Anyone know of a good one? Time to get rid of my Schwinn 5 speed and my dads old bike. At near 60 I’m sticking with 4 wheels
At that time I was approaching 60, now I have crested it. I have ridden a bike in 15 years, that 5 speed in maybe 45+ years? Lol. Ya, I’ve no issues letting it go, just haven’t felt like crawling up and getting it out of the rafters in the garage Oh, dads bike? Other than bringing it home from my grandparents basement, hasn’t seen daylight since probably the late 40’s or so.
My 5 speed is green. Gotta get those things out of the rafters someday, before they become “just old bikes” and get tossed when I’m gone
That’s why I recall, but don’t recall chrome fenders. I am pretty sure I gave up (yes my money) 68$ in the mid/early’70’s to Turner HW store. My dad would put me on his D4 and I’d disk feilds for him a him as a kid, he’d give me a proper wage for my age. Heck, I’d have done it for free. Lol
we need to see pics of "dads old bike". go here: https://thecabe.com/ the Cabe is like the HAMB, but for old bikes. you can sign up and ask what it is and what it is worth once you get pics.
I remember the Krate bikes. I think they only made 3 types the first year, Apple, Orange and the Lemon. They added more colors later. I saw an Orange Krate at a swap meet and they wanted big bucks for it. My buddy said it was a repop, got me thinking how much a real one went for.
Oh, it was a Krate pictured, mines not like that though. Just a 5 speed. Dang I gotta get some help and get them down.
I thought the original ones said Apple Krate on the chain guard. 1968 was a long time ago so I’m not really sure. This one claims to be an original. I had a cheap copy from a different make. It was gold with a metal flake seat and a sissy bar. Thought I was bad ass.
I had friends down the highway a road or two growing up. Twins. Both had the Schwinn 5 speeds with the small front tire. But their dad was a pharmacist
Actually , when they came out in 1968; they were only offered in orange. I was an apprentice at the local Schwinn shop, when our first one came in. I told the shop owner, I wanted it. He made me wait till after Christmas, when all the kids had seen it in the front window ; to have it. It took awhile to pay it off , at the $1.00 an hour I was working for. $86.95 as shown on my original tag. After about 2 years of wheelies, I broke the mounts at the seat ; for the rear shocks. Still have them, but never put them back on. Only a 1968 has a spring in the seat post, along with the 2 rears. Here she is:
1968-70 version The interesting thing were the springer/girder front forks that were developed 10 years+ earlier on Schwinn normal size bikes. This style of smaller bike was trying to make it look like the custom motorcycles of the day seen in car shows. It allowed the “kids” to emulate the high handlebars, long seat springer/girder forks of the real motorcycles, all while riding around in the neighborhood. Luckily, the designers did not lower the seat to fender height and keep the high handle bars. There would have been more lawsuits from kids getting hurt, due to no or less control of the bicycle with the hands/arms held high versus the normal low angle on the riser center bar on the neck. Hello, In 1955, our mom and dad surprised us at Christmas. In the morning, out rolled two Schwinn full size bicycles. One was black and the other, red. We had been asking our parents for full size bikes for several years. Now, that we were in our first real house from 1949-53, there were plenty of places we could ride and have fun, including school just a few blocks from our house. our parents waited until we moved to the last house we owned from 1953 to 1998. Our stock Schwinnn Phantom Bicycles: mine was red, my brother’s was black. Our parents knew both brothers needed different, but similar models of the same bike. Now, the streets had paved sidewalks, an elementary school two blocks away and since the housing tract was one of an early planned development, the streets were rectangular in shape and given alphabetical names. From one main street to the L.A. River. (Adriatic Avenue, Baltic Avenue, Caspian Avenue (our street), Delta Avenue, Easy Avenue, Fashion Avenue and Gale Avenue. Our mom was now feeling a little easier about us going all over the whole Westside of Long Beach, but knew the streets were always leading back to our house. getting lost was the main emphasis, and the rectangular plots and map routes made it simple to get from one place to another. We had seen these bikes at a toy store in Long Beach. But, my dad knew of the Jones Bicycle Shop on American Avenue, which was a short distance away from our house. That place was an institution in Long Beach and lasted until the more modern times. We rode our Schwinn springer/girder fork bicycles all over our neighborhood and into downtown Long Beach along the L.A. River. Then as we got interested in making a custom bicycle, things started to come off of the stock bikes. The fake gas tank was sanded down to shiny metal and given the same treatment as our mom’s lawnmower metal cover plate. It looked cool and we were proud little kids when others saw the custom tricks we did to our bikes. Thinking back, it was hot rodding for young kids as a stocker gets the stripped down and modified look to create a hot rod. We did not know it then, but it was similar to what we did many years later on our own hot rod builds and race cars. The best part was the spronger/girder front forks to allow better suspension over curbs and bumpy roads. The simulated motorcycle gas tank and girder front forks made these bikes look like old motorcycles we saw cruising around. Of course, with the early hot rodding ideas, things came off from the stock configuration. The chrome fenders, rear bike rack, no nighttime riding, so the front fender/light came off and we got mud streaks up our backs and fronts of our white T-shirts. Now, the girder front end really helped in our rough house off road dirt lots in the neighborhood. Sorry, purists, we should have left them stock. But, who knew back then that these bikes left in stock configuration would bring big bucks later on in life? No one back then saved stuff for that purpose. The purpose was to ride them to death and have fun while doing crazy preteen/teenage stuff. stripped down “hot rod” version of the Schwinn Phantom bikes Jnaki On a sad note: Later, we used the front forks/hub/neck downtube for the front of our gas powered lawnmower motor driven, custom made, Doodlebug, to make it handle well over curbs and dirt fields. The rest of the Doodlebug frame came from an errant, lost, supermarket chrome cart. Yes, there goes the original bicycle value... But, we gave the complete other Schwinn to our cousins.
Speaking of hot rod bikes… I built this beater chopper out of a 1930’s twenty inch frame when I was 13. Fork is from a 26”bike, redrilled sissy bar for high banana seat position. Traveler style handle bars and a 2 speed rear. Grandkids like testing it out! The last picture is one my eldest grandson built, he has it hogged out to all but 100cc, it pushes 40 mph!
The Jalopy Journal
