Bike Forums - Thanks for letting me in!

I'm 69-y-o and have been riding since I was 6 or 7. THAT began with a beater 26x2.125" skip-tooth ladies' bike a relative gave my Parents. My legs were not yet long enough to ride it from the seat. But I knew how long our farm driveway was, walking to wait for the school-bus. So it didn't take me long to figure out--by how much a Bicycle beat walking.

DUE RESPECT if any purists read this: I do not recognize "Frankenbike" as a pejorative. It describes every bicycle I've ever owned. Last one I 'customized' was a fenderless 26" lightweight (Bendix) coaster-brake; brand-name uncertain; some metallic color. I tore it down & painted the frame black, added chromed fenders & bottle-dynamo lights, & put on a front 'mousetrap' carrier & rear WALD® 520 set. I ended up taking it aboard my ship when that changed homeports to the Mediterranean in 1980. The upside: it wasn't ever stolen. The downside: unless you're a bodybuilder, no coaster-brake bicycle is GOOD alternate-transportation in a hilly Mediterranean port-town. More upside: in ~11 months there, I became VERY familiar with routes to some places I frequented: walking the whole way vs riding that bike (which meant walking *IT* half the distance). It still got me there in about half the time, & with my shirt a bit less damp! I still have that anchor, but it's been out of service a very long time.

Currently, I have a K-Mart® Huffy® 6spd "Comfort-cruiser" I bought in 1999 and rode briefly in Vienna WV. Quite a long story; for now I still have it (as a long-term project as I hate to give up on my mistakes). I also have a more-recent 7spd Schwinn® Riverside™ (also from K-Mart; still N I B with all proofs-of-purchase). Thus-far, I suspect the Huffy will inherit its black enameled fenders while *IT* gets fatter chromed ones that wouldn't fit the Huffy; that and a LEVER-shifter because I've formed a strong opinion or 3 about twist-grip shifters! But it won't be out of its box until I've examined my REGISTRATION options (another long story). As I don't have a publisher's license, I suspect that's a long enough introduction. Best regards, all.