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Let's See Your First Bike That Started It All

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Bought this bike in 1988 for $258....I thought it was cool.....always had bikes.....still have it......I still think it's cool.....

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Now......
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Unfortunately no picture, but the bike that hooked me was an original paint sky blue with red darts and white pinstripes1936 Shelby stainless banana tank with a Lindy badge. Condition was 7-8. He sold it before I got enough nerve to ask if he'd sell...still searching for it.

I saw it while viewing one of the "Evolution" collections that my cousin married into. I had no idea of vintage bicycles before that day. My Dad wanted a Schwinn B6 that we saw. I bought it for him after he left and it sat in my living room for 6 weeks before I saw him for Thanksgiving. I missed it and knew I needed to replace it with my own.

I own 3 stainless banana tanks now. But would sell any if I could find the Lindy...

Chad
 
Back in the early 90's I picked up every free bike and bit that was laying by the curb. I had a basement full of bikes and parts in the house I was renting. It was an old house with an outside cellar door. When I knew I was leaving I ended up giving it all away. Fast forward to 2016. I had been watching these old Schwinns in an electrical room of a building I did some work at. They had been there for months and seemed as though they were abandoned. When the building went up for sale around New Years I caught the owner and asked about the bikes. He said take em. I picked them up that day, the day before my birthday, early January 2017. A 71 Racer and 69 Breeze. Here's a pic of the Racer. Not long after that the bug that had gone dormant resurfaced and I went about filling my current basement.

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Back in the early 90's I picked up every free bike and bit that was laying by the curb. I had a basement full of bikes and parts in the house I was renting. It was an old house with an outside cellar door. When I knew I was leaving I ended up giving it all away. Fast forward to 2016. I had been watching these old Schwinns in an electrical room of a building I did some work at. They had been there for months and seemed as though they were abandoned. When the building went up for sale around New Years I caught the owner and asked about the bikes. He said take em. I picked them up that day, the day before my birthday, early January 2017. A 71 Racer and 69 Breeze. Here's a pic of the Racer. Not long after that the bug that had gone dormant resurfaced and I went about filling my current basement.

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I guess I did hang on to this one. Just liked the way it looked. I think it's a Western Flyer Meteor Flyer

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this is kind of complex, as my 1950's Bantam that was the first two wheeler I had is long gone, and as I was 5, I didn't really appreciate an old bike, as it was old and my older brothers and sisters had it before me. Then a 20" Spitfire in 66, a Stingray in 70, that I traded for a 'real' bike, a Puegeot 10 speed, finally ending up with my brand new 1978 Good Vibrations, which I still have.

The cross over was when I got my 1963 Murray built, Otasco Flying O Lancer, it all went down hill from there.
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The thing was, when I was a little kid, I first heard of the mythical Pierce bicycle, and as my name is Pierce, I always wanted one. I have the Model BR Amateur Sprint Racer and now I have a DBRR Motobike on the way to get back on the road also.


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I have always loved riding bikes, it is the closest thing to flying for me, high speed at low altitude. The freedom of the wind in your face and the road passing by is like nothing else in the world to me. I collect bikes, but I ride every one of them. Some of them, after getting them all together again, I don't care for the ride and pass on to someone else who will love it.
 
I bought this one at the Fort Dix N.J. thrift store in early (March?) 1971 for the princely sum of $15. Some time in the mid-80's the shift cable snapped and there were no bike shops nearby to purchase one. I rode it as a single speed. Sometime in the mid-90's my oldest daughter got it out of the garage, dusted it off, aired up the tires and began riding in her neighborhood with her little girl. She left it parked in the driveway one day after a ride and her husband backed into it with his F-150. It bent the front wheel, front fender, chain ring and scrubbed the handlebars up pretty badly. Ebay had come along by this time, so I was able to purchase the necessary parts to repair it. I could have saved myself a lot of money if I had known that a 1970 Breeze 26" bike could have been purchased as a donor bike quite cheaply. I have invested more money than this Racer is worth, but it doesn't matter - it has a fortune of sentimental value for me. It also re-ignited my love for the Schwinn bikes I could never afford during my childhood. My collection now numbers 8 Schwinns, but this one will always be special to me.
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