Schwinn the Corvette of bicycles!

Jazzy1

Jazzy1

Crazy Cat Lady 🐾
38b64015fa204763fedbbb463d3859bd.jpg


Did you have a Schwinn bicycle? (If not what kind did you have)

Tell us about your first two-wheeled bicycle.
 

I didn't know they had a Corvette model, but Schwinn was the Cadillac of Bikes in my youth. Somewhere around 1960, a guy I knew showed up with the first 10 speed I had ever heard of. It was prototype and he claimed it was not yet on the market. He got it from some relative who worked for Schwinn, and was the only Schwinn 10 speed I've ever seen. He let me ride it, and I could see the advantages. But the Schwinn 10 speed was out marketed by a huge number of other makes, and the name Schwinn became a historical artifact.

Earlier in my youth, my friends owned Schwinn bikes. Me? My parents bought me one from Montgomery Wards. I think the brand name was "Hawthorne," but I'm not entirely sure. I was happy with it, but my friends were quick to point out it wasn't a Schwinn.
 
JC Higgins was from Sears Roebuck. Sears Roebuck, back in the old days, catered to the farming and agricultural Populace.

Therefore, both my bicycle and my saddle, bridal & Martingale came from Sears Roebuck. Which I still have that saddle bridal and martingale outfit. From 1959. Up in the attic.

I really wish I would’ve been smart enough to also hang onto my JC Higgins bicycle.
 
Imogene said:
JC Higgins was from Sears Roebuck. Sears Roebuck, back in the old days, catered to the farming and agricultural Populace.
I really wish I would’ve been smart enough to also hang onto my JC Higgins bicycle.
Click to expand...
There were a lot of kids with JC Higgins. My folks bought things from Sears too, but mostly from "Monkey Wards," as my father used to call them. I remember kids debating which bikes were best. They were mostly all older than me, so I didn't have much to say about it. I listened and decided Schwinn must be the best.

After my first Hawthorne got stripped down without carriers, fenders, horn box, and head light, because it became a trend in my neighbor hood as I got older. My parents were horrified, but I was lighter and faster and fashionable with the new minimalist social culture of 12 year old cyclists. Then I bought a Montgomery Wards 3 speed, which we called English racers back then. It came with a Sturmey Archer gear switcher that worked well enough, but only a few people, none of who I ever met, understood the mechanics of the contraption. The bike had hand brakes, which eventually became the norm. It was wrecked, along with myself when I was hit by a car. So I bought another one, which was eventually replaced when the 10 speeds came out.
 
Last edited:
Oh, yeah, at 6 I had a blue Schwinn girl's bike that I named Daisy.

I had the hardest time learning to ride it....my dad got very tired of having to run along beside me (because I was afraid of stopping).

Finally I got the hang of it and Daisy and I were off on adventures...well, as much adventure as i could have between my house and the end of the block, which was as far as I was allowed to go at first.
 
I was 5 years older than my sister, and when she finally took the training wheels off, I was the one who ran along side holding her up, and after a few tries, I let her go, and presto! she took off on her own. That was as satisfying for me as much as it was for her. It was the first time I remember actually teaching someone something. We were both proud of ourselves.
 
When I was younger I was allowed to ride my tricycle on my own, as long as I didn't leave the alley. Our next door neighbors had a son, Gary, who was two years older than me and still riding his tricycle, but he was more adventurous. He joined me in the alley and we got to the end of the alley where it was crossed by 23rd street, and Gary convinced me to cross the street with him and ride our tricycles down the next alley to 24th street, which at my age would have been the farthest I'd ever been from home.

I remember we were both in our bare feet. We peddled and peddled and finally reached 24th street, where Gary decided we should turn right and peddle over to Ridgeland Ave and go back home on Ridgeland. Both of our houses faced Ridgeland, so it made sense. We could make big loop.

Now Ridgeland Avenue was not some quite side street. Not by a long shot. Ridgeland was one of the main North/South routes of the West Towns Bus Company for God Sakes. So I was surprised, but interested when Gary thought we should ride in the middle Ridgeland Avenue, rather than on the sidewalk.

So there we were riding our trikes in our bare feet in the middle of the Northbound lane, laughing and having fun, when (and I'm not making this up) it started to rain. But it was a warm summer day and we having an adventure riding barefooted on the West Towns bus route in the pouring rain. What joy! I don't remember cars honking but we must have had a line of cars behind us. No one was passing us so it seemed safe.

By now my mother must have gone looking for me because of the rain. We weren't in the yard, and not in the alley, and probably in desperation she went to front door to see if we might have been on that side of the house. Gary and I were just about to cross 23rd Street again when I saw my mother on the front steps yelling at us to get off of the street, which was not a problem because at the street crossing, the sidewalk came to one of those sloped curbs that could accommodate strollers, roller skates, and the paper boy on his bicycle.

We were back in the safe zone, with only four more houses to our front porch (three for Gary who lived next door). My mother was upset, but not mad, but then she seemed to get upset by the simplest things Gary and I would do. Grownups! Sheesh!
 
In the logging camp where I grew up, the night watchman was an old man who could no longer work in the woods. His hobby was gathering up flamed out or otherwise no longer wanted bicycles and then using these hulks to make serviceable bikes.

I got to know him well and often ran errands or carried parts for him. In exchange, he taught me about repairing bicycles. He let me pick a frame and parts from his accumulation and showed me how to assemble them into a working machine. I can't claim to know what brand to call my first bike because it was a mixture of rusty components from various manufacturers. I finished it off with a brush paint job of "Chinese Red" enamel from Woolworth.

That bike was my transport, off road vehicle and companion until I bought a beater car many years later. It carried me through two spectacular bike wrecks (I've already written about those on SF) and ended up in the hands of one of my younger cousins.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the old night watchman's name was Jeff.....Jeff Schwin (one n)
 
Last edited:
All of my bikes were Schwinn. I still have the one I road as a kid which needs new tires & brakes cleaned. My husband bought me my last Schwinn around 98 which I still ride. His bike is a Schwinn & my daughters first bike is one also.
 
I had a bicycle similar to the one pictured in the OP. Not a Schwinn. Probably a Sears model. Not really sure. It had pedal brakes not handlebar brakes.

I think it had 24" diameter wheels. I waited what seems to me a long time to get it. My mother called me into the kitchen and said something was out back. What a surprise. I got on it and took off.

I loved the freedom of cruising on a bike. It was more fun than a cell phone.
 
Last edited:
My parents bought me a Schwinn Stingray in gold in '66 right before we moved from NC to FL. No one had seen one yet and every kid in my neighborhood wanted to ride it. The older kids in the neighborhood were jealous and used to knock me off my bike so it was a blessing and a curse!

Schwinn.jpg
 
Last edited:
My Schwinn 7-speed Cruiser Supreme from the late 90's. I wore it out to the point of it demanding too much time to keep all the gears and brakes adjusted properly. So I gave it away.

yCEfQuU.jpg


Still left with this shaft drive bike. Notice no chain ... shaft drive. It too is a 7-speed.
Picked it up about 20yrs ago. Thing is I don't ride it much these days.
But it is wonderful to have as needed or if things go south in the petrol supply chain.

dvA8Bfr.jpg


... back when I had both ...

U4GftVw.jpg
 
I remember when having a Schwinn was the thing. I failed miserably at learning how to ride a bike and drew blood from my hand when it scraped a wall after my father let go. I was done, so never got a Schwinn.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top