Biking is Fun

[skins_brew]

Man, Huffy Bikes. I had a few when I was a kid. It def was NOT cool to be riding a Huffy, as they were considered “lame.” I think the lameness came from the fact they were sold at Toys-R-Us and were cheap. The cool bikes growing up were Treks. If you had a Trek, you were a cool kid.

I wonder if kids still see bikes these days as status symbols? I think I know the answer to that….

[PotomacCyclist]

At least some kids do. Or at least they are fascinated by shiny, fast bikes, like triathlon bikes.

http://www.zentriathlon.com/

In the April 26 podcast, “Coach Brett” says that his son and his friends are awed by his flashy tri bike. Or at least he tries to impress his son and his friends with his cool-looking bike.

His school-age son is on a youth cycling team. In some of the podcasts, Brett talked about how his son was dreaming about getting a new mountain bike. (Brett helped out his son by starting up a kids coaching segment in his very long podcasts, where he asks his son to give advice to other kids, and adults, who are just starting out with swimming, cycling or running. Then listeners could choose to donate to the son’s MTB fund if they wanted to.) The son already has a nice road bike and a basic MTB, but the MTB doesn’t have enough gears for the son to ride up steeper hills easily, as his father is trail running by his side. The campaign was successful and the son now has a nice MTB too.

I hadn’t heard about this podcast until recently, but I learned that it was one of the very first endurance sports podcasts on the Web. It’s a free-form style of podcast. There is a more structured news update about the world of triathlon and cycling, but much of each entry consists of a long training log: brief recordings that he makes before and after various triathlon workouts (but usually not on the bike, because that wouldn’t be safe). These are really long podcasts, more than 3 hrs. each. (The podcasts are free to download.) Kind of funny to listen to. He’s a tall, former Marine Texan but he is kind of a laid-back dude who likes to make fun of extremist people. He sounds more like a California surfer dude than a former Marine in Texas. Except that he likes bikes and triathlon a lot.

[PotomacCyclist]

@skins_brew 86812 wrote:

Man, Huffy Bikes. I had a few when I was a kid. It def was NOT cool to be riding a Huffy, as they were considered “lame.” I think the lameness came from the fact they were sold at Toys-R-Us and were cheap. The cool bikes growing up were Treks. If you had a Trek, you were a cool kid.

I wonder if kids still see bikes these days as status symbols? I think I know the answer to that….

This was my first bike, back in grade school. Tell me that ain’t the definition of cool.

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[That’s just a picture I found online. I had the same model, but this isn’t my actual bike. Mine had real flames shooting out of it.]

[eminva]

I like it. I don’t have any problem with a Huffy cruiser being the gateway drug. So few of us who ride a lot bought the absolute, perfect bike for all our needs right out of the starting gate (e.g., see some other active threads). More and more, I tell people just ride what you have or that is easy/cheap to obtain until you figure out what is best for your needs. And take your time doing that.

@skins_brew 86812 wrote:

The cool bikes growing up were Treks. If you had a Trek, you were a cool kid.

skins_brew, you are showing your youth or I am showing my age. It was a Schwinn Stingray when I was growing up.

@skins_brew 86812 wrote:

I wonder if kids still see bikes these days as status symbols? I think I know the answer to that….

If my son’s scout troop is any indication, there was a bit of a pecking order when we were working on the merit badge last year. The greatest respect was accorded to one of the older scouts who had a road bike for the pavement based training rides (actually it was his father’s — he was tall enough to share it). The worst was to be on a “kids bike” — the definition of which seems a little arbitrary. Treks, if not cool, were certainly sought after. I had meant to keep my son’s low end Trek MTB for myself when he outgrew it, but another scout’s dad approached us as soon as he heard we’d gotten our son a new bike and made an offer.

Liz

[Mikey]

my first bike [ATTACH=CONFIG]5759[/ATTACH]

I don’t know why but yellow plastic “mag” wheels were hot that year. Heavy as anything, but HOT.

[dkel]

@skins_brew 86812 wrote:

I wonder if kids still see bikes these days as status symbols?

My older son is almost 12, and he thinks bikes are cool, but I’m sure it’s because I talk about bikes incessantly. He also knows several forum folks by their handle, also because I talk about that incessantly.

Man, I’m a dork!

[Emm]

My first bike was pink and white, had shiny tassels, a white wicker basket, and was covered with pink, purple, and yellow kittens.

I was the coolest 4 year old in Michigan. I wish my current bike looked half as awesome as my first bike.

[Rod Smith]

Fun sucks
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[cvcalhoun]

When I grew up, the high end bikes were either a Schwinn or a Raleigh. I was in college before I saw my first bike with more than 3 gears. And that first one (a 10-speed) seemed to me grossly impractical, as there was no click to let you know when it was in a particular gear.

And now all you whipper-snappers, get off of my lawn!

[dasgeh]

I “inherited” my brothers’ BMX. They had raced on the dirt tracks of Alabama, but by the time I could ride, we were living squarely in the city of Charlotte, and there was little to no dirt to be found. Instead, I used it to do tricks as I coasted down our col-de-sac. I broke both arms and both legs over the course of 6 years, but it was awesome!

[Fast Friendly Guy]

Schwinn sting ray! Not my first but one of my favorites. I rode it to school, I rode it on dirt. I rode it everywhere. I don’t think I ever loved a car as much as that bike!

[Drewdane]

@skins_brew 86812 wrote:

Man, Huffy Bikes. I had a few when I was a kid. It def was NOT cool to be riding a Huffy, as they were considered “lame.” I think the lameness came from the fact they were sold at Toys-R-Us and were cheap. The cool bikes growing up were Treks. If you had a Trek, you were a cool kid.

Same here, except the “cool” bike to have was a Mongoose BMX bike. Oddly enough, you could ride any old department-store POS and nobody would bat an eye, but get spotted riding a Huffy and you were a Pariah for life.

[ShawnoftheDread]

I had a fairly nice Huffy Racing BMX. Chrome frame and fork, oversized down tube, fake CW bars. Once I lost the coaster brake, chain guard, and decals some kids thought I had a Dyno. As long as they didn’t try picking it up – it was about five pounds heavier than a Dyno.

I broke the brake bridge doing one-wheeled hops down a hill, so I rode it for several months without brakes before a neighbor welded the bridge for me. Good times.

[Edgar P.]

@Fast Friendly Guy 87026 wrote:

Schwinn sting ray! Not my first but one of my favorites. I rode it to school, I rode it on dirt. I rode it everywhere. I don’t think I ever loved a car as much as that bike!

Man, I loved my Schwinn growing up! Just got a Fastback a little while ago, still love the feel of it.

[PeteD]

@Drewdane 87116 wrote:

Same here, except the “cool” bike to have was a Mongoose BMX bike. Oddly enough, you could ride any old department-store POS and nobody would bat an eye, but get spotted riding a Huffy and you were a Pariah for life.

Agreed, my brother was the envy of the ‘hood when he got his Mongoose for his birthday.

[Author]

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