That Firestone bike is likely 1970s - 1980s. The logo on the seat makes me skew toward later years, looks fairly modern. I worked for Goodyear in the early 1980s. Tire stores at that time sold other non-automotive items. We sold appliances and lawn mowers. They had house brand credit cards and really pushed the other items to boost credit sales.
I appreciated looking at all 15 pages of bikes here. Just picked up a tired cruiser bike for the wife. The 18 speed trail bicycle was too many moving parts to keep her happy. She just likes to pedal slow and coast a lot and I still have my 40 year old 10 speed, and I tend to haul ass when I ride, so we are still a riding mis-match. I will adapt. Anyway, I want to rehab this bike we just got and at least make it look retro. This post thread has provided a lot of inspiration for me. Already bought some Laurel Green paint so the bike will kind of look like it is from the 1950s.
Nothing special, but I picked this up years ago at an antique mall. Just buried in the corner of a booth. I remember it had a price tag of $20 and the tires held air. I figured that’s reasonable. I just have it high up on a shelf in my garage.
You have some gorgeous bikes, very envious. Where do you go to find your bikes? I'm in Fresno, and I can't find diddly-squat within a 100 mile radius of here.
And while I'm thinking about it, here's my '46 Schwinn DX. Rescued this from my father-in-law's garage a few years ago. Based on the smurf blue paint, crappy aluminum fenders, junk saddle and cheap whitewalls I thought it was modern Chinese junk until an acquaintance on another Schwinn-related site took a closer look at it, and sure enough it's an early post-war ballooner. I've since swapped out all the modern bits, added a Phantom chainguard, and an era-correct headbadge. What she looked like when I found it: Hoping to paint it this Spring, something more sedate, like maroon with some cream striping and such.
I find them all over. the Alameda one was a Craigslist find. bought one at the Marin County Bike Museum at a road/Mountain bike swap, it was a donation to the museum. bought 2 others at the Niles Flea Market in Fremont. the Stockton Swap has a lot of bikes, as does Turlock... there is always a few old bikes at any car swap. sign up on the CABE (Classic and Antique Bicycle exchange) online, it is the HAMB for vintage bikes, but with a bigger emphasis on buying and selling. lots of great people there. here is a link to a guy in Stockton that has TONS of great bikes and parts to sell. https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/jaf-co-swap-meet-stockton-calif-october-1st-2022-saturday.214022/ he has a swap meet once a year but sells bikes and parts by appointment year round.
you can get stencils on ebay to do the original style scallops for any old Schwinn. that bike is probably 46 - 48.
Picked these two up a couple of weeks ago. A '63 Mainliner (believed to have been built by Huffy) and a '58 Hornet. I'm going to fix the Hornet up for my wife as she says she wants a 'cruiser' so she can join me on my rides.
There’s a guy here in town that rides a restored high wheeler on our Greenline often. He always gets the looks and if I he’d room for one I would like to find one myself. But here is the first bike I got when I was 6 in 1972.
Picked this up last week for a song; nice to know there are still a few treasures around to be found on the cheap. '37 Hawthorne.
Here's my bike I ride all the time (because my car is unreliable) 1960's Schwinn Typhoon. I found those pedals still wrapped in twine and brown paper, I put those, the dust caps, the light and the (non-functional) speedo on there. Original owner was a kid named Billy, evidenced by the metal numberplate on the side of the frame.
So I bought this elgin a couple of weeks ago. It has a friction front brake and wooden pedals. Any idea how old it is, and what is the best way to move it along to the right caretaker?