Originally Posted by
Reflector Guy
As far as kid's bikes go, they probably weren't bad bikes. They were hugely popular when I was a kid. Probably weighed less than the mountain bikes kids ride nowadays.
My brother and I used to get hand-me-downs from the much larger and mostly-older family next door, and their "50s-era" bikes were outdated and pokey compared to the various Schwinns in the catalog our parents brought home one day to torment us with. I'd have been the happiest kid on the block if I had a new Sting-Ray... It looked like a motorcycle!
Yeah, maybe the real issue was not encouraging kids to go from those bikes to the next level once they outgrew them. But I can't help but think the unnecessarily heavy, bechromed, style over substance retro style was carried on for too long. It for sure affected the way bikes were made in the US into the 80s, anyway.