# When I was..........



## JAcycle (Feb 3, 2009)

When I first started collecting , I was fascinated w/ the Sturmey Archer 3 speed hubs. I would lace one up to everything I rode.Well 1 day I was touring around and came into a situation where I had to get out of the way of something faster and bigger (car). So w/ confidence ,I stood up to pedal.W/ the bike in 2nd gear it slipped into neutral, my foot goes slamming to the pavement. Needless to say leg went straight and stiff and I go flipping over the handle bars.With a death grip on the bars the bike follows my body and lands on me. Next thing I realize is that the car was inches from my head.It had to look funny as heck. I have never rode a 3 speed since!There is no point or moral to this story, just thought I would share a memory. Has this ever happened to you?


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## militarymonark (Feb 3, 2009)

so do you want to sell your 3 speed hubs now im interested


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## JRE (Feb 3, 2009)

HMMM. Worst Bike wreck I've ever been in was when I was about 15 yrs old and bullet proof or so I thought. I use to be into BMX Riding and I'd practice Jumping my bike out on the street in front of my house with all my Buddies. The ramp we built out of 2x4's and plywood would launch us 15 feet in the air easy.I was feeling extra cocky that day and hit the ramp allot faster than ussual thus gaining a little more height than normal. When I Landed one of my Pedals broke making me slip off the seat and onto the top bar of the frame then the bike washed out from under me and we both went rolling down the street with the bike finally comming to rest on top of me. Luck for me I only suffered some severe road rash. Thank god I was wearing a Helmet.


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## JLarkin (Feb 3, 2009)

If you have a 36 hole S3C and Patrick doesn't have dibs, I am interested also.  

My worst wreck was two of us on a Huffy somethingorother spider bike.  Going down a hill with a front tire that had a weak spot creating a bulge from the tube.  The bike started wavering side to side and as the speed increased.  The wavering got worse until it felt like the handlebars were scraping side to side.  We fell and I landed on my buddy.  I was making these gritted-teeth sucking-air sounds at his injuries until he got pissed off and punched me telling me to shut up.  That and I had a wreck on a Huffy Rail so bad my Mom had to pick gravel out of my elbows and knees with tweezers.


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## JAcycle (Feb 3, 2009)

*3 speeds*

Sorry , but I got rid of all my 3 speeds 18 years or so ago. I cringe every time I see one.


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## JAcycle (Feb 3, 2009)

*Oh the worst one.........*

In '78 I was 10 and living in Long Beach Ca. and I got a 26" Scwhinn beach cruiser W/ a 5 speed atom rear drum brake ( still have the bike). Cruisers were really in.I got to where I could ride indefinate wheelies in 1st thru 5th gear.Upshift ,downshift whatever.I lost my concetration in 5th and went over backwards.Was doing at least 20 25 mph. I scraped(burned)the whole tops of my feet and knees off. Couldnt sraighten my legs for months.Funny thing is that I still do wheelies on said bike but I dont wear flip flops doing it any more


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## pedal alley (Feb 3, 2009)

*on file*

now i won't even tell about my worst bicycle crash..
cause none of you would believe me anyways.
i will tell ya about the one that was the first mark
on my record.   
it was 1973 . i was nine. well, i was at my grandparent's . took of riding one of the
bikes from the parts pile. it was a 20" 
huffy rail 3 speed. no seat,shifter,brakes,
handgrips.luck for me the seatpost wasn't
in the frame either. i went to the top of the
hill which spanned five blocks.we always went
to the top and got going as fast as we could
by time we got to the house. in front of the house was a ramp on the sidewalk, made from a metal
slide that broke of the swingset.that day we was
upto seven sender blocks high. well, i was moving
very fast  as i crossed the last intersection ..
i stopped pedaling , & sat down on the rear fender.
only had two houses to pass before the ramp.
there was a row of shrubs before the first driveway.
suddenly i see the rear bumper of a car. remember..
i'm cruisin good w.o brakes.i don't think it would
matter if there where brakes @ this point.i hit the
rear quarterpanel , flew over the car rolled down the 
sidewalk. i was lying there i could hear everyone
yelling my name. it took a few but, when i got to
my feet , And told them "i'm allright".the guy whom
i smashed his car said, "i thought you where dead".
well, he had to call work sense he was driving a
company vehicle.his supervisor came out and he
wrote a report. the bike i was on didn't have a safety sticker.(ya heard descrip.) in them days it was required that all bicycles to be inspected & have a
sticker (tag). well, i lucked out & didn't get in trouble.but, it all had to be on report .that car was
caved-in pert good. it was a crown victoria,ya know
the kind the police drive ? oh yeah, did i mention
the guy who i crashed into was a state trooper ?
the man still lives in the same house,he is retired
now. my grandparents  both are dead.
my uncle now lives in their house.
i see the guy occational,we still talk about the crash.


