I racked them up only ONCE on that shifter on my Krate... painful lesson learned split the boys. Notice the rake and trail of the 2 bikes above? The Stingray was more forgiving at high speeds with more rake and trail.
This how we rolled!!
- Thread starter GON
- Start date
I had a really funky hi-rise bike that my dad managed to bring over from a business trip. But the shifter was more a 3 speed on the handlebars. However, my wishlist came from the Consumers Distributing catalog, and they showed several hi-rise bikes with lever shifters. I thought that they were supposed to look like that. I started this topic and there were plenty of photos linked of different styles.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/whatever-happened-to-hi-rise-bikes.344635/
How did you manage to modify it? I thought that they were designed around the banana seat connected to a thin post and the back support. I didn't think it would be easy to find a seat post that thin and it looks like a really awful riding position.
I remember lusting over the various Sting Rays when I was a kid. My parents would tease us by bringing home the latest Schwinn catalog but of course all we ever had were old hand-me-downs from the neighbors. There was a big family a few doors away that had about ten kids, all of them older, and we inherited a ton of clothes and other stuff from them. Of course, by that time it was hopelessly out of style. Think of Lumpy Rutherford's clothes on "Leave It To Beaver". Even at 6 or 7 years of age I was aware it was old and square.
At some point, my parents brought home a purple 5-speed bike with a real tall sissy bar and of course a banana seat. It wasn't a Schwinn.... It was some sort of knock-off, like from whatever Walmart-style of store was around in those days. K-mart, probably. I couldn't even ride it for about another year until I was tall enough, but I did manage to ride it constantly until eventually I outgrew it finally got my first "adult" bike, a Sears.
I had a Columbia somewhere along the line too.
The Bianchi bike I have now is the first actual "bike brand" bike I've ever had.... That isn't also the name of the store it came from.
At some point, my parents brought home a purple 5-speed bike with a real tall sissy bar and of course a banana seat. It wasn't a Schwinn.... It was some sort of knock-off, like from whatever Walmart-style of store was around in those days. K-mart, probably. I couldn't even ride it for about another year until I was tall enough, but I did manage to ride it constantly until eventually I outgrew it finally got my first "adult" bike, a Sears.
I had a Columbia somewhere along the line too.
The Bianchi bike I have now is the first actual "bike brand" bike I've ever had.... That isn't also the name of the store it came from.
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Don't knock store brands. There are some pretty good ones out there like REI. While growing up my family had a Montgomery Ward's washer/dryer set and a Ward's electric chainsaw.
I'm the same age as you and like you I mowed lawns for "a living". I never had a Stingray. Never wanted one. After my first "kids bike" or two and skateboards, including several Makahas, I went straight to road bikes. I saved my money and bought a brand new black Raleigh road bike when I was 12 or 13. I can still remember riding down our neighborhood street when I got it home; literally, like it happened a month ago. I actually remember smiling from ear to ear with the new found speed and mobility I had. I soon upgraded to a purple Gitane to go faster and farther. I'd ride for hours in the Santa Cruz mountains, just 13 or 14 years old. It used to worry the heck out of my parents. I loved road bikes back then and I still love them now.
Scott
MrQuackers
Site Donor 2025
Schwinn Varsities were the cats meow but then there was the continental !!! I was born in 1953 .
Looks like that badge on the Chevy wagon shows it had the optional larger engine?
Turbofire 396
I had a Collegiate (5 speed).
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
Yep. I too resembled that looong ago. We always joke about how the movie , The Sandlot looks exactly how it did when we were young teens.
The kids around me used to get their dads to customize them all kind of ways. Even saw one with a steering wheel in place of handle bars? WILD. Hialrious. Lucky we were not killed with all the boards and crazy jump ramps and things we tried back then.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
LMAO at this photo it so reminds me of many things from back then. Soccer Mom!?!!! Hell, our Moms could not even find us most days from sun up till dark in the summer time. We did have to pay at times if she got mad enough - with torn up, red behind from a switch she made us select from the yard! But the fun we had all those days made it worth the beatings...
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
Whoa. You reminded me. I mowed so many yards with an old tired and beat up push mower for anywhere from $3 to $6 if lucky to do a big yard. I would put stuff I wanted on lay a way at the local Ace Hardware store I worked at part time or at the local Sporting goods store. It is a shame how the small independent stores are just about all dead and gone. They seemed to create or at least contributed to a real sense of community that no longer exists around here anymore.
MrQuackers
Site Donor 2025
That wagon was a beast. I remember tape measuring it and it was over 22 feet in length. What a boat.
twouvakind
Site Donor 2025
https://bikehistory.org/bikes/krates/#1970-krate
Never had one but some older neighborhood kids did. My three speed was an Executive brand, never found any info on it.
Never had one but some older neighborhood kids did. My three speed was an Executive brand, never found any info on it.
Man,everybody in my neighborhood wanted Schwinns cause we saw them as sponsors during commercials for Captain Kangaroo.Those easy rider choppers with Springer forks were out of reach for most of us. We would take an old junker and cut the forks off. Cheaper bikes had hollow forks. Then you would take those forks and ram ithem onto your existing forks to make it chopper length. Great idea till all that leverage overcomes the tensile strength. Schwinns never failed, they had solid/forged forks. And there two speed rear ends were great engineering.
Turbo Jet 396
Hard for my old eyes to tell but the big block cars had the words Turbo Jet and 396 on the fender emblems. The small block cars had a V with crossed flags and 283 or 327, IIRC. An in-line 6 was available as well.
My first 2-wheel bike was handed down to me by my father. He used it when he parachuted into Anzio during the 2nd world war. The bike folded and was carried in a large leather case, which most jumpers just abandoned when they landed. No need to carry more than was needed, especially when under fire.
I used this bike for a number of years until I got an Italian-made racing-style bike for my birthday when I was about eight years old.
My first set of wheels was a trike ...
I used this bike for a number of years until I got an Italian-made racing-style bike for my birthday when I was about eight years old.
My first set of wheels was a trike ...
Yes my first two bikes were Schwinn. I guess the best thing - after those two all other bikes seem REALLY LIGHT
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