Great stories, those. I'm glad to hear that your and your better half are still riding. Who was it that called bicycles "mankind's noblest invention"? Of course, I too love bikes. I'm about 5 years younger than you, so I must confess that I lusted for a Stingray (actually, Schwinns were hard to get around Montreal, but Canada's largest bike manufacturer at the time, CCM, made the Mustang, a Stingray rip-off). Never got one, but I did get a big Sears balloon tired cantilevered frame 50 pound monster that was (by then) totally square, but was actually ~way~ more practical than a Mustang - but who wants practical when your 8? <vbg>
Those old Schwinn road bikes were lovely things. Funny, but I thought of Schwinn today, when I read that Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan) died. Schwinn was one of the Captain's major sponsors. I ~so~ wanted a Schwinn (as I said, weren't available where I grew up). The phrase I'll always remember (I don't know why, but I do), is at the end of the live promos, Captain Kangaroo always added, paranthetically, "Prices slightly higher in the South and in the West". I always wondered what those people did to piss off Schwinn and the Captain! <vbg>
cheers, frank
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
From: John Mustarde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: OT: People and Their Bikes #3 Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 23:38:59 -0700
I have a few vintage bikes. Here's my 1964 Schwinn Super Sport light weight, with the nicely made, very nimble fillet brazed frame, classy chrome fork, and a well-worn Brooks saddle. I rescued this one from a Goodwill store, in pristine condition, for twenty bucks.
http://www.photolin.com/misc/64SS.jpg
The Super Sport model was near the top of the line, made along with the Paramounts but about half their price, and way out of my price range back in '64 when I was 13.
Buying a good bike was a heady experience for me in 1964. For years my brother and had pieced together our balloon-tire coaster-brake bikes from second hand parts and frames, building and re-building them as we grew and wore them out. We had nothing but disdain for the fancy new bikes our friends owned, probably because we could not afford to buy a bike new.
The Sting Rays and other new bikes were considered sissy stuff, too clean and dainty for us. We would race our beaters around, lock up the back tire, and see who could leave the longest skid mark on the hot Texas asphalt, coming as close as possible to hitting the Sting Ray sissies, who would cower in fear, afraid we would get their new bikes dirty, or heaven forbid, scratched. Ha. Take that.
But one fine day I headed off to the Toy Chest on Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth. They were a Schwinn dealer and well-stocked toy store, years before anything like Toys-R-Us appeared, owned and operated by a nice couple for many years. I made several trips there, alone, secretly admiring the beautiful new bikes in their showroom, the likes of which I'd never dreamed of before.
I couldn't stomach the idea of me actually buying a Sting Ray, which to me was for silly kids, but there was this new thing - 5 and 10-speed derailer bikes - that completely caught my fancy. I chose a 5-speed Collegiate in Radiant Coppertone, which was the best bike I could afford. Man, did that bike make my heart throb.
The Toy Chest owner let me take it home for $20 down and the promise of two more payments of $20 a month, on my own good word as a steadily employed paper boy at age 13. I even started taking care of it, washing and waxing, taking care not to tear it up or leave it unlocked. Talk about a big change in attitude.
Several years later, after high school, my Collegiate went to a new home, still in fine condition. Then almost 25 years passed before I bought another bike. My interest was re-kindled, and now I have a garage full of bikes.
And just to keep the topic on people, here's my better half accompanying me to the pond on her nice little Giant hybrid mountain bike.
http://www.photolin.com/misc/linn06.jpg
-- John Mustarde www.photolin.com
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