MMACH 5

X-mas 1971—I had just turned five.

It was a Sears knockoff of the Schwinn Stingray. Red with chrome, ape-hangers. A white, vinyl, banana seat and a squared-off rear tire.

My mom taped a piece of paper to my headset with these stick figures on it:


I rode it everywhere.

Bdaisies

You know, when I got back into cycling a couple of years ago, I had to research those signals again on the internet. LOL.

Who'd buy their old bikes back? I may, if i found it in good condition, and fix it up for my future spawnlings.

jhota

NFL-licensed Dallas Cowboys BMX. chrome everywhere. blue banana seat with an NFL shield.

think it came from Sears.

weighed a mother-loving ton.

and yeah, i'd probably buy it back again.

Allen

One


Two

leob1

It was blue, had 16 inch wheels, and had training wheels. The training wheels didn't last too long, very un-cool. Later a Mattel Vroom was added. I loved that bike, every kid wanted to ride it with the engine. It got passed down to my brother, he rode it a few years, until my mother backed over it.

alhedges

Red Schwinn cruiser type bike, 20" wheel, one speed, coaster brake. No ape hangar bars, just regular cruiser bars. After having had the bike a year or so, the handlebars rusted through and my dad replaced them with a salvaged steering wheel, which made the bike iconic in the neighborhood.

Not infrequently, while going down hills, the chain would come off, which meant that I had no brakes. I distrust coaster brakes to this day.

In retrospect, I suspect that this was some sort of secret eugenics program carried out in the early 70's. I appear to have passed.

MMACH 5

So here I am tooling along, Christmas morning, in front of my grandmother's house.

I know my mom has some other shots of the bike in one of her photo albums. It turns out this was 1970, not '71.

Catgrrl70

Don't remember first bike since I was very young - I do remember the training wheels and the driveway though! The first bike I remember was likely my next bike...a navy blue Schwinn girl's bike, white bannana seat, raised bars, tassles off the grips (which were sparkly blue). This was around 1976 or something. I loved that bike - still have a picture of it somewhere. I was wearing a multipattern poncho in the picture, signs 'o the times! LOL

DVC45

I had a Mongoose BMX circa mid-80's. It was stolen in '88. ' never had a bike again until a day before thanksgiving of '05.

PaulH

Yes. It was a full adult-sized Columbia in 1956. The thing was so big for me that for the first six months I was riding, i had to use a doorstep or big rock to mount it. My father taught me to ride by starting me off at the top of a steep hill and shouting encouraging things.

The bike was way ahead of its time. It had fenders; wide, puncture-resistant tires; a chainguard; and a kickstand -- all technology that we are just starting to see again in 21st century bikes. Went great in snow.

Paul

Catweazle

I'm kinda pleased my Mum didn't tape that diagram on my bike here in Australia, where the signal indicated there as a 'right turn' is actually a stop signal.

I'm also, by the way, quite impressed with the skills of the one-armed cyclist depicted in the diagram!

BarracksSi

My first bike is STILL at my mom & dad's house in the garage. It's nearly 30 years old.

It's an AMF Roadmaster 20" kid's bike with a red frame that has a slight arch to the top tube & seatstays. It came with apehanger bars with white tape (typical, really), fenders, and a flame yellow & red banana seat. I swapped the handlebars, seat, and pedals to make a pseudo-BMX bike.

I'm sure that there are pictures at home, but I don't know where they are and/or if Mom scanned any of them. There's probably some Super8 film of me riding it, too.

MMACH 5

LOL - Sure, but isn't everything upside-down in Australia?

Catweazle

Nope. Only thing upside down in Australia is the male kangaroo, which has its scrotum and testicles ABOVE its penis.


But that's OT, of course

10 Wheels

1952 Huffy with a kisser on the back.

girljen

I got a little pink and purple Huffy (single-speed with coaster brakes...and streamers!) from my grandma for my sixth birthday.

Juggler2

Long time ago... red cruiser type JC Higgens (sp). Loved that bike. Still do.

donnamb 

It was the best bike.

Rev.Chuck

Would have to be around 1970, birthday present. The bike was red/gold, white seat with red piping and training wheels. It was stolen and later found minus the training wheels and (for some reason) the seat cover. I learned to ride without training wheels because of that bike.

PhotoByMark

It was a Ross Apollo. I remember I really really wanted the 5 speed version but ended up getting the single speed version. It was a great bike and I rode it everywhere including to school and back. When I first got the bike I had a horn/light combo on it. I remember sitting in class (3rd grade) and seeing other kids at lunch pushing the horn button. LOL. I removed the horn! Oh, and one more short story. Riding home from school cut across the road to go to my house. Got pulled over by DPS and given a ticket (failure to signanl or something like that). LOL! 8 years old and my first moving violation. My family still talks about that one.

While not my image I think it is ok to link to another image. I will remove if need be.
Anyway, here is 5 speed version. Mine was the single speed version.

dynodonn 

My first bicycle was a red and white fixie(my only fixie), I don't remember the exact brand, but might have been a Western Flyer, and the most I remember about the bike was having to take my feet of the pedals while watching them spin madly as I went flying down the steep hill next to our house.

MarylandDeRosa

I had the same bike...here is a pic.

MMACH 5

Upon seeing more images from 1970, it turns out this was not the bike with the squared off rear wheel.

That was my orange, Sears 5-speed like this one. I'm not sure what year I got it, but I'll have to look through more photo albums to see.

One thing I did discover in these photos is that my mom was rockin' the groovy hairstyle and purple jumpsuit!

akatsuki

Huffy BMX -> Schwinn -> Peugeot.

Isn't that the usual order for a lot of people?

Condorita

Must've been 1960 or 1961. J C Higgins. Although there must have been something before that with training wheels on it.