Your Very First Bike

[Zen]

Mine was from Sears and Roebuck. I was kid sized, blue and red. I had these weird hard tires on it that didn't even hold air. I don't know what they were. It didn't take long to get over that and I started pedalling my sisters big bike, standing all the time 'cause I could reach either the seat or the pedals - it was one or the other. Seeing my need for a bike, my parents bought me a...wait for it.............HUFFY! It had the tank thing where you put batteries in for a headlight and a rack on the back for passengers. It was blue but soon painted white. I longed for a schwinn stingray but no, I never did get the cool stuff.

[shadon]

I remember it being in the second floor hallway and seeing it as I came down the stairs from the third floor. It was red and had training wheels. That bike was around for years, getting passed down to all of my siblings.

[northstar]

Mine was a lovely blue Schwinn. I think I was 6. It was tough learning to ride without training wheels on gravel out on the farm. I was just remarking how my Schwinn Suburban looks so much like a grown-up version of my first bike. Same color, even.

[RolliePollie]

My first two-wheeler was a pink Schwinn with a white and pink floral banana seat. Ooooh, that seat was soooooo pretty! It was smooth shiny vinyl and the flowers looked like they were hand painted (ok, I was 5 years old...but I was just in love with that pretty seat at the time!). I had one of those cool tall flags, a bell, and a white basket on the handlebars. My friends and I were allowed to ride all over the place by ourselves (this was in Southern California in the late 70's/early 80's). We even crossed busy 4-lane streets and intersections. I can't imagine letting a 5 or 6 year old go riding alone these days! It's sad that kids don't have that freedom anymore...we had so much fun as kids out on our own.

Around that time, my parents had these really neat old 3-speed folding Bianchis. I think they were 50's or 60's vintage. One was blue and one was green. They had step-through frames and if I recall correctly, you shifted by twisting the rubber grip on one of the handlebars. They were sold at a garage sale years ago...what a bummer! I've looked for these bikes on ebay but I've never found one.

[singletrackmind]

1972 grass green banana seat bike with sparkly green seat.

A lot like so...but green...
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/smcr/PinkBrentBanana20LOW20175w.jpg

[Aggie_Ama]

Mid-80's garage sale find when I was 5. Maybe my parents got it from a friend? Mine had a banana seat and was Strawberry Shortcake themed!! I didn't learn to ride until I was 8 though, so the bike mainly had training wheels and sat unused. The bike was replaced for me by my grandparents when I finally learned to ride.


The best though was my Huffy Color Wave 10 speed I had. It got stolen and I am still saddened. It was an aqua color, I wish I could find a photo!

[SouthernBelle]

I got mine for Christmas when I was 4. It was red and blue and had training wheels. Don't remember the brand, but I bet it was from Western Auto way back then.

[IFjane]

Mine was a blue huffy. I learned to ride without training wheels when I was five. My elementary school was exactly 1 mile from my house and EVERYONE either walked or rode bikes to school. There were two huge bike racks out by the cafeteria and that's where we all parked our bikes. In those days, the kids who lived real close even went home for lunch & came back. I didn't because I was just a little too far away. But - I rode my bike to school every day (unless it was raining) from kindergarten through 6th grade. At some point I "graduated" to a larger bike, but I don't remember when.

Memories: I had a basket on the front, and my dad fashioned a primitive bungee with wire and a piece of cut innertube so I could tie down my books and papers.

I took piano lessons and rode my bike to those, too. The lessons cost $1.50. My mom would fold two quarters up into a dollar bill & I would hold that in my hand as I pedaled to my lessons.

I hated the month of March. It was so windy and the wind would blow up my skirt & I couldn't keep it down....then the boys would laugh. :mad: This was "back in the day" before girls could wear pants to school.

In winter Mom had me wear wool leggings under my skirts. I hated the leggings but they did keep me warm.

