) is a piece of crap. I have worked on and compared the USA Huffy bikes with the China built bikes and there is a world of difference in quality and components. I truly enjoy my USA built Huffy bicycles and will continue to put many miles on them!

Link to my 1988 Huffy Techtra Lite road bike............ https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...road-bike.html

Thanks for reading my story................

BobbyG

You found your bliss!

YouthInAsia

That was a nice read Mr. Mullet. Thanks for sharing. After your bad experiences with other bikes I can't blame you for sticking with the tried and true. And it's cool they're made in the USA.

look566 rider

Welcome! You ride whatever you like! I for one, never look sideways at what someone chooses to ride. I am just happy to see them riding!

Johnny Mullet

I am actually considering finding my childhood bike and fixing up an old Pro Thunder just for the memories.

Deal4Fuji

Wasn't Huffy's HQ in Dayton OH ?? I'll bet the home state factor plays some role in your love of Huffy's.

TenSpeedV2

You aren't kidding around with that mullet.

TroN0074

Well yeah it is a good bike. But again you have invested so much time modifying it that it doesn't resembles the typical Huffy bike you would find at a Walmart or any other store. At this point you could even take off the Huffy sticker and put your own name on it.
The important thing I get from your story is that if the bike fits you well you will enjoy riding no matter what. I had a Huffy too and I enjoyed it as well but I had to let it go due to limiting space in my garage, I still feel like I was betraying a friend for doing that. Oh well.

Retro Grouch 

That was a good story.

We get a lot of posts from new riders asking what they should buy. My advice is to acquire a bike, ANY bike, and ride it for awhile. Make a list of things that you like about your bike and what you hate. When you decide to acquire a different bike, try to maximize your likes and minimize your hates. Your story is an objective example of doing just that.

I like it!

Stucky

I really enjoyed reading your story, John! I wish we'd see more of that sort of thing here on the forums.

I may have a couple of fancy bikes now; now that I can afford them- as I just had to see what the big deal was with "good bikes"- and while they are nice enough, I fail to find much difference between them, and the BSO thatI found in the garbage and resurrected 25 years ago. I yearn for my favorite childhood bike, too- but it was a rare one....and besides, I'd look silly riding a banana-seat 20" wheel bike now!

And you know? All the cheap/department-store/BSO bikes I rode as a kid/teen/20's, I never had a problem with, no many how many miles I put on them; no matter what abue I threw at them; and despite a complete lack of maintenance....but these modern fancy bikes? They're as delicate as dandelions!

Johnny Mullet

I get a lot of jokes and stuff about my bikes, but yeah, I ride what I like!

Juan Foote

You should change your username to Johnny Huffy....

dr_lha

Great story! The most important thing is to ride what makes you happy.

Retro Grouch 

Yup, where maintenance is concerned, I think it's like comparing an old pick up truck to a race car.

Duo

Acquire any bike that FITS.

For my brother it was recumbent bicycle because of his physical injuries. Great story btw, for us recreational riders there is no real need for high end anything, unless it helps with getting out and riding. As kids we rode anything and were glad to have it; looking back we were prolly happier. Our second hand bikes in the 60's would be considered tanks today, heavier than even the Schwinns.

For that reason and others, i tend to ride steel touring bikes. Occasionally i will demo some lighter bikes at the store, the better shops have lots of demo bikes and they want you to ride. All those demo bikes are sold off in the fall, so it is a win/win situation.

Part of the fun for me getting back into cycling was refurbing an old Schwinn tandem from the 80's so a handicapped person could ride with me. This was a high end tandem, but was abused. From my experience a few things are needed: an anatomical type of seat for butt comfort and comfy type tires like the 27 x 1 1/4 of that era. Probably the 28mm or 32 mm tires would work on the newer 700 wheels of today. The 25 mm tires on my newer touring bike don't seem to do anything for me; the bike came with 32 mm.

You got me thinking though, i have an old Schwinn High Sierra mtb from the 80's and maybe putting on some drop bars and narrow tires would make the bike more fun to ride.

Needles

Good read, Mr. Mullet! Maybe it'll give the bike snobs something to think about. Over the years, my personal rides have usually started as cheaply acquired frames that I made into what I wanted. It started in the '70s with a Sears frame I got out of the trash when I was in college. (It was actually a lugged frame, made in either Belgium or Netherlands, but I can't remember which.) Nowadays the simple fact is that 90% of all frames are made in the same 2 or 3 Chinese factories, welded by robots. I'd say this is true of virtually any bike that retails $1000 or less, especially in steel or aluminum. In fact, it's also true of carbon fiber frames, at a higher price point.

