My earliest ride

[Steve_Hoog]

Back before cars, back before dirt bikes, back before go karts.... We were into BMX bikes!!! We didn't have the fancy stuff kids have today, we had Schwinns.

First thing you did was ditch the banana seat and rob a seat off a 10 speed. Get you a pair of motorcycle handle bars, and let it rip.

1 Ashtabula forks, hopefully you could make a straight enough cut with your hack saw to get the fork nuts back on.
2 Number plates, you had to look cool (chic magnet).
3 Shamino rims, bigger spokes a must and wire tie them were the meet.
4 10 speed seat, very uncomfortable on your privates but again you had to look cool.
5 Motorcycle handle bars, never mind that all those original Schwinn bars we took off and threw away are selling for $50 on Ebay now.
6 Cleat type pedals, can't have your feet slipping off during heavy race action.
7 Color coated racing grips, again you have to look cool.
8 Knobby tires, traction is a must!!!
9 Smaller front sprocket and bigger back, gearing is all so important and a lesson carried over into the hot rod days.

The Bike...

[budnate]

oh man.....I was heavy into BMX that was the best times... when we went from those dinosaur bikes to light fast bikes.. alloy rims, chromely frames..three piece cranks, tough neck goose-neck's etc.. and if you really went all out you went with sealed hubs and bottom set from the racing 10 spd crowd..came in a hard case lined with velvet and set ya back 350.00 big ones...Blew the old man's mind when he asked how much I had into my bike one day and I replied 750.00 easy and that was with the cheap hubs,,keep in mind this was the late 70's and was done with paper route money..man that was a grind getting up at 4:30 everyday to do like 150 papers during the week and triple that on Sun

after I sprung for the good stuff it was over a grand then came the 400.00 Cheata frame one of three I may have to go dig out some pics now...

I still have a full tilt 20" hanging on the wall in the shop, I watch goodwill and other places and never see any of the old quality stuff around..I hope everyone was like me and hung it on the wall..would be a shame to have 'em in the landfill..those were great times as the sport evolved from nothing into the full sponsored rides and a actual magazine for the sport...major brain cramp now but one of the local guys went Pro and rode into his 20's and I think I saw him as editor of BMX magazine a while back.

"North Seattle Berm Buster" out.

[427TJ]

Yep, I had a Schwinn Scrambler (1975 version of the Sting Ray) when I was 12. I remember my Mom and Dad taking me to El Sobrante Schwinn (CA) to buy it. My Mom was a little put-off by the price tag of $125 but she could see that I was excited and my Dad said okay. Soon, I had swapped on Ashtabula forks, MX handlebars from the local motorcycle shop (Cycle Gear), and real motorcycle handgrips. The Scrambler had beefy spoked wheels stock but I traded for a black five-spoke mag for the front. I kept the banana seat because my paper route bag sat nicely over the seat and I could reach down on the fly and grab papers to throw. Neighbor's dad disassembled it one day after school and painted it a nice shade of Rustoleum red with his spray gun and compressor and we put it back together after dinner. That was a wheelie machine. Alas, it was stolen in late 1976.

[Mr70]

[Steve_Hoog]

Oh my the Schwinn riders are coming out of the closet!!!

[budnate]

[ QUOTE ]
I traded for a black five-spoke mag

[/ QUOTE ]

remember we had two versions we had the plastic 'Tuff Wheels" and the Aluminum one's with the machined edges and rime lip, For some reason I want to call them " Magnum 500's" but that cant be right???..do you guy's recall what they were called???? I am way tired will post a few pics tomorrow.

[427TJ]

Man, that photo of the Stingray damn near brought a tear to my eye! My Scrambler's seat was exactly like that--black tuck and roll with the white Schwinn lettering. What a classic bicycle and a true American icon.

Yeah, I can't remember the name of the mag wheels that came out in the mid '70s. I think the one I had was made of very strong plastic, as it was overall black and very light. All I had to do was lean back and give the bars a little pull and a slight push on the down pedal and that front wheel came right off the ground. It was even worse with my paper route bag over the seat with 50+ newspapers.

[Steve_Hoog]

The wheels are a blur to me too, but I remember the first Mongoose came out in the mid 70's had some type of cast 5 spoke. Seems like they were a little on the heavy side.

Wheelie riding bikes they were!!!! I was able to ride them continuously, even mastered making turns and going up hills.

I left my blue bike at my dads house after going to college, I think they sold it in a garage sell for $10. They called an asked before doing it, I was so involved in cars by then (and beer drinking) I couldn't think of a reason I would ever need it again.

Now my daughter thinks it's the coolest thing since hot wheels so we bought her an old frame and she's sanding it down for fresh paint. Says she wants to paint it blue.

[DarrenX33]

Rick I kinda had the same bike. My parents couldn't afford a new one so my Dad pieced together one in "Daytona Yellow" decals and all. Then eventually I got a 1980 Schwinn 36/36 freewheel in red for X-mas! I'm gonna start digging for pix.

[DarrenX33]

When I made it past the training wheels I had a Schwinn Pixie. The Scrambler is in the back. Notice the towel on the seat in an effort to prevent dry rot. You can tell I was raised in a car family.