[Cyclo Kitty]

Mine was a blue metallic single-speed Raleigh with a coaster brake. Might have been the Space Rider or the Colt. I rode it with my Dad all over Chicago, until I finally wore out the coaster brake! Coming down the hill from the Rookery behind the greenhouse in Lincoln Park, I shot across the street and into the park....Dad yelling at me about safety. He refused to believe the bake had failed until it tried it himself (by hand, he's 6'-2" and if it had gotten small for me at age 8, well, it was beyond him to squeeze onto it!).

I loved that bike, and I remember the shop where we bought it, and the next one, and Dad's bike so well. One reason I like my LBS here so much is that it smells just like Turin did in the 1970s and the guys are pretty similar too, but there are women mechanics and sales people.

[GLC1968]

My first bike (that belonged to me specifically) was a banana seat bike similar to the one that singletrackmind posted. I think it was either blue or purple. I honestly don't remember much about it except that the pedals were really close to the ground, so I had to be careful not to make a sharp right turn with the right pedal in the down position. I did once (luckily in an empty parking lot) and got one of those handlebars hard in the ribs. I had a nasty moon-shaped bruise on my torso for months and it was the first time I ever knocked the wind out of my lungs. It was scary! Now, 30+ years later, I still keep the inside pedal up when I make a turn.

The first bike I truly remember was a white 12-speed Huffy that I got when I was in 4th grade. It had foam covered drop handlebars and I rode it EVERYWHERE for years (literally, through junior high). I LOVED that bike. Funny thing is, I have no idea what happened to it! :confused:

[mimitabby]

my very first bicycle was a pink pin striped t hing with training wheels. After being terrorized by grown men pushing it down the street with me on it, i gave up on riding and that bike was probably left in a basement somewhere.

When I was 9, my father surprised me with a beautiful new bike.
It was a dark blue, and had only two wheels. He got on it, and rode it
in a circle; then he handed it to me; and I got on it and rode it.. like magic.
This is not my bike, but one like it.

http://www.bikeicons.com/images/1960%20Columbia%20Torpedo%20Girls.jpg

http://www.bikeicons.com/images/1960%20Columbia%20Torpedo%20Girls.jpg

[Meg McKilty]

I think I was 6 or 7, but it looked a lot like this with some bursts of stars and such. Pink Huffy with a white banana seat the neighbors dog chewed a bit after a while. I think I still have it somewhere...

http://img17.photobucket.com/albums/v51/PeteLaV/pink_sting_ray.jpg

[Crankin]

I was so little that when I was 6 or 7 my parents bought me a teeny teeny blue bike from Germany because they could not find one that fit me. I'm pretty sure it had cool stuff on it, but all of the boys in my neighborhood made fun of me because of the size. I only rode it with training wheels, though, because I just could not learn to ride. Finally, when i was 9, almost 10 my mom rented me a purple Schwinn when we were down the Cape and she patiently taught me to ride. I remember having absolutely no control and just veering across the road into parked cars (this was in a cottage colony, no real traffic). Anyway, i did learn and when we got home I got a turquoise Schwinn with the metal backseat on it , with a white stripe. It had coaster brakes and a white seat. I rode that for a year and in 6th grade I got a 3 speed black Raleigh with a Brooks saddle. I rode tons between 6th and 8th grade, and there were big hills where I lived. I think I got a slightly bigger Raleigh in high school, but after moving to Florida I rarely rode. Everyone drove.
I had a boyfriend who bought me a 5 speed race bike in the late seventies. I rode it to grad school classes at ASU, about a mile from my apartment and I distinctly remember riding wearing a sundress and no helmet... we traded this in for ten speeds in the eighties and I had that bike until about 1997. I rode it a bit in Tempe (going the wrong way against traffic, in the bike lane :eek: :eek: ) and a little when I moved back to MA, but never more than 5 or 6 miles.

