Do you remember your first bicycle?

[ContinentalOp]

My first bike was a hand-me-down from my older sister. It was a pink girl's bike with a big white banana seat. I think there were streamers on the ends of the handlebars. My dad got some spray paint and painted it black, put a black banana seat on there, and replaced the white plastic grips with black rubber grips. I really liked that bike.

Second bike was a Huffy BMX bike from Sears, I think. After that I got into BMX freestyle/streetstyle, and had a Schwinn, a Haro, and a RL Bully. After high school I lost interest in riding. I think my parents put up with it because for most of my childhood it was about the only physical activity I had any interest in.

 

[Marshwheeling]

By the time the Scwinn Sting Rays came along, my friends and I were riding 26-inch English bikes. I liked the Sting Rays, but because they were considered kid bikes, I would not be seen on one. So I passed into adulthood feeling nostalgia for a bike I never had.

One day in the early ‘90s, I got a call from a buddy who was on vacation down in Missouri (on a pilgrimage to the Calhoun Boat Works, in Tiptonville, TN, but that’s another story). He had found a dealer who had a bunch of Czech-made Sting Ray clones, new and partially assembled in crates, seventy bucks, and did I want to buy one?

Did I? You bet I did. I ordered a blue one, as did another buddy. Mark got red and silver ones for his kids. My boy was about to head off to college, so I really had no use for the bike. But the bike had struck that chord of vicarious nostalgia.

Now my grandson has been riding the Rapido for a couple of years. My boy changed the seat and bars to fit him better. On Fathers’ Day, the three of us pedaled over to a local motorcycle/bicycle picnic. We ran into a kid there riding an almost identical Rapido. My buddy had still had his bike in a crate until this spring, when he gave it to the son of a friend. They were not the only kids at the picnic, but they were the only ones riding Czech bicycles.

 

[Golddollar]

I still have mine. It was a Sears bike that I won for selling the most candy for the YMCA when I was in 6th or 7th grade.

 

[walnutred]

I rode several hand me down bikes which were serviceable. First, and only new bike was a 5 speed,green metal flake Schwinn stingray. I'm ashamed to say how long it took me to connect Dad working almost every Saturday the year I got that bike for Christmas.

 

[Chuck24]

The only way I got more than one sped was to move my legs faster

 

[Ματθιας]

I, too, had a Sears BMX special. I was among the first kids on my block who had a bike with "alloy" wheels. It was the summer of 82 or 83. I traded it to a friend in high school. I wish I still had it.

 

[Drm50]

Mine was a Western Flyer Paper Boy Special. 26" heavy duty for going over curbs. I was about 10 when I got it and had a paper route. I did have a series of old junk before that. I only remember one an Elgin 26" that had big balloon tires on it and had been brush painted battle ship grey. I rescued it from trash.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

My brother and I had two old Schwinns. I think they were Typhoons? We kept them on the porch and they were stolen by a local punk nick named “Mousy” who put them on the railroad tracks. The train ran over them and we did not get bikes until years later after we moved to a better place.

 

[Erich]

A weird English folder . . . I think this was in Woods Hole, MA:

 

[ParadiseRoad]

...my first bike looked a lot like the one below...

...I was so proud when I was able to take the training wheels off...

...then I lent it to a poor kid in the neighborhood for a quick ride...he promptly hit a tree and broke one side of the handlebars off...

...pushed it home with tears in my eyes...my Mom said..."take it over to Bob and see what he thinks"...

...we lived around the corner from "Title's Reliable Garage"...

...I pushed it into the first garage bay and Bob Title saw the tears I was trying to hold back...he took it and said "wait here"...

...fifteen minutes or so later he came back with the handlebars brazed back together...and I lit up with a big smile...

...Bob smiled too and said..."no charge kid"...

 

[Drm50]

It was a big deal back when I was a kid to go on bike hikes. It was one of our favorite trips to go up the back roads to Key, Ohio and get on St Rt 147. From Key to Bellaire which was down on Ohio River. Hardly any peddling was required and the last 5 miles was all down hill and full of hair pin turns. You had to be careful you didn't burn up on re entry. We all had regular bikes except one kid who had a English bike with hand rakes and gear shift. Kid was a bit of a show off with his fancy bike. Anyway going down that last 5 mi hill he was passing other kids. He went into one of those hair pins at about warp 56 and downshifted and his chain came off.
He layed into the hand brakes about the time he hit the ditch. It threw him off in the briars but it still sticks in my mind it was amazing how far up in the air that bike went.

 

[notsofast]

The bikes with the shifters, hand brakes and skinny tires we called “English racers”. I had a candy apple red Schwinn Stingray 20”. Pleated banana seat mid rise ape hangers, solid bike it only occasionally needed tires.

 

[Frank46]

My dad worked for the Long Island railroad as an electrician and he never made all that much money. So started collecting old bikes that people left out for the garbage man. After about getting 8 semi complete bikes I sat down and started to see what fit what. Found a front wheel that fit the frame I had chosen. Down to the 7th rear wheel with gear,sproket and chain. And I basically had a functional bike. Had to disassemble the rear wheel cause the breakes didn't do so well.Took it to a local bike shop and the old man told me what the problem was. It needed new break shoes. And not having any money. As I started out the door he asked if I was interested in helping him clean out the shop. I said yes and for the next two weeks after school we dragged out all the old bikes that were junk and dumped them in a huge dumpster. Then same with the old tires. And just about anything he wanted to get rid of.After two weeks he handed me the old rim with the new shoes installed. Balletties bike shop on Jamaica avenue in Queens county NYC. Frank

 

[Alk8944]

Christmas 1953 or 54, Red 26" Schwinn Spitfire just like this one except the color was more vivid. Suspect So Fla Natives bike had spent lots of time in the hot sun by the time his photo was taken!

 

[pmanton]

I wanted a Schwinn with a tank but had to make do with a Rollfast.
Probably 1946-48 or so.

 

[427mach1]

We were so poor growing up my parents could only afford one wheel so I had to settle for this..... Still have it after 40+ years!

 

[88IROC]

My first was a red Dunelt, 20" wheels and hand brake. As other have alluded to, we called 'em "English bikes" because of the relatively thin 1 3/8" tires. My second bike was a Schwinn Traveller, black with chrome fenders, hand brakes and a 3 speed Sturmey Archer gear set. Next was a white Raleigh Record, my first 10 speed. I added aftermarket center pull brakes and Shimano shifters and derailleurs. After that came a silver Schwinn Le Tour which I rode for 18 years. My current ride is a blue Cannondale T900 which will be twenty next June. I keep telling myself it'st time to trade again but I haven't seen anything I like better.