What's was your first bike?
02-27-20, 07:31 PM
#26
aka Tom Reingold
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I bet you mean coaster brake rather than fixed gear. You pedaled backwards to stop, right? That's a coaster brake.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
02-27-20, 07:45 PM
#27
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^^^^^ Possibly, I remember the jumps more than the stopping. Usually stopping consisted of dragging my Keds on the dirt.
If I remember at all, stops were by locking up and skidding. That would be a kid competition, who could leave the longest skid mark.
If I remember at all, stops were by locking up and skidding. That would be a kid competition, who could leave the longest skid mark.
Last edited by CAT7RDR; 02-27-20 at 07:48 PM.
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02-27-20, 09:52 PM
#29
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1960’s Aurelia cowboy high wheel.
02-28-20, 01:56 AM
#33
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My first bike was a BMX, I remember I was very happy and proud about it because I saved money and I bought it with my own money 
02-28-20, 07:04 AM
#34
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Something like this?
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02-28-20, 07:30 AM
#35
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I want to say a red 20-inch Schwinn Typhoon circa 1967. It looked like this, but red:
Soon to be replaced by my brother's hand-me-down green Schwinn Sting-Ray. with slick back tire and bottle generator on the front wheel. That bike took me everywhere until I was 12 and I got a 10-speed.
Soon to be replaced by my brother's hand-me-down green Schwinn Sting-Ray. with slick back tire and bottle generator on the front wheel. That bike took me everywhere until I was 12 and I got a 10-speed.
02-28-20, 09:38 AM
#36
Senior Member
My first bike was a Raleigh Chipper. The smaller version of their Chopper bike.
Loved it!!
Loved it!!
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02-28-20, 10:38 AM
#38
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I posted about it above, but I'm pretty sure I tracked down what it was--a "convertible" bike that my dad bought me so it could be handed down to my sister:
https://bikehistory.org/bikes/bantam/
Mine was "flamboyant red".
https://bikehistory.org/bikes/bantam/
Mine was "flamboyant red".
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02-29-20, 02:13 PM
#39
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Mid-60s Schwinn Stingray, dark blue with a 2 speed coaster brake hub.
02-29-20, 02:25 PM
#41
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02-29-20, 03:54 PM
#43
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1954ish
4 wheel style 20" monkeywards?
02-29-20, 03:55 PM
#44
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Holy crap, after I was done reading all the posts I was going to post this pic of MY first bike (from 1980-81?), and now you beat me to it! I beat the snot out of that bike. left it in the rain exclusively, and oiled the chain once a year with vegetable oil from the kitchen.
Last edited by Riveting; 02-29-20 at 04:00 PM.
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03-02-20, 12:11 PM
#45
Member
My first bike was a 1960s purple Schwinn Varsity. I think they only made that color for a few years. I periodically check sites to see if I can find one again. Nostalgia has a huge grip on me.
Joel
Joel
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03-02-20, 12:30 PM
#46
Georgia Traveler
My first bike was a piece of junk. My dad ran a bicycle shop in town and at our home he had a large pile of old junk bikes that he saved for scrap and would haul off to the junk dealer from time to time. One time when my grandparents who lived next door were burning some leaves in their yard (typical back in the '50s) some of the fire burned over into the pile of junk bikes. As a real young kid I had a tricycle that I loved to ride, but when I was about 5 years old I decided I wanted a bike...of course the bike dealer's son was always last on the list for a new bike. I started digging around in that old pile of junk bikes and pulled out a 16" rusty old junker bike that had wheels with welded spokes and semi-pneumatic hard rubber tires that were held on by a wire that ran through the center of the tire. The rear tire had been halfway burned off on one side by that pile of burning leaves, the front wheel was badly warped and scraped on the front fork, the front sprocket was warped, the chain was very rusty and all that was left of the seat was the metal base plate (the seat cover and padding had rotted away). I got my older brother to oil up the chain for me and I started learning to ride that bike. I would drag it up a little hill and then coast on it down the hill. I fell a lot, but finally learned to balance on the thing. Then I tried balancing and pedaling and still fell a lot, but I finally got the hang of it. I guess it is one of those skills like walking, once you learn it just comes naturally and you no longer think about it. I rode junker bikes for several years until I got big enough for a 26" bike and woke up one Christmas morning to find a Schwinn Typhoon with a Bendix two-speed coaster brake waiting for me next to the Christmas tree.
03-02-20, 12:33 PM
#47
Junior Member
This was me with my first bike, a Ross compact. This would have been about 1978.
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03-02-20, 01:11 PM
#49
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I don't remember what kind of bike it was.
I only remember that it was red, and I broke it try to jump it on a cinder-block-and-plywood ramp. I mean REALLY busted - broke the frame right in two.
I only remember that it was red, and I broke it try to jump it on a cinder-block-and-plywood ramp. I mean REALLY busted - broke the frame right in two.
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03-02-20, 01:23 PM
#50
Member
Mine was a late 50's early 60's Western Flyer. Then, as I got older, a larger Western Flyer.