[missymaya]

Mine was a winky dinky walmart bike that matched my sister's (twin girls must have everything matching according to some parents, including bikes) for our 5th birthday. We moved a month later to a sandy dirt road and they were used very rarely and then one day mine just disappeared. Years later, I canoed down the St John's river that runs behind my parents house and 4 or 5 miles down stream I get out and go for a hike and I see this pink bike, rusty, front wheel bent, chain broken and notice that it's MY BIKE!! Hey, how'd that get there! One person came to mind: my brother!! Mean boy took it across river and left the poor thing there:mad: . Come to think of it now, he should owe me a new bike;) :D

[wavedancer]

My first bike was a hand-me-down from my brother. My father cut the top tube and re-welded it to make a step-through "girls" bike. He painted it a beautiful aqua blue and taught me how to ride without training wheels. He would run along with me, holding the seat, and the first time he let go I crashed and "swallowed the handle bar!" I had a gash on the inside of my lip and I still have a scar on my chin, 50 years later! Now it has an attractive little hair that grows out of it :p

[Ninabike]

I was 5 and my parents got me a red "kid-sized" bike. I remember secretly wanting a "big" bike, not that I could have ridden it. When I finally did get a "big" bike - Schwin 3-speed - I was 8 and I used to ride around with my cat in the basket.

[coyote]

Mine was a little blue bike my parents bought 2nd hand. The older kids in the neighborhood taught me to ride. I out grew it quickly. We kept it around. I used it to teach the younger kids in my neighborhood to ride. It was metal and took a real beating. A good bike to learn on.

[mimitabby]

Coyote,
it was metal? :D :D :D I hope so. They don't make carbon fiber for kids.

[Eden]

Coyote,
it was metal? :D :D :D I hope so. They don't make carbon fiber for kids.

not so fast there.... for the child who is indulged in every other way.....

......De Rosa's King X-Light gets some new paint and graphics, and Cristiano was happy to show us what he believes is the first ever carbon fiber kids' bike, the Jr. Carbon. "We wanted to have some more fun with kids' bikes this year and so we decided to come up with this first ever carbon fiber kids' bike."

[dex]

I don't know what kind of bike it was, but my first one was yellow (and given that we lived in Germany, probably German), and it had one of those plastic white baskets on the front with bright-colored plastic daisies on it. I remember only wanting to ride in dresses, and only if my long hair was braided into pigtails. And I really liked chasing down the boys in my neighborhood and menacing them with my "girly bike". I was five.

The bike I got after that was a metallic green 3-speed, and way too big for me. That's where I developed a fear of braking. (I used to just slow down, aim for a ditch, and jump off the bike.) :rolleyes:

[mimitabby]

The bike I got after that was a metallic green 3-speed, and way too big for me. That's where I developed a fear of braking. (I used to just slow down, aim for a ditch, and jump off the bike.) :rolleyes:

great braking method! :cool:

[nancielle]

Got mine when I was about 5. Don't know the manufacturer but it was blue and white and, best of all, I didn't have to share it with my younger sister :rolleyes: It did get handed down to the younger siblings eventually and I moved up to a green three-speed something or other until I was in high school when I got a yellow 10 speed.

[smilingcat]

some non descript wayyy oversized 2nd hand bike. I sorta of remember having the nose of the seat banging into my back. I learned to ride off the seat :D

My second bike is when my family moved from Japan to Salt Lake City. They bought me a kid sized 10 speed. Not Schwinn nor huffy... Some no name brand from Europe :D I loved it. Had it for a long time until it was stolen :mad: and never saw it again.

Smilingcat

[Skierchickie]

My first few were all hand-me-downs from my sister - man, did I want a brand new bike of my own! I started with "Mumpy", the little tricycle (boy, did we laugh when Dad got on it and pedaled around the yard!), then something red with training wheels. Anybody ever learn to ride on a gravel driveway? I remember my grandpa holding me up on the hill by the barn, and running down next to me. Scarey. Then a green banana-seat bike, an aqua-blue 3-speed, and finally, MY VERY OWN green Ross Gran Tour 10-speed. That was jr high or high school, and my first real "go for a ride by myself" bike. When I was in high school, in the summer I'd go for a 15-20 mile ride after swim practice. In college one of my male friends was a biker, and he kinda gave me a hard time about the Ross (I believe he called it a tank. He is also the one who said he wouldn't ride with me unless I wore a helmet - a true friend!). So in 1987 I saved up my overtime money from my summer job, and got an aqua Trek 560. It's been all Trek ever since! A 1989 970 mtb, a 1992 2300, a 2001 8000 mtb, and now I ride a 2003 5200 , and a 2006 Fuel Ex 9. Biking is so wonderful - you can start as a little kid, and the whole thing just evolves over time. How many things do you do today that you did when you were 5? Just for fun? And how many people who loved their bikes when they were kids just don't realize they could still love them today?

