omgitzelim

My first bike was a Schwinn SS Cruiser, well its the first one I can remember? How about you?

subgrade

Soviet/Lithuanian made Ereliukas-8, just like the one on the photo. Those are 24" wheels so the bike is actually smaller than in looks.



Before that there was also a kids bike with small, 12" (I think) wheels, but from what I remember, I did only few rides on it with the balance wheels on, and didn't learn to ride properly on it. It had the same coaster brake hub as most Soviet bikes, and my dad cannibalized it for his own when something broke in his.

livedarklions

Mid-1960s. My dad didn't know how to ride a bike, so he didn't know anything about them. I'm two years older than my sister, so when he bought my first bike, he decided to plan on it being a hand-me-down. I don't remember the brand, but he bought a "girl's" bike that had a step-through frame and a detachable top bar to convert it into a "boy's" bike. Obviously, the detachable bar had no real function, and also wouldn't stay on when the bike was ridden, so I was very quickly riding what was obviously a girl's bike. That was considered a no-no at that time, so I also very quickly got a new bike. I remember that the crossdress bike was red.

bruce19

This one. I'm the kid on the left in the baseball cap. I have no idea what it was.

Phil_gretz

Sears Spyder 5 speed. I rode it to school in 3rd grade and had it stolen from the bike rack, later recovered by the local police undamaged. That would've been 1967.
[internet photo. identical, but not mine.]

cb400bill

Mid 60's Radiant Coppertone Schwinn Sting-ray Deluxe. Rode that bike everywhere.

Like this one.

noimagination

Easy. 1969, "department" store bike. The store was called Holiday, their logo was a stylized red-white-blue tulip. It was a gas station/general goods store, this was in Northern Wisconsin. I remember they had soda with their brand on it, the cans didn't have a pull tab you had to use a church key can opener to puncture the metal on top. This was in cans covered with colored circles: brown (root beer, I think), green (lemon-lime), orange (orange, duh), red (cola), and I think purple (grape). I used to buy baseballs there, 33 cents each, when we lost one.

The bike was red, with white plastic seat, white handlebar grips with red and white streamers. Who knows who actually made it. It wasn't like my friends' bikes, they had bikes with banana seats, sissy bars and those high handlebars. I rode it for a couple of years, then bought a friend's old bike ($10), also red and handed my old bike down to my brother. The bike I bought from my friend eventually got painted purple when I handed it down to my sister.

I lusted after a Schwinn Stingray, but never got one.

Third bike was a Montgomery Wards bike (green), but at least it had a banana seat and high handlebars.

CAT7RDR

My first bike was a fixed gear green Stingray Peapicker circa 1972. I broke the banana saddle a few times launching it off of a ramp before dad had enough of taking it to the bike shop. Sweet times!

Ironfish653

I remember learning to ride on what was probably a 16" Western Flyer. It was yellow with a blue tank.

My first new bike was a Kent BMX, of one stripe or another. It had blue metal-flake paint, red pads, and blue tires on 5-spoke 'Mags'
It was Totally Rad.

indyfabz

Something purple from Sears. Had a green Sears trike before that.

taco2ewsday

the first one I remember was a Huffy Santa Fe, got it from Toys 'R Us there was something with training wheels before that but I don't recall

horatio 

My first bike was red. Huffy or Murray. No photos, unfortunately.

jgwilliams

Really can't remember; a single-speed bike with 20" wheels is the first one I have a recollection of. I think the label on it was 'Triumph' but I can't even clearly remember the colour.

However, the first bike I actually bought turned out to be a bit of a classic. It was a second-hand Witcomb with 531 butted tubing, Campagnolo Nuovo Record rear derailleur and a simplex front derailleur, Campagnolo hubs and tubular wheels. It probably dated from the late fifties but was in quite nice condition. After a few years (1974, I think) the thread in the bottom bracket stripped so I went to Witcomb in Deptford, East London for help. We ummed and aahed for a bit and eventually I bought a new 531 frame tailor made to my size. I still have that frame now with the original Cinelli bars, although everything else has now changed. At some point around 2000 I decided I wanted it to be useful rather than a museum piece and had it adapted to take 700C wheels and modern parts and put an all-new Campagnolo Veloce groupset on it. Only two changes since then: the Veloce hubs couldn't take the daily grind so it now has Chorus hubs, and I swapped the chainset for a Stronglight compact one.

Miradaman

Had a banana seat Huffy as a kid, and a Huffy Santa Fe 10-speed in junior high and high school, but they were strictly a means to an end and didn’t really resonate with me. Biking finally clicked with me in my early 20s, after years of not riding, so my first bike as a “real” cyclist was a Schwinn Mirada Sport I got new right after college. I loved that Schwinn and rigged it with fenders, rack and baskets, and it served as a daily commuter, errand runner, grocery getter and recreational rider. I put 11,000+ miles on it over 20 years before it was stolen. And now that I’ve owned other bikes (including other Miradas from different model years) I realize, in retrospect, that it was an utter garbage bike. Clumsy, slow, with cheap components, not at all smooth or easy to ride, with goofy geometry that made my back ache even in my 20s, something no other bike, no matter how cheap, has ever managed to do. But it took me all over Chicago and a couple other cities, over rural roads and bike trails all over the midwest, on a couple of weekend overnight touring rides. Really wish I could get it back.

DrIsotope

Same. Part of my brain tells me it was a Murray, while another part is like... but was it a Huffy?

It was a 20" BMX bike, of that I'm certain. It also had a numberplate and blue pads/accents... or did it?

Fredo_Adagio

The first bike that was bought for me as opposed to being passed down from my sister was a late 1960s boy's bike from Sears. It was green, had a banana seat, and had a three-speed rear hub with a shift lever mounted to the top tube. I wish I had a photo. The next bike after that was a white Nishiki Olympiad ten-speed from circa 1973.

Batstar

Mine was a late 60s red plain Jane CCM. Can’t recall the model but it was a step through. Many of the kids at school were riding models sporting banana seats and Sissy bars and even some with top tube shifters. Always wanted one of those.

Ogsarg

Murray sting ray knock-off that was a birthday present around 1968. Nice root beer metal flake color. About 3-4 weeks after I got it, my brother borrowed it, left it unlocked, and it was stolen. The only new bike I had as a kid.

Doc_Wui

24" red Roadmaster in 1958, from the Western Tire store across the street. Probably cost a week's wages for the old man.

Lman

Crescent 10 speed.74'

rollagain

An early 1950s 24" Murray. Before I learned to ride--when I was maybe four or five--my brother used to ride me around on the back fender. I got it from him when he moved up to a 26" second-hand Columbia.

Sertsa

I don't remember the make, but it was a three speed that was far too big for me. My dad got a deal on a used bike, so I made it work. I remember having to push it up to the porch or find similar steps to get on it, and dismounting was stopping and catching myself as it fell, but I loved it. When my parents decided to move to the country, they sold a lot of things to raise money for the new house, including that bike. A couple years after moving, though, I got a Huffy.

chadtrent

I had a bunch of bikes growing up. I raced BMX for a long time. My first really good race bike was a Hutch Expert.

As an adult my first bike was a Specialized Allez. I think a 2002 or 2003 model. Got it used from my father in law. Rode 4 miles and I think I walked two of them. I still remember how much I loved that bike though.

noglider 

I think my first bike was called a Schwinn Pixie. It had 16" wheels with solid tires. I found this picture which looks close.

Eric F 

This frame (Gary Littlejohn Murphy). Different parts.