tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523357558654725888.post5042501658533551095..comments2024-01-05T11:00:30.673-06:00Comments on DFW Point-to-Point: My First Bike Was a JC HigginsSteve Ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650405341304401203noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523357558654725888.post-5577997651833405362011-04-20T15:30:35.907-05:002011-04-20T15:30:35.907-05:00What a great blog. I learned to ride a bike on on...What a great blog. I learned to ride a bike on one of those solid rubber tire 16" bikes. Then I got my sisters big fat-tire bike that made a clunk sound when I peddled, I wasn't even big enough to sit on the seat and peddle. Right now, I am cleaning up a 1958 JC Higgins, it was my brothers. Not doing anything fancy, just cleaning up the chrome and replacing the tubes and tires. It is still in really good shape, will be a nice cruiser.trickytripnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523357558654725888.post-27862114972189863992011-04-11T13:49:41.477-05:002011-04-11T13:49:41.477-05:00Bear in mind that the first mountain bikes were si...Bear in mind that the first mountain bikes were simply old fat-tire clunkers salvaged from scrap piles. Derailleur gear systems were gradually grafted on, but Tom Cuthbertson had described fat tire clunker bikes in Anybody's Bike Book no later than the early 1970s. He recommended that every cyclist have one for kid-style bashing around on trails and riding on beaches. Mountain Biking didn't become really big business until the very end of the 1980s.<br /><br />My FIRST bike had welded spokes and solid tires about 16" if not smaller. I rode it on the streets as others in this thread have described. Children were free-range back then. The stem snapped on that bike. I don't remember crashing as a result. A local fix-it guy welded the bars back together. I rode the bike until the solid tires wore through. Then I got a 24" Western Flyer. So maybe the small bike was a 20". I do recall that parents would buy the largest bike possible to avoid having to buy them often.<br /><br />I had my first potentially fatal crash on the Flyer when I was about 8 or 9. Good times, man! Handlebars came loose and I burned in, going for a speed record down a big, long hill. The ambulance people squeegeed me up unconscious. I missed a few days of riding. Traded up two years later to an "English Racer." And so it goes.cafiendhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05749761363337659545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523357558654725888.post-62813687701360708372011-04-04T13:01:33.952-05:002011-04-04T13:01:33.952-05:00My first bike was a JC Higgins too and I got a JC ...My first bike was a JC Higgins too and I got a JC Higgins BB gun for Christmas one year instead of the Daisy Red Rider. The BB rifle was almost identical to the Red Ryder and was built by Daisy and I still have it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523357558654725888.post-20256392704258469652011-04-03T23:43:04.444-05:002011-04-03T23:43:04.444-05:00This is one of my favorite posts I've read on ...This is one of my favorite posts I've read on any blog. I'd love to see that J.C. Higgins bike in person. <br /><br />What I find amusing is that so much of what is today called "mountain" or "off road" riding consists of things we did as kids--without the "right" kind of bike (as it didn't exist then) or protective gear. And here we are.<br /><br />Thanks!Justine Valinottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852069587181432102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523357558654725888.post-79371893631190448092011-04-03T21:51:41.184-05:002011-04-03T21:51:41.184-05:00In that pic of the dinosaur I bet you were thinkin...In that pic of the dinosaur I bet you were thinking "now, if I can only get wheels on this thing.." I like the memories referring to "just us kids" and how the parents were somewhere, but definitely not hanging around. Kids were out playing with other kids. I remember saying " 'bye Mom" as I ran out the door, and then next seeing her at supper when I returned. Its different now, and I don't think better. Meanwhile, I like that JC Higgins bike - very cool!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523357558654725888.post-77524127372773714682011-04-03T20:53:36.235-05:002011-04-03T20:53:36.235-05:00My first bike (not counting my brother's old b...My first bike (not counting my brother's old bike) was a Puch-made J.C. Higgins 3-speed "English Racer". I want it back.PM Summerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08841490283131875648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523357558654725888.post-43419539569291437302011-04-03T10:03:16.279-05:002011-04-03T10:03:16.279-05:00My first bike was a no-name 20" repaint from ...My first bike was a no-name 20" repaint from Goodwill with solid rubber tires. That worked OK to learn on. We moved to the 'Burbs with everyone else in the early sixties and I got my first decent bike: a Sears Flightliner. <br /><br />The operative words from Steve's post are "...overprotective parents and school drop-offs by car were so rare as to be freakish.."<br /><br />Yup. We rode everywhere. We lived on a quiet side street in Alden and the kids ruled the road. But we rode our bikes on NY-33 and Walden Ave., a truck route, to get to the middle school to play baseball in the summer. Its funny that in those days, living in the depths of the Cold War and with people driving creaky cars and our/their ICBMs and strategic bombers on hair trigger alert, kids were "safe" riding their bikes. How strange that nowdays when much of life is safer than ever, kids are "endangered".<br /><br />We have met the enemy, and he is us.Khalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11866897914538110672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523357558654725888.post-75860522701581707142011-04-03T09:10:06.121-05:002011-04-03T09:10:06.121-05:00I still remember my first bike, a nameless 26"...I still remember my first bike, a nameless 26" tubeless (PITA to keep air in) tired w/ **very** marginal coaster brakes<br /><br />I had a Lewiston Daily Sun (ME) paper route that I used to veer onto the shoulder gravel to scrub off speed for one customer at the bottom of a hill<br /><br />My dad then got me a creme/maroon tanked Schwinn with big tan leader saddle that stopped quite a bit better, recall the Friday edition of the Sun "up front" effecting the handling at speed<br /><br />I graduated to a 3x SA Raleigh that I did a 120mi weekend camping trip on with a friend<br /><br />Think we were 13 or so, still remember the BSA haversack and Sterno stoveChuck Davishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135578486955751337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523357558654725888.post-30200994505555811952011-04-02T23:59:33.100-05:002011-04-02T23:59:33.100-05:00Such a nice post. Thanks for sharing your fond mem...Such a nice post. Thanks for sharing your fond memories with us.<br /><br />Peace :)GreenComotionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11272116464292908327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523357558654725888.post-30302245987169128312011-04-02T22:03:48.255-05:002011-04-02T22:03:48.255-05:00Cool post, Steve. I certainly can ride the nostal...Cool post, Steve. I certainly can ride the nostalgia train, and hope on board quickly with posts like this. Thanks for sharing.Ponderohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16042079750126434523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2523357558654725888.post-70897795265481073402011-04-02T21:54:15.949-05:002011-04-02T21:54:15.949-05:00Brings back memories of my banana seat ape hanger ...Brings back memories of my banana seat ape hanger Schwinn, complete with tassles on the grips.<br />I crashed a lot.<br />Usually doing things you weren't supposed to do on a bicycle.limomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15392808188162372410noreply@blogger.com