[Jiffer]

It was yellow with a banana seat, big ole' high "70's" style handlebars and a basket!!!

I remember Dad taking me to the elementary school's big blacktop area to teach me how to ride it. Once I got going I was SO afraid of stopping for fear of falling over! :eek: I kept going around in big circles and my Dad was trying to get me to stop, but I was too afraid! Apparently, I finally did and I don't even think I fell over! :D

[rapid cycler]

It was a Sears girl's bike, bright yellow, with a white flowered banana seat and a white flowered basket. Oh, and rainbow-colored tassles on the handlebar grips. These details were explicitly requested by my 5-year-old self. By the time I was 9 or 10, and a confirmed tomboy, the basket had been ditched and both the handlebars and seat had been swapped out for BMX-style equipment. It was a very strange looking bike, especially given that it still had a girl's step-through frame! At a certain point, maybe out of his own embarrassment, my brother handed down to me his red Schwinn Stingray.

[Torrilin]

My first bike was a pink Huffy with a weird seat. Not quite a banana, not quite a normal saddle. Handlebars were lower than the 70s bikes I've seen here, more in the style of a modern comfort or cruiser bike. Step through frame, one speed, coaster brakes. Knobby tires.

I learned to ride it in a cul-de-sac built into the side of the hill. It was just off a residential street with decent grade, maybe as high as 6%. The cul-de-sac itself was set at an angle, so you got lots of nice drills on turning and how to gain speed off a gentle grade. I distinctly remember my dad teaching me the turn signals and telling me I was to use them, even if I couldn't see any cars. I remember spending a solid year with training wheels, and getting to the point where I didn't really need them. Had dad take 'em off and promptly had a ton of spills. Decided I needed to learn to fall, so I practiced. Lots.

When I was in my teens I got another garage sale Huffy bike in more my size. It was probably officially a mountain bike since it had knobby tires (which I wanted since I was not a great enough fool to try riding thin tires on PA roads). It didn't really fit properly, but I could at least ride to the library, the swimming pool and my first real job on it. I don't recall how many speeds it had, and I didn't really know how to use them (friction shifters cause index hadn't been invented when the bike was built). It did have real brakes and I *did* learn how to use those... going down the hill into town is an 18-19% grade. No trouble at all hitting 35 mph off that. The trick was to keep your speed in check for the curves and potholes.

[divingbiker]

My first bike was a second or third or fourth hand, heavy, fat-tired bike that had been repainted an awful turquoise color. It was much too big for me, and I am ashamed to admit that I pitched a fit when I got it and never rode it. I'm sure my parents thought me a terribly ungrateful child, since it was all they could afford and they did their best, but that wasn't good enough for me. I have a very clear mental picture of that bike leaning against the back wall of the garage, never being ridden by anyone.

I rode my sister's Schwinn instead, which was also too big for me, but it wasn't as heavy and I could manage it--had to stand up to ride it and the seat was always stabbing me in the back, as someone else mentioned.

I got a newspaper route when I was about 11 or 12, and saved my money to buy a candy apple red girls stingray, which I loved. I guess my fascination with red bikes has been with me for almost 40 years.

[RolliePollie]

Before I had a two-wheeler, I had a Big Wheel. Does anyone else remember those? I LOVED that thing! Me and the neighborhood kids would race around like maniacs on our Big Wheels, crashing into each other like bumper cars as I recall. We had a cement driveway which was really good for drawing on with chalk, so we used to draw roads, freeways, gas stations and all sorts of stuff out there for our Big Wheels.

I love this thread! It's so fun to think back on all those great childhood memories! I just wish my parents had taken some pictures of me and my bicycles. I can remember them vividly, but alas, no pictures!