The quality of the frame itself on a WalMart, Target, KMart, or Sears bicycle is probably on par with below $1000 bikes at the LBS. Sure, you have to fit "average" size. Sure, the components can suck, and sure, they are heavy and were assembled by someone without a lot of bike mech experience, but for someone like me, who has always worked on their own bikes, that's not a major problem. You have to remember, for much of my life, there were no LBSs. Bikes that were not bought at Sears or Montgomery Wards were bought from Western Auto or True Value. You maintained and repaired them yourself or they were thrown away.

As much as some lament the quality of Schwinn nowadays, the reality is that the WalMart Schwinns, Murrays, and Huffys are probably better than they were "back in the day," at least in the quality of frames. Sure, you have to look closely at the welds--- the quality control on low end bikes is likely not on par with more expensive bikes. But, for someone who's not afraid to wrench on their ride, a big box store bike is a viable entry or re-entry into cycling. For one thing, as long as it's functional, you can ride. You can upgrade in stages, spending what you want, a little at a time, rather than having to finance a more expensive ride. Good for you, Mr. Mullet!

Johnny Mullet

I have heard that crimped chainstays are crap and junk,but in my experience, I have NEVER seen these come apart even on the old BMX bikes I beat the crap out of.

I seen some of the China build Huffy bikes and my wife has one. The welds are horrible.

fietsbob

MAMIL Diesel Truck guys have different needs ..

Ashtabula, is the generic name for that Old Chicago Schwinn's forged steel One Piece Crank .

knightblaze

Thanks for this great post! I recently got back into riding, bought a Schwinn OR2 from Target. I tweaked, adjusted, and tightened everything on the bike and it was excellent all for the saddle and the front suspension fork. I was going to eventually swap those out but of course I fell upon this site and read all the BSO comments and comments from my LBS. Went to my LBS and after being fitted, ended up with a Trek 7.1FX that I am still uncertain of. Same shifters as the Schwinn, brakes aren't as grippy and I have a weird chain sound on 3rd for the front derailer between 5-7 on the rear. Sounds like its rubbing under stress or maybe something with the crank, this is after the bike was 100% verified by their master mechanic. Going back to the shop the next sunny day for a look over. All in all I don't see the difference while riding the two except the extra money I spent. I've since returned the OR2, but if the LBS cannot rectify the issue I may be forced to return the Trek as well.

Your post brought back some great memories in my Murray 10 spd and 21 spd mountain bikes. In my opinion, ride what makes you happy. So long as its something that you enjoy riding, don't let others influence your decision. Granted there may be substantial differences in upper tier performance bikes ($1k+) but in the sub $500 range my experience thus far hasn't been significantly different.

Eric3.0

Wow, that is a nice looking and well built Huffy. They truly don't make them like that anymore, great shame.

I bought A Huffy cruiser last winter and already the chain guard got wadded up in the pedal, causing a total lock up and me falling. The right grip keeps pushing slowly down and I have to keep pushing it back up. The bike rides nice and is fun, but really not as quality built as the old huffys.....for sure.

Wingsprint

Thanks for sharing, great story!

Johnny Mullet

I been reading a lot of older posts and threads and anytime I search for a certain Huffy bike on Google, this site comes up. So much hate! In my experience with older USA built Huffy bikes the only issues are adjustments and tweaks. The newer China built Huffy bikes are pure garbage and an insult to the name.

My first recent Huffy has come a long way since being a standard mountain bike after I transformed it into a 700c commuter with upgraded components. Total cost of upgrades though the last few years equals about $90.00 and this is what I ride every day back and forth to work on my 10 mile round trip commute..........



My other Huffy is my racer/road bike and it's also a Huffy. I have more invested in this bike than all my other so called "better bikes" bikes I went through. I have a total of $280 invested in this bike including purchase price, new cables, new bars, upgraded brake levers, mega range freewheel, and new bar tape. This is my favorite bike so far.........

D1andonlyDman

You neglected one of the really strong points of Huffys: You probably don't need to carry a strong bike lock with you.

davegreg

Thanks for your share. The key to real success and fulfillment is to do what you love to do.

habilis

In 1980, I built up a 10-speed out of random steel parts and an old Raleigh frame. I was pleased with it until a "serious" cyclist told me he "wouldn't be caught dead" with a cottered steel crank. I kept the bike as a commuter and bought a semi-serious Puch Luzerne. The Puch was flashier and lighter, but somehow the Raleigh-framed Frankenstein seemed to go farther and more easily with every push of the pedals - at least on level roads. Must have been the inertia of the 40 lbs.

I recently stripped the Raleigh down to its frame, kept the steel Nervar cottered crank, and built a fixed-gear bike with alloy wheels and low-ratio gearing (51/21, giving 64 gear-inches). It's my favorite daily ride, preferred over my geared bike. Lately, I've read about people looking for cottered cranks to restore the classic looks of their vintage bikes. One guy lovingly re-chromed his Nervar. It seems that we sometimes move in huge circles, ending up where we started.