uncle uncle

I have tried to interest some of my bicycling buddies into doing a Boomer Ride, aka, a show off your entry level late 60's/early 70's 10 speed bike. And though most of them have a Schwinn LeTour, Pug U08, Gitane Grand Sport Deluxe, or Raleigh Grand Prix, in their stables, none of them seem interested in a celebratory ride to pay homage to this under appreciated section of bicycling history. I'm just looking for suggestions on more possible bike selections and appropriate wear. What was the prevailing garb for people who were just looking for a 10 speed to get them from point A to B with a little more style and grace than what was available at Sears and Western Auto? According to most Schwinn catalogs then, tight nutter shorts (with a belt), mandatory white tube socks and white tennis shoes. Any shirt would be acceptable, as long as the tails were tucked in. Sound about right to those who lived the history back then?

John E

If there were one in my area, I would be delighted to participate, as long as the others would not object to a UO-8 with aluminum rims, aluminum Sugino crankset, SunTour Cyclone and Shimano Titlist derailleurs, SunTour barcons, modern Blackburn pump, black Salsa stem (no AVA stem of death for me!), etc. At least I have period correct Pletscher mousetrap rack and cylindrical Bellwether front bag.

RubberLegs

Wait.....what you are describing is what I normally wear..... ;-)

Chris_in_Miami

I've thought about organizing a vintage bike ride in my county, but haven't gone through with it yet. If I do, I'll be sure to specify that all types & ages of bikes are welcome, otherwise I'd probably be pretty lonely. The more the merrier is my policy when it comes to social events, and I think the number of people with an interest in vintage bikes is pretty low in this area.

Make the ride more about the people and less about the bikes, and you'll have a better turnout and more fun IMHO.

Flying Merkel

Where are you at? I have a '72 Schwinn Continental. Be a lot of fun to dress up like a model in a Schwinn catalog of the era and cruise happily in my Sear's Best togs.

Six jours

The basic problem is that most people who have ridden boomer bikes don't ever want to again. Unless, like John E., they've replaced all the stuff that made them want to not ride boomer bikes. And "Bikes that used to be boomer bikes but now actually function" isn't an especially catchy moniker for a ride. Unless it is. Hell do I know?

ilikebikes

I would most def be in on a "Boomer Ride."

zukahn1 

Well 70's Franch Style you go Jeunet figure it out.

uncle uncle

I'm in Kansas. And, it wasn't like it was going to be a big scheduled ride, just an attempt to get a few buddies together and ride bikes and eat some breakfast at a restaurant (or maybe just coffee and donuts) and share some laughs. A goofy, go at a somewhat leisurely pace, totally non-race social event. I (we) would welcome any bicycle. In my city, there is a fairly big contingency of people who ride "paper boy bikes" and muscle bikes in a club, but few who ride classic ten speeds in that same crowd. They get together and bar hop on a regular basis. We also have a club that organizes bike rides, with speeds from "race training" to "century ride training". Really, if the rides morphed into a classic steel ride group, I would also be happy with that. Part of the genesis was that paper-boy and muscle bikes sell for a fairly good premium around here (with all rusty examples advertised as "rat rod ready") that those bikes are priced beyond a "I'll get it just for kicks" pricing level. But entry level bike boom ten speeds get very little love and thus can sometimes be found on CL for a wallet friendly price. I would even be good with 70's Huffy's, Sears Ted Williams, and the such.

brianinc-ville

I'm thinking you've got three options:

luker

What I wore in the 70's:

Blackbottom wool shorts (made in Salt Lake then), a t-shirt if it was a training ride, else a woolie jersey, little teeny white socks (USCF said!), kangaroo leather shoes with real wooden soles, crochet-back gloves, and a leather hairnet if it was a criterium, for all else a proper cycling cap with the brim turned up. Talk about organic! Wearing dead animal parts is about as organic as one can get...and I still have a lot of that crap, too.

Oooh, and a little cycle computer that went tictictictic until you were completely crazy.

The bar part of that ride sounds like fun...

cobrabyte

Genius! lol

seedsbelize 

And at the other end of the scale, I wore bell bottoms with clips, tennis shoes and a tshirt. No helmet. No computer. No shirt, No shoes, No service.

uncle uncle

https://waterfordbikes.com/SchwinnCat...0/1972_01.html

I was thinking along these lines; I really like the guy to gal ratio here. It had to be the bikes, right?

Chombi

OK,.... Shorty shorts, usually red, white or blue with piping on the sides and leg openings., Plaid Flannel shirt with a t-shirt inside with your favorite 70's rock group logo printed on it, tube socks, cheap pseudo no brand running shoes (Nike wasn't quite there yet) or earth shoes for the nerdy types, Oshkosh B'Gosh or Levis overalls for cold weather riding. Casio's latest digital black plastic watch. A thin headband with "HEAD" printed on it or a boxy trucker's cap with white mesh sides with your choice of logos up front, long greasy hair.....yup! biking as kids in the 70's we were sooo khewl!!!

Chombi

Kactus

Sounds about right! Denim bell bottom dungarees or 501's, tennis shoes (with white gym socks) and plain white tees. Cut-off jeans if it was really hot out.

No one I knew would be caught dead dressed like the guys in the Schwinn catalogs.

ascherer 

Bell-bottoms or cutoffs, graphic t-shirt (like my Boone's Farm Strawberry Wine shirt), low-rise red canvas Converse sneakers and a backpack. Wide leather belt and aviator sunglasses. Maybe a terry headband if it was deep summer.

Cougrrcj

Lets see... Back in the '70s I wore cutoff tight-nutter jeans, a t-shirt, white tube socks with green stripes, Puma 'road runner' white leather w/green stripe shoes, crochet-back gloves, Photo-Sun (photo-chromatic) aviator prescription glasses with a mirror atached to them, and no helmet because I had hair. If it was chilly out, add green sweats with a white stripe down the leg, and the matching (contrasting?) white zippered sweat top with green striping down the arms.

Today it is a pair of short khaki 'hiking' shorts, a T-shirt, crochet-back gloves, ankle socks, an ancient pair of Specialized MTB/riding shoes, a helmet (no hair) and wrap-around sunglasses. And a high-vis reflective mesh vest, and a strobe light on the rear of the rack. If it is too cold or raining, I don't ride. No time to be spending hours detail-cleaning the bike.

Speaking of which, I'm still riding the same mid-70s Fuji S-10S with Pletscher rack, although it has been updated as components wore out over the years... We've been together for too many years and too many miles to replace it with anything more modern.

Robofunc

I would totally do a ride like this.

rm -rf

The 1972 Raleigh catalog (pdf) has some ideas. From Retro Raleighs.

Turtleneck, vest, bell bottoms.
Plaid skirt, vest, knee socks.

oddjob2

I'm no expert on organizing, but I think you need these ingredients:

- Costumes make it non competitive, non speed ride - Tweed's a theme and harkens back to a slower pace. If you're looking for 70's themes, it could be Peace, Hair, Classic Rock, Disco, Psychedelic, etc. Costume awards too.

- A few cosponsors.

- Beer, food, and music at the termination point.

- Good weather!