Are you Gen X? Want to do a little time travelling?

Found a pic of what my main transport was from 85 to about 89. I still vividly remember the time I was coasting down a nice hill and applied the front brake only to see and hear the arm assembly dissintegrate into bits. (the cool guys took them off anyways) From then on out, the soles of my shoes were my only brakes as the rears didn't work and the pedals were freewheel. It ain't much in the world of bicycles, but was my everything for a few years.

 

I don't recall this, but it sure looks period-correct. My mom was the only 'girl' I knew that wore parfume. She always wore Charlie. She used to let me buy it for her for her birthday or Christmas.

 

An endearing flaw. If the tire was rubber, there'd hav been no 'peeling' out! Same for rear...what? No sliding??

 

When I was a boy, the first thing we always did with an object like a big wheel was all the things that you weren't supposed to be doing.

 

I got this bike in ‘75 maybe. Wood blocks were attached to the pedals so I could reach. My parents also attached a “motorcycle throttle” that made revving noises when you twisted it. BMX bikes didn’t become a thing until a couple years later, and I was stuck with this weird bike. The one benefit was that it was really comfy to ride two people.

I would’ve loved a BMX bike instead, but I rode this one just like it. Then years later, my parents made me chip in $30 to buy my 10 speed bike. Also a Huffy, also goofy looking. It came with blue tires with tan sidewalls! (Neither pic is mine.)

I was never the cool kid.

 

I don’t remember doing it much — pretty much everyone had their own bike with them at all times. I did ride that 10-speed like a dirt bike almost every day. Through sandy trails, dirt jumps, etc. Those heavy steel rims could take a beating!
My aunt wasn’t much older than me, and during frequent trips to my grandparents I’d ride around on her old 3-speed Schwinn with a glitter banana seat. That thing was cool! My grandparents had all the cool old toys left over from my aunt and uncle: lawn darts, a 25lb recurve bow, one of those vibrating football games…

 

Ah yes, a child's first introduction into being 'intoxicted'. lol

 

My first bicycle had a nanner seat on it and looked pretty similar. I can't produce a pic because I'm pretty sure my dad cobbled it together from a couple of bikes.

 

I sure do remember this!


I had a bunch of those Stompers.