My first bicycle was an early 1950s Schwinn American with paperboy handlebars and a Bendix 2-speed coaster hub shifted by a lever that resembled a brake lever. Six months later I moved up to a very basic 1962 Bianchi road bike and never looked back until decades later, when I started to appreciate Schwinn Paramounts.
Fast forward to the mid-1990s, and since then I have owned my second Schwinn, the newest bike in my fleet, my prized 1988 Project KOM-10 mountain bike. So, in that sense I started with a fat-tired Schwinn with 26" wheels and ended with a (somewhat different, to say the least) fat-tired Schwinn with 26" wheels.
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069