     thomas


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## Bob_in_WV (Feb 3, 2009)

When I was 12 a bunch of us were out on our Spyder bikes, and were coming down a big long hill when my chain came off.  No brakes ... and at about the same time, a car was coming up the road so it was off the edge of the road for me.  The hill dropped off steep beside the road, and my bike ended up in a tree.  I had a broken arm, but the guy with me was a big fan of "Kung Fu" so he yelled "TAKE THE PAIN" at me all the way home instead of going ahead to a pay phone and calling for a ride.

Fun times for sure.


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## Mad Mike (Feb 3, 2009)

*When I was younger....*

Since we're chiming in... I raced BMX in the early 80's. One day,at a small track,that offered a purse,I had won my class,and got to race the open main.There were pro's in it.WHOA! I was 13 I think....It was a big deal! Ran my mouth some...Well,down hill ,over the bars,slipped a pedal.... Only had 4 spokes left in the front wheel. Imagine that sound.
At least they came by to see how I was.........


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## militarymonark (Feb 3, 2009)

when I was 5 the first day i learned to ride a bike. was the most epic crash ever. So here I was just riding my new bike on a bike path with my dad and my brother. so we come to a hill and the path took a 90 degree turn at the bottom and Im like i can't go down that i dont even know how to brake that well yet. so my brother is like yeah so I'll catch yah if you dont brake so i believed him. I start my way down the hill and well needless to say he let me just ride on by I can remember just looking at him as I rode by. But the worst part was what was at the end of the hill. was a drop off that looked 20 feet high then prob was like only 5 feet. i went right over that into a creek. I was so mad at my brother.


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## Flat Tire (Feb 3, 2009)

My very first bicycle accident I wasnt even riding musta been 4 or 5 years old because I wasnt in school yet. I had an older brother and he had a bike. My dad bought training wheels for it so we could share, and we could only go 1 block up and down the sidewalk. Well my brother sure didnt like the training wheels, let alone sharing the bike with me. So one day it was my turn to ride and he wouldnt let me, he just kept going up and down the sidewalk laughing at me. Soooo my little brain got the idea I would just lay down across the sidewalk, belly up, and he would have to stop....so here he comes, and yea he ran right over me:eek: didnt get hurt, heck I was so little and skinny I dont even think the sprocket touched me....and of course he got in trouble...hehehehe


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## BadDad (Feb 3, 2009)

*So long as this started out with a 3 speed wreck...*

?yes that DID happen to me.

In my 11th or 12th summer me and some buddies were racing downtown -me on my Hercules Lightweight (more like Middleweight)- out of the saddle jamming hard in third when suddenly = same thing as JAcycle.  Before I knew how that hub worked I used to mess with the adjustment barrel and find "new" gears right?  On this occasion all I found was neutral!  Managed a full on foot plant, ground out,  flipped off sideways and ripped most of the skin off one side of my body before skidding to a stop.  In the town where I grew up the asphalt had this super gnarly (BIG n SHARP) aggregate in it -like 00000 grit sandpaper.   It was 90 degrees out, I was shirtless, wearing shorts and -fortunately-   had my Keds on.   Rash?  I looked (and felt) like the Hamburger kid who left a blood trail any blind lady could've followed on the 2 mile walk home.  My Herc was OK though - after I got the shift linkage adjusted properly...

I've had bike accidents before and after -including a couple that were worse- but I never, NEVER stood to peddle a 3 speed again.


