sykerocker
Look Ma, No Hands!
Agreed. Although in the Erie, PA market in the first half of the Seventies, there wasn’t enough competition for it to be a factor. Or so I (possibly we) thought at the time.
Prior to the Bike Boom, the Erie market was two dealerships. A. R. Adams Cycle, founded in 1914 (and still in business but not Adams owned any more) was a Schwinn/Raleigh/Columbia dealership that later took on Astra/Roger Rivière/Concord (Japanese) in a desperate attempt to have 10-speeds for sale, and Kent (Japanese) 3-speeds as a cheap alternative to Raleigh Sports (and the later Triumphs and Dunelts).
John Adams Cycle, across town, was strictly a Schwann/Gitane dealership. They were still around back in the Nineties, the last time I visited. John was the nephew of Merle (son of A. R. Adams founder). Better organized, more vibrant, more modern. And until the Bike Boom that was it. Even after the boom began, there were only two other bicycle shops started. Presque Isle Bicycles (at least that’s what I remember the name being) which was Fuji/Atala/Lambert. And a local hobby/model shop opened up a bicycle department with Batavus/Flandria.
Once the Bike Boom turned into the Bike Bust by 1975, the only survivors were the Adams crew.
I was always fascinated by the Roger Rivière bikes, which I knew some of the history (noted TdF rider brings out a bike line after retiring in the late 50’s, etc.), but could never figure of what was the story of the 70’s bikes. Until, 35 years later, I found out that a Roger Rivière was a Gitane built to cheaper spec than the bottom of the line Gitane that John Adams sold (an even cheaper paint job, no chrome on the front forks, a nylon saddle that was there strictly to get you to upgrade to a Brooks or Ideale), and sold for $29.00 less. And, as I finally discovered when I found and restored one in 2010, they rode horribly. Made my Peugeot UO-8 come off almost like a PX-10 by comparison.
And then we’d accidentally get the occasional Concorde in a shipment. Absolutely identical to the Rivière except for the foil stickers, and most of them came in badly painted flat yellow as opposed to the Riviere’s badly painted flat orange.
Obviously, the Erie bicycle market had nothing on New York City. Or Pittsburg. At least it was better than Johnstown (my home town) which had one Schwinn dealer who carried absolutely nothing else. Exotic brands like Peugeot, Mercian, Mercier and Crescent? We had to go to Columbus, OH every Mother’s Day weekend for TOSRV if you wanted to see them. And I only knew of Bianchi (which to me was a REAL exotic) due to a group of five guys from Boston who’d come thru town for TOSRV and stay at my place, used my shop to prep their bikes, and turned me on to this little local band named Aerosmith and some of the best acid I ever did.
Ah, youth . . .
Prior to the Bike Boom, the Erie market was two dealerships. A. R. Adams Cycle, founded in 1914 (and still in business but not Adams owned any more) was a Schwinn/Raleigh/Columbia dealership that later took on Astra/Roger Rivière/Concord (Japanese) in a desperate attempt to have 10-speeds for sale, and Kent (Japanese) 3-speeds as a cheap alternative to Raleigh Sports (and the later Triumphs and Dunelts).
John Adams Cycle, across town, was strictly a Schwann/Gitane dealership. They were still around back in the Nineties, the last time I visited. John was the nephew of Merle (son of A. R. Adams founder). Better organized, more vibrant, more modern. And until the Bike Boom that was it. Even after the boom began, there were only two other bicycle shops started. Presque Isle Bicycles (at least that’s what I remember the name being) which was Fuji/Atala/Lambert. And a local hobby/model shop opened up a bicycle department with Batavus/Flandria.
Once the Bike Boom turned into the Bike Bust by 1975, the only survivors were the Adams crew.
I was always fascinated by the Roger Rivière bikes, which I knew some of the history (noted TdF rider brings out a bike line after retiring in the late 50’s, etc.), but could never figure of what was the story of the 70’s bikes. Until, 35 years later, I found out that a Roger Rivière was a Gitane built to cheaper spec than the bottom of the line Gitane that John Adams sold (an even cheaper paint job, no chrome on the front forks, a nylon saddle that was there strictly to get you to upgrade to a Brooks or Ideale), and sold for $29.00 less. And, as I finally discovered when I found and restored one in 2010, they rode horribly. Made my Peugeot UO-8 come off almost like a PX-10 by comparison.
And then we’d accidentally get the occasional Concorde in a shipment. Absolutely identical to the Rivière except for the foil stickers, and most of them came in badly painted flat yellow as opposed to the Riviere’s badly painted flat orange.
Obviously, the Erie bicycle market had nothing on New York City. Or Pittsburg. At least it was better than Johnstown (my home town) which had one Schwinn dealer who carried absolutely nothing else. Exotic brands like Peugeot, Mercian, Mercier and Crescent? We had to go to Columbus, OH every Mother’s Day weekend for TOSRV if you wanted to see them. And I only knew of Bianchi (which to me was a REAL exotic) due to a group of five guys from Boston who’d come thru town for TOSRV and stay at my place, used my shop to prep their bikes, and turned me on to this little local band named Aerosmith and some of the best acid I ever did.
Ah, youth . . .
