First Bike

[Cycling Badger]

Was passing through Dundee and stopped for a coffee at the Cycling Hub only to spot a Raleigh Boxer hanging from the ceiling.
This was my first "proper" bike. It ended up with bent stem after too many front heavy landings of the jump we built into a council installed rubber skateboard track in park. But I remember the joy this bike brought me as a child.

What was your first bike and what memories and feeling does it invoke?

 

[DRM]

I had a balloon tyre Childs bike up to being 6, used to ride it up & down the yard behind the houses, with a transistor radio taped to the handlebars, it was made obsolete by a 1971 Raleigh Chopper at Christmas

 

[cyberknight]

i had hand me down bikes till i got a shiny grifter , rode it to death even though the gear cable snapped so i was it the hardest gear all the time which might explain my thunder thighs

 

[Cycling Badger]

i had hand me down bikes till i got a shiny grifter , rode it to death even though the gear cable snapped so i was it the hardest gear all the time which might explain my thunder thighs

My second bike was a Grifter - I think they’re now collectable, but not as much as the Chopper ^
By the end it had no rear brake and I stopped it by jamming my foot between the seat-stays and the tyre.
Never understood what that neutral gear was for. Used to result in crossbar colliding with under carriage (or vice versa).

 

[oxoman]

The first bike i can remember was a Raleigh Chicco, went miles on it as a youngster. Then replaced as I got older to a 10 spd Falcon racer way back in 197?. God im feeling old.

 

[Accy cyclist]

My dad used to buy me and my brother second hand bikes advertised in the local paper. My first 'proper' bike was a Holdsworth ten gears steel road bike I bought off my brother when he got bored with cycling. I had it for a few years with my longest journey on it being 200 and odd miles, riding up to Silloth in Cumbria in May 1977 to camp out overnight then ride back home the following day. Sadly and annoyingly my brother 'borrowed' it to take with him to college in 1980. When I asked for it back he told me he'd sold it pay his months student rent! What a @#&t!!!!😠

 

[Punkawallah]

Assorted spare parts put together by a neighbour. Then father turned up with a Chopper for Christmas. Oh! The joy! Going from a (too big) 5 speed with drop bars to . . . that. Apparently it was so my brother could ride in back.

 

[All uphill]

My first bike was a tiny BSA which fitted me when I was four. The first real bike was a black Rudge when I was eight. I loved that.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

When I was 11 or so my parents got me a Raleigh Elite
standard flat type bar 1970s bike with the classic 3 speed hub gears
and the crossbar was bent slightly at the saddle end so the saddle would go lower
which helped because I was sort between sizes

totally carp thing
I assumed it was me as I had never rode a proper bike any distance (like a few miles) before
so when I came to a hill I just assumed it was normal to have to get off and walk

I rode all over the North of the Wirral on it - well - walked up the hills anyway
and never got better in terms of hills

after a while my Dad asked if I would like a new one
on condition that we sold the Elite first and then I got one for Christmas and Birthday combined

I ended up with a Peugeot
it was purle - might have been a U08
has stainless steel mudguards that I loved (that was NOT trendy) and drops and 10 gears!!

10 gears!!!
I was the only person I knew with a 10 speed bike

and first time I took it to my friends' houses I went up 2 long hills before I even realised I was on them
it just went up - changed down a gear but that was all

It wasn;t the greatest bike ever - but it was to me

I reckon the Raleigh Elite probably weighed a ton and the gears were just wrong in some ways
Te LBS did look at it several times and said it was fine
so it was just the design etc

 

[Cycling Badger]

When I was 11 or so my parents got me a Raleigh Elite
standard flat type bar 1970s bike with the classic 3 speed hub gears
and the crossbar was bent slightly at the saddle end so the saddle would go lower
which helped because I was sort between sizes

totally carp thing
I assumed it was me as I had never rode a proper bike any distance (like a few miles) before
so when I came to a hill I just assumed it was normal to have to get off and walk

I rode all over the North of the Wirral on it - well - walked up the hills anyway
and never got better in terms of hills

after a while my Dad asked if I would like a new one
on condition that we sold the Elite first and then I got one for Christmas and Birthday combined

I ended up with a Peugeot
it was purle - might have been a U08
has stainless steel mudguards that I loved (that was NOT trendy) and drops and 10 gears!!

10 gears!!!
I was the only person I knew with a 10 speed bike

and first time I took it to my friends' houses I went up 2 long hills before I even realised I was on them
it just went up - changed down a gear but that was all

It wasn;t the greatest bike ever - but it was to me

I reckon the Raleigh Elite probably weighed a ton and the gears were just wrong in some ways
Te LBS did look at it several times and said it was fine
so it was just the design etc

How did we ever manage with only 10 gears! 😜

My first drop bar was a 10-Speed Raleigh a Christmas present that didn’t last to spring as I managed to total it being hit by a car.

After an insurance claim it was replaced with a 12 speed - yes 12! - Coventry Eagle, it was “champagne “ in colour. Loved the bike, but didn’t love the fact that the wheels seemed constantly buckled.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

How did we ever manage with only 10 gears! 😜

My first drop bar was a 10-Speed Raleigh a Christmas present that didn’t last to spring as I managed to total it being hit by a car.

After an insurance claim it was replaced with a 12 speed - yes 12! - Coventry Eagle, it was “champagne “ in colour. Loved the bike, but didn’t love the fact that the wheels seemed constantly buckled.

My current bike has gears

Yup 6

OK OK OK - and a motor - but whatever

mind you - I see no point in gear 6 - only ever gets used my accident as my that speed I am just holding on and hoping the brakes work!!

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

I had either hand - me downs or things my parents bought at jumble sales, etc.

Thing is, couldn't even ride a bike without stabilisers until I was about 8, so there was little point worrying about anything good or fancy.

When I finally did 'get it' and could ride, I do remember having a gold/champaign coloured bike that I liked, but for me, the first bike I know specifically was a second hand Raleigh 'Aztec' mountain bike when I was around 10. Green and yellow it was as I remember.

I then got a silver, brand new Raleigh 'Max Ogre mountain bike for Christmas when I was 14. That thing was pretty chunky and I called it 'The Tank'.