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## Strings-n-Spokes (Feb 4, 2009)

Jarod

I have a Felt Cruiser with a nexxus 3spd






It is a completely different animal than the old Sturmy A 
There is no "nuetral" and the gear ratios are better than the old 12 speeds
It even is set up w/ a coaster brake, which is weird and takes some acclimation because when I hear the clicking of a freewheel I always reach for hand brakes. Otherwise, I have been amazed by the performance of this internal hub.  I am going to try out one of their Nexxus 7 speed hubs one of these days, I think 7 gears without a deralieur sounds awesome.   You could build up a 'sleeper klunker'

but if you ever get a chance go to a bike shop and test ride a bike with the Nexxus 3spd and tell me what you think of it( unless it might trigger some kind of PTSD or something, in that case you probably should not )


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## Kelpie3 (Feb 4, 2009)

Back in '75 I lost control on my Columbia with ram horn handlebars, went over the top and broke my front teeth on the pavement.  Almost bit my tongue in half and had to go to the emergency room to get stitches in my tongue.  Believe me, you DON'T want to have that done to you.

While in college i crashed on my '56 Higgins Colorflow (I'm in the middle of fixing it up right now). I fell hard on the road but my hand was saved because I had some green tomatoes and landed on them.  So always carry some green tomatoes with you.  If you crash they will cushion your fall.


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## Bob_in_WV (Feb 4, 2009)

Kelpie3 said:


> So always carry some green tomatoes with you.  If you crash they will cushion your fall.




I only come here to learn nuggets of wisdom like that


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## JAcycle (Feb 4, 2009)

*3 speeds*

Thanx Shane for the input. I built a Cool cruiser w/ a nexxus 7 speed when they first came out . I actually loved it. Friend loved it also. I play more w/ pre war bikes now and I run period correct stuff on them.........but if I was to build another klunker I would put a 7 speed on it.Thanx ,everyone for the stories


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## SimplePleasures (Feb 5, 2009)

JAcycle said:


> I stood up to pedal.W/ the bike in 2nd gear it slipped into neutral, my foot goes slamming to the pavement. Needless to say leg went straight and stiff and I go flipping over the handle bars.With a death grip on the bars the bike follows my body and lands on me.




Jarod, I had they exact same experience two falls ago (no pun intended).  During the warmer months I ride a 1960 schwinn traveller to work that is equipped with its original three speed sturmey-archer.  To beat out some traffic I stood up to pedal harder and the next things I knew I was flying over the handle bars.  After hitting the ground i looked up just in time to watch my bike actually land in front of me. Lost some decent size patches of skin as well as a shirt and pair of pants that day.  

Since then I have more carefully adjustment the indicator spindle and this has solved all my 3-speed problems.  Good luck.


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## bentwoody66 (Feb 5, 2009)

I once had a head on with a jogger! It was the 4th of July and the fireworks at the local school had started. While I looked up to see the fireworks a jogger coming towards me must have turn to look while still running and KABLOWEE. The end of the handlebar on my Huffy monoshock swung around and went thru my pantsleg and damn near made me sing saprano the rest of my life, hit so hard it knocked me out cold. Next thing I knew I had an ice pack on my privates and I had to walk funny for about a month and a half. I think I was about 13 at the time.


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## 3rdbike (Feb 5, 2009)

*Squirmy-Archer*

When we were kids on the farm, we didn't have nothin'.  Not even a lil' red wagon....  so we found this old, I mean *OLD* bike in Grandpa's barn.  (Wish I had it now, it was probably pre-30's lightweight)  'Cept it didn't have a front wheel, and the back tire was flat, but someone wired the rubber carcass to the rim.  We scrounged a 20" front wheel from somewhere, which made the bike look like it was runnin' downhill all the time.

I took off on it one time, just got around the corner of the driveway onto our dirt&gravel road, and the fork snapped off at the crown.  I can still see it plain as day, sailing thru the air, then making a one-point landing on my chin.  I haven't shaved since.....


I've really enjoyed all the stories!  I love it when guys get together and start tellin' stories like this...


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