since6

Yeah, I know dating myself :

Ah, but I was so much older then I'm younger than that now.

My Back Pages

Bob Dylan

But browsing today I came across this Schwinn Speedster, marketing at its finest the age of “Corvette” and “Speedster” bicycles, speed sells even at 50lbs apiece, and I was struck by its speedometer (note the low mileage).




It appears up to 30 mph was an OK green speed but from 30 to 60 mph there is a cautionary orange (faded red?).

Yeah, 6 to 12 I remember cruising on my Schwinn Corvette at 30mph….sure I do.

old's'cool

I think "DORCY" has a spelling error

sdn40

Ahhh, the good ole days when a kid would be mesmerized by that until running into the back of a parked car. Good times.

Now there's 20,000 apps for that and it's no big deal.

scarlson 

I had an antique garage-sale-find Schwinn Speedster when I was growing up in the '90s. My parents would not let me leave our suburban cul de sac to cruise the neighborhood, which I thought unreasonable as an 11-year-old, so I hatched a plan. I persuaded my dad to mount an old Huret Multito odometer to the front axle, and then I rode a century, around in circles in the cul de sac, over the course of two days.

They let me cruise the neighborhood streets after that. I wore out three or four Multito drive belts before I outgrew the bike.

since6

sdn40, Yes!

I had just dropped off a weeks worth of books at the local library and picked up a few new ones riding my Schwinn Corvette, books held firmly in the mouse trap sprung front rack. Mind wandering as you do around 10 when "BANG" rode right into the bumper of a parked car and down we went. Got up, no books had fallen out of the rack and thanks to balloon tires and steel chrome bumpers neither the bike nor the car were damaged. Being a small town only my pride observed the event and that was soon pedaling away with a degree of heightened vigilance.

jackbombay

This, is fantastic, it will probably be the best thing I'll read for several weeks :-)

verktyg 

One morning back in 1976 I was headed off to school after cramming all night for my last final exam. Had to get there before they locked the doors to the lecture hall at 8:30am.

I was in a full head down sprint at 30+ MPH when 2 guys I casually knew drove past me in a car and waved.

They were hard core dopers doing a dope deal at 8:00am and they came to a quick stop right in front of me. When I hit their bumper I went flying up over their car and landed sprawled out on the hood. My glasses came off and got caught on the hood ornament. The impact as so violent that just about everything on the bike was trashed, somehow even the rear wheel!

They got out and weren't the least bit concerned about my condition. They were complaining about the minor damage that I did to their old Buick junker! Stoners at 8:00am!

I went to the ER that morning and the next day was able to talk the Prof into letting me take the exam at a later date. I needed that one last course to finish. He was a stickler for no exceptions, no excuses but with my 2 black eyes and a broken nose, he took pity on me.

Fortunately it was my trainer/around town beater bike with mid range components.

How to spot a serious cyclist after a spill:

1. Get up, look around to see if anyone saw you dump (avoid embarrassment)...
2. Check out the bike for any damage...
3. Check to see if you have any injuries!


verktyg

nomadmax 

First and foremost, a wreck like that is not funny.

Second, you made me laugh out loud

Mr. 66

Stoners saw my brother crash, when his brake straddle cable broke, into a shrubbery and he went flying. My bro said the reaction was, "whoa that was cool, can you do it again?"

since6

verktyg, if only you'd had the "Dorcy 26" cycle speedometer. That morning at 30+ mph you had traveled out of the safe "green" 30 mph zone and entered the "red" (now faded orange) danger zone.

But glad you were not injured any worse than you were.

crank_addict

I like the sloooow pace, Summer nights through the neighborhood. Comical speedometer on this 1965 Sears (made in Austria by Steyr). Gen lighting works pretty good too at slow speed.

non-fixie 

So, cruisin' ain't safe, eh?

d_dutchison

Ha! When I was a kid i spent my hard earned allowance on a plastic wind-driven speedometer. My older, wiser cousin was skeptical of its accuracy and refused to accept my claims of 40mph+, though I swear I cracked that speed every day on my way to school on my single speed CCM clunker.

merziac

Absolutely brilliant, pure genius.

madpogue 

21st-Century version - 2a. Check to make sure you caught the whole thing on your GoPro.

Few years ago, a perfect "stoopid things happen in threes" trilogy. Saturday of Art Fair weekend, 23823432 wandering tourists (give or take) in town.
1) State Street (our "no car" downtown retail street) is torn up for construction but still bustling. Crosswalk for W Johnson St is diverted by 50 feet or so. W Johnson is one-way eastbound with a left-side bike lane (buses use the right side). Wife and I are in the bike lane, bunch of tourists are crossing, AGAINST the signal, and for whatever reason, looking east rather than west as they cross. We slow down, we slow down, we nearly stop, and one young blonde just walks into my front wheel. We both get up and are fine, and I say, as nicely as I can, that the traffic IS coming from the west....
2) 10 minutes later, W Gorham St just off State, car on Gorham stops for more wandering tourists, car behind just plain doesn't notice, rear-ends the first car square on. Low speed, but a LOUD bang, minor but obvious damage to both cars. Lady in the car behind yells "YOUR CAR'S FINE" to the one ahead. Yeah, sure....
3) 20 minutes later, residential street behind the food co-op. We launch from a four-way stop, couple is coming the other way on bikes, five seconds after we pass, LOUD BANG. One of the couple just plowed into the back of the car parked just off the intersection. Square on, not even an attempt to swerve. Amazingly, no damage.

That seemed to mollify the Gods of Three for the day.

Well it ain't danger-ous either....

since6

non-fixie. I love that zero to about 12 mph is "Safe".

Now watching my two grandsons with their Mom, it is obvious that this speedometer was designed by a mother who had sons!

"Mom, what do you mean we can't joust with brooms on our bikes!"

old's'cool

Haha, when the movie Rollerball was playing, we played a version of it on soccerfields, with our hi-rise bikes

since6

non-fixie just curious I can read the first part of the name on your speedometer "SAFTI-GO???", but can't read the second half of the name.

Lovely bike, areo chain guard, looks like a machined front fender with a crease in it and chrome caps to the head of the fork.

Yeah, that's a sloooow motion rider.

uncle uncle

It's pronounced "D-O-R-K-Y".

droppedandlost 

I think it's "guide"

crank_addict

^ Yep, its Guide.

Here's a Dorcy on my wife's Raleigh Twenty. Funny because its for a different ratio wheel and this one reads faster than actual. I've never told her as she's always proud of any extra distance shown on the odometer. He-he

mgopack42 

Nice time capsule for me. I miss Lazy Jane's for breakfast and the Weary Traveler for beer, and hanging out. Maybe I can get back to the middle coast area some time this year!

dweenk

The Byrds - "My Back Pages"
They were so much older then, they're younger than that now.