tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post473585348180988519..comments2024-03-27T11:44:15.723-04:00Comments on The Retrogrouch: The American Bike Boom - 1970sBrookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12110998345857993287noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-49079878526467649372020-10-01T11:27:50.156-04:002020-10-01T11:27:50.156-04:00Nice piece. (I got here from your New Bike Boom po...Nice piece. (I got here from your New Bike Boom post this year).<br />I think I'm older (born 1950), so I have a somewhat different set of memories.<br />We grew up riding bikes in suburban California in the 1950s. Kids would go on bike rides together, explore, go on fishing trips. I rode a bike every day for bicycle routes. "10-speeds" were exotic, something to be regarded with awe, and I think only a few kids our age got one.<br /><br />I don't remember a "bike boom," and I've asked some other people my age if they can remember it. Nope. There was so much going on in 67-74, that paying attention to bike sales was very low on the list ... the draft, women/men, rock music, radical politics were higher priority.<br /><br />For me, bikes must have been part of a growing environmental consciousness. I remember in 1975 vowing to get around by bike and never get a car - for which I was accused of being a radical by my roommate. My step-father gave me a multi-speed bike about that time, and I remember that riding it gave me the sensation of flying. Bart Andersonhttp://resilience.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-43056983999513411992016-04-05T12:14:04.821-04:002016-04-05T12:14:04.821-04:00Any chance you have Frank Berto's article in P...Any chance you have Frank Berto's article in PDF form? I'm doing some research on the 1970s bike boom.Alex Ryderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11769297294047823076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-9848939357646571042014-08-28T12:42:51.365-04:002014-08-28T12:42:51.365-04:00I liked mine. They were wickedly easy to "whe...I liked mine. They were wickedly easy to "wheelie." Though from a safety standpoint, that was probably a major drawback to the design, from a kid's view, they were a blast to ride. Lots of fun. Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12110998345857993287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-1101940766835394292014-08-28T11:50:44.237-04:002014-08-28T11:50:44.237-04:00Sting Rays and their knockoffs built confidence in...Sting Rays and their knockoffs built confidence in young riders because they were high trail and tracked solidly, so as an 8-year-old I could ride downhill no-handed and feel like I was flying. Plus a buddy could hitch a ride to the park. That plus living in suburbia, full of empty, bike-friendly roads, did it for me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-57257250768047797102014-08-12T18:37:51.623-04:002014-08-12T18:37:51.623-04:00Great post Brooks!
Growing up in small town Ohio ...Great post Brooks!<br /><br />Growing up in small town Ohio I was 10 years old in 1980. My family was relatively poor in those days as my Dad was growing the small business he started. I was very proud and happy with my department store banana seat bike decked out with rectangular shaped mirror and dynamo headlight/tail light.<br /><br />But it was the local Schwinn shop that was my window to the exotic bike world for me back then. looking back on it now it still amazes me that my small town of 15,000 people even could sustain its own bike shop. I remember seeing the occasional Orange or Apple crate and the plentiful varsities around town but those bikes were beyond my means. Eventually getting to know the proprietor of that shop I got a close look at his Waterford built tourer. Wow! I thought that was perfection. <br /><br />After working summer jobs I earned enough for my first real bike, an early 80's Schwinn Mirada. Although I had long since been a cyclist that bike introduced me to the fun off roading and also taught me the utility of bikes as a means of useful transportation.<br /><br />Thanks for sparking those old memories. Even though I'm just young enough to have missed the boom you talk about for sure I got to experience the effects in the late 70's and 80's. recumbent conspiracy theoristhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06534820082655384780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8492685525705691186.post-51960055808631647312014-08-12T16:25:11.757-04:002014-08-12T16:25:11.757-04:00Not too long ago I read a really neat story about ...Not too long ago I read a really neat story about that earth day and biking/ the bike-boom. I can't remember where, though. I think it was an old Nat Geo, or something else kind of unlikely, that somebody had forwarded to me. Shoot, I wish I could remember the source, it was really well-written and interesting.<br /><br /><br />Growing up, all we had by way of new bikes was the Schwinn shop in town, or the crap at the department stores, so anybody that wanted a "real" bike ended up with a Schwinn of some sort or another. Old Varsities are still a dime-a-dozen around here. <br /><br />My first bike was a Schwinn banana-seat bike (I think it was a Sting Ray, but wouldn't swear to it). My parents bought that for me, and a couple of Continentals for themselves. Tanks, the lot of them. But I guess that fostered something in me, I still have a fondness for old Schwinns. I currently have 2 '74 Le Tours in my stable, and find them to be delightful riders with nice proportions. The Le Tours were made by Panasonic, and not one person that I know that's ridden a Japanese-made Le Tour for any decent amount of time/miles would rank them below anything else in Schwinn's line-up. Aside from a Superior or Paramount, maybe, but that's a whole different animal. As you stated, there sure seemed to be a lot of value in those imported Schwinns. I've actually just picked up a '80(ish) World Sport that was made in Taiwan, which should mean that it was made by Giant for Schwinn. No serious miles on it, yet, but the overall fit/finish is surprisingly nice. (Think I'm gonna' give it the "poor man's Riv" treatment.) <br /><br /><br />I am totally a fan of the "bike boom" bikes in general, and the Japanese-made ones in particular. (up to about '83/'84, really, until the Dollar crapped out against the Yen. Things changed for import bikes then. At least what I could afford, haha) Definitely the era of bikes that captures my attention the most.<br /><br /><br />Wolf<br /><br />N/Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14710395292374599493noreply@blogger.com