Your Very First Bike

[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? I hope so. They don't make carbon fiber for kids.

[Eden]

Coyote,
it was metal? 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.)

[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.)

great braking method!

[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 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

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 I loved it. Had it for a long time until it was stolen 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! 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!

[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.