[rachelroo]

I had a lavender bike with a banana seat that had flowers on it. I remember somwhere on the bike it said puppy love, which is funny because I was deathly afraid of puppys and dogs as a child. I lived near a lake in Minnesota and rode around it most every day in the summer time. Maybe I was in puppy love with my lavender bike.

[ShubieGA]

I got a JC Higgins (Sears) blue girls bike when I was 4. Since my b-day is in the winter (in Chicago at the time), I rode it in the basement until there were some warm enough days to ride outside. 1st multi-speed was a Schwinn Varsity (70's green) in junior high - it weighed a ton, but I would ride it everywhere!

[Python]

I got my first bike for my Christmas when I was six years old. It was a Tri-Ang. It had a red frame and yellow mudguards. It had a wicker basket on the front. Curiously it only had a front brake. It also had solid tyres but I loved that bike. Sadly six months later I had an accident with it and my parents being overprotective (to which I rebelled in later years) threw it up in the attic and forbade me to ever go near it again:(

40 odd years later I'm back enjoying cycling even more than I did the first time:D

I've got an old photo of me on that bike somewhere. I'll have to dig it out and scan it sometime.

[wolfak]

I really wanted to share!

One Christmas, I got a trike, red, it was awesome and I loved it much. I recently found a picture of me unwrapping it, and now I know it was a second- or third- or eighth-hand trike. But I loved it.

Then there was the red kid's bike that my brother had, with white molded plastic seat.

Later on, the Huffy Street Dance girl's bike

Then the Huffy Mt. Storm that I saved forever for and purchased at my nearest Wal-Mart which in the day was an hour away. A week later, we had a terrible crash, which you could read about if you search my previous posts. I had that from '92 to '02. (6th grade to college! It didn't get ridden much and it started getting more crappy and was eventually impounded.

Now I have an '03 Diamondback Wildwood Deluxe, extremely pimped out for commuting, and a '07 Trek 1600 WSD, which is my weekend exercise.

I also just acquired a '76 Schwinn Varsity of original components and questionable shape. The top tube has a gentle curve, and none of the Schwinn literature shows that. The curve looks natural, but I need to give it more inspection. I'm trying to decide the best way to overhaul it.

[grey]

I got a pink Huffy for Christmas when I was six. The seat wasn't banana, it was this odd puffy sort of thing that was still long and had a handle on the back. I remember my dad running behind me down the sidewalk on the way to the park so I wouldn't fall after taking the training wheels off. I was going faster, faster, faster.... and then I realized I didn't hear Daddy's footsteps behind me anymore, which meant I was riding on my OWN and I started to look behind me to be sure and... crash! :D:D:D

The next one was a blue road bike of some kind, got that when I was 11 - I'm surprised I don't recall the make, because I rode it to death! I'd even retape the handlebars all the time.

When I was 15 I saved and saved and saved while babysitting and mowing lawns to get a Fuji Monterey, a hybrid, which I think was pretty darn new back then. It was silver and light green, 21 speed, I paid $350 for it. That bike got me through college, it was a wonderful commuting bike between classes and from my various living apartments to school. Then I left it at my parent's house for a few years, my dad had a cleaning frenzy, and without asking me, he threw it away. :( I still miss that bike. (if anyone happens to have one, let me know)

After college my BF (now hubby) bought me a full-suspension Gary Fisher, one of the first full suspension bikes out there. Anybody want it? It's for sale.

And Friday, I got my new 08 Fuji Team! I'm back to a dark blue and white road bike! :D

[ridenread]

The first bike a remember was purple, with a white banana seat with purple and pink flowers on the seat. It had purple tassels coming out of the handlebars. I thought that it was the most beautiful thing on earth when I was 5 years old.

I remember a 3 speed Schwinn when I was about 9 or 10 years old. It was blue and I thought I could fly on that thing. I remember riding up and down the road for hours at a time experimenting with my 3 speeds. :)

When I graduated from the eighth grade I got a bright orange ten speed from Sears. Several years ago, my mother rescued it, painted it and hung flower baskets all over it in her garden.

[bmccasland]

First bike was a blue single speed, that we bought in a hardware (drygoods) store in the small college town where my Dad was an ROTC prof. As I recall, the store guys fitted it to me, then my brother got to ride it home, as it was deamed that home was too far away for me, a little girl to ride to on my own. Must have been in 2nd grade. In the summer, the whole gang of us kids would ride our bikes to the city pool for swimming lessons or afternoon swim, admission was 10 cents. Now days, moms would be loath to let their little ones ride that far.

2nd bike was an orange Schwinn 10 speed, got when I was in Jr. High. I was so thrilled! A proper racing bike (in my dreams) with "ram horn" handlebars. Had that into my university days, until it was stolen, along with about 200 other bikes parked in the lot at the dorm.

[sundial]

I vaguely remember a bike with a big banana seat and streamers on the handlebars. :cool: Then in jr high mom went to Ace Hardware and bought me and my brother a set of 10 speed bikes. Mine was yellow with those silly friction shifters that never stayed. I rode that thing everywhere and I never got a flat. Stuff was bomb proof back then.

[tennisgirl43]

1972 grass green banana seat bike with sparkly green seat.

A lot like so...but green...
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/smcr/PinkBrentBanana20LOW20175w.jpg

LOL! I had that same bike, only the seat was red, white, and blue. :-) It was very patriotic! Loved that bike!

[kelownagirl]

I can barely remember my first bike but it was a blue single speed and it was too big for me the first year. I wonder if I have a picture somewhere. I do remember my first ten speed - a purple Apollo back in 1974. It was $75 and I had to save up half the money from babysitting.

[GLC1968]

Ha! In the year since this thread first started, I've learned what happened to the white Huffy 12-speed that I loved so much.

My parents could not remember what happened to it.

Then, out of the blue, my brother brought it up. He said that my parents sold both my white huffy and his first 'real' bike (whatever it was) to a couple of guys in the next town when we were in high school. These guys were trying to get a local bike shop started and needed some bikes to work on and sell. That bike shop is still there (20 years later!), so I feel like at least my beloved bike went to a good cause.

Funny how my parents seemed to block out the memory, though! :rolleyes:

[snapdragen]

In first or second grade, I got a blue girls Murray bike from Kiddie World. When I got bigger, I think I was riding my sister's old Schwinn, with the big old balloon tires. When I was probably 12 or 13, I got a second hand stingray type - totally stripped. No fenders, chain guard, none 'o that fancy stuff. Not bad for $15, I rode it for years, until I got my license. :rolleyes:

//I can remember a friend chiding me "Don't you ever walk? You're always on your bike!"

[MrsB]

I was just going thru some old photos that my sister sent me the other day. This was my very first bike. As you can see I didnt like sharing. (see the right hand gently brushing brothers hand away from handlebars)LOL. We didnt have a lot of money but my dad always made sure that we had something to ride. He used to take us on bike rides just about every weekend. If we wernt biking we were hiking. Its so fun to go and retrace some of the rides that we did with single speed bikes. I cant believe I ever made it up some of those hills. Those hills kill me now even with a 27 speed.
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm156/Hvaclu_2008/Donmebike.jpg

[sfa]

This is a great thread! Reading it, I'm mortified to find out that even though I'm nearly 40 years old, I'm STILL jealous of all of you who had pink and purple and red banana seat bikes. I wanted one of them so bad when I was little.

My first bike of my own (I learned to ride on my sister's old bike, the kind with the hard plastic tires, only when I was riding it the plastic was all cracked and falling apart--she was older than me by many years and the next oldest sister never wanted to learn to ride, so there was nothing much usable in my size when I was wanting to learn) was a HUGE old blue Schwinn. I could barely reach the pedals, but my parents believed in getting things that kids could grow into. Shoes, clothes, bikes, etc. Always get stuff too big in order to get lots of years of use out of it. This bike had to have been 15 years old when I got it, my parents buying it for $10 from some people two streets away. But it got me where I was going and was so big and heavy that I could squish those little shiny banana seat bikes like bugs if I wanted to. I upgraded to a used 10 speed (bought with babysitting money) when I was 13, and finally got my first new bike when I was 21--the same bike I'm riding now.

Sarah