The first bike that meant it all to you.

311

After posting on the forum here and getting such a great response. I think it's only right I should say my love of cycling comes from my first proper bike.

I got a grifter when I was about 7-9 years old from my grandparents which would be about ,1983-86. My parents hadn't a lot then ,so this was a dream come through for me.
My grandad was a mechanic and brought me up to my local esso to pump up the tyres to the right pressure.

The story begins from there ,never ending love for cycling.

stuf

Grifter in '79 for me - but soon after I was get left behind friends with racers - saved up in '81 when we lived in france for my first racer which was my pride and joy for the next 7 years

Quigs Snr

For me it was a Pony P. When we moved to the UK it was the only thing I wanted to take. Solid rubber wheels, stabilisers, the lot ! Broke it in half when I was 5 and had to get it welded back, replaced it with a cheapo Chopper clone I got for £7 at a car boot sale.

I really got started with a Puch BMX, did the craziest stuff on it, death defying stunts, 6 ft ramps, you name it, crashed so many times my mother commented that I was well into my teens before she realised I could grow skin on my knees and elbows.

Replaced it with a Kalkhoff 5spd racer when I was about 11. Never looked back, used to go out on this thing against the local cycling clubs and do well on it despite the mudgaurds, carrier and dynamo ! Got off the bike when I was about 17 (at which point I had a Raleigh Record Sprint, having previously owned by then a Triumph 10 speed, Raleigh Winner, Flyer and Banana) to move to go to college and take up chasing women as a sport, later switching to rowing and chasing women, before finally taking up soccer and chasing women. Only got back on the bike a couple of years ago, I regret those missed years now, if I had put this training in back then I could have done a few things in the sport, nothing major, maybe a RAS or two (maybe I still can), youth is wasted on the young eh ?.

311

stuf wrote: »

Grifter in '79 for me - but soon after I was get left behind friends with racers - saved up in '81 when we lived in france for my first racer which was my pride and joy for the next 7 years

My grifter was second hand ,but by jaysus did it get a death.
I ended up trading it in with my confirmation money ,for a racer.

The racer got absolutetly trashed and after a couple of more bikes ,I managed to pick up an emmelle bike which I cycled to my grandparents in carlow on.

I think I was about 16 when I cycled to carlow on an emmelle mountain bike ,that was an expedition. And respect to them who know what cycling is about

DirkVoodoo

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Only got back on the bike a couple of years ago, I regret those missed years now, if I had put this training in back then I could have done a few things in the sport, nothing major, maybe a RAS or two (maybe I still can), youth is wasted on the young eh ?.

Come on now Grandpa, you're never too old! I'm sure there is a craggy island over 75s Tour de Retirement Maison you could take part in??*

*Sorry, couldn't help myself :rolleyes:

penexpers

Two bikes come to mind

One I got for my birthday when I was five. It was blue and I loved it to pieces. Stolen from outside my house by some ****er from the pub (the pub was next door to my house).

Next was a second hand raleigh somethingorother. It had a three speed internal hub and I remember being really proud of owning a geared bike. I think I eventually ran it into the ground.

bealbocht

a falcon bmx.. never really manged wheelies... did a few really long ones.. also fell flat on my back quite a lot too.. , endos, bunny hops.. american bunny hops and jumping ramps over each other , great craic..

got a second hand bomber then.. must check up on that.. think its still in the folks garden..

SetOverSet

1980 Raleigh Super Burner

stuf

311 wrote: »

My grifter was second hand ,but by jaysus did it get a death.
I ended up trading it in with my confirmation money ,for a racer.

this is the same as the one I had - remember it as being huge but it looks so small in the picture:



I assume you screwed the mudguard by folding it down to make motorbike noises against the nobbly tyre?

blorg

For me it would have to be the extremely heavy green steel Dawes city bike that I cycled across Spain in 1998 (the trip took 3.5 months to cover ~1,000km and we spent £1,000 each including the flights )

Vélo

First of all I want to commend 311 on a great thread.

My 1st bike was a Tomahawk made by Raleigh I think, I was about 4. I didn't have another bike until I was about 11 and it was a Raleigh Burner Super Tuff , seen here http://www.amazon.co.uk/raleigh-super-burner-aniversary-model/dp/B001546UI6

I remember I hounded my Father for about a year saying I want a Raleigh Burner nearly everyday he got home from work. I eventually broke him down because one morning I woke up for school and there it was sitting at the end of my bed. It wasn't even my birthday or anything (God I was a spoilt little ****!). Then one day some potential smack head joyriding Ahole took the bike off me as I was cycling along. God I loved that bike!!

The Gardai got it back for me not before the mag wheels were taken off though.

Caroline_ie

stuf

Caroline_ie wrote: »

First fixie?

Vélo

Caroline_ie wrote: »

Who owned the Ferarri?

Caroline_ie

stuf wrote: »

First fixie?

Yes, a Fixed Tricyle! I had Fixies until that Pink and Purple Giant MTB I got when I was 11 ... when I attempted cycling with no hands and ended up in the hospital after I hit a car parked on the side of the road ... a white Peugeot 205 ... ( I hate white peugeots )

Aquinas73 wrote: »

Who owned the Ferarri?

a toddler friend of mine called Wilfried ( poor child ) I was WAY cooler than him ...

showry

1983,
red peugeot 5 speed racer - a combined confirmation/birthday present I think,
beautiful bike,
trumped a year later by my brother getting a black 10 speed peugeot,
I still used to kick his ar$e on it though.

They were all the rage for a couple of years those peugeots.

TinyExplosions

Finally inheriting my dad's racer -he'd got it in Sears when we lived in California, and for years I wanted it... had a range of bmx's and second hand yokes, but the day I got to use that blue beauty, my god it was great!

seamus

Don't remember many of the bikes that I had as a kid. I remember my first "adult" bike, which had five gears, was verging on having a pink-and-white top tube (I told everyone it was purple), and it had sponge grips so that when it rained, the grips tended to just slide off the bars in my hands when I was flying down the road.

I first properly got into it though was when I got a bike when I started secondary school. It was a cheapo MTB with 15 gears and which I subsequently weighed in at 42lbs. I started actually MTBing on it and quickly realised that I needed something else. So me and two mates decided we'd build our own bikes. We bought the parts gradually as we came upon the cash (we were only 15) and I think it took all three of us the best part of 9 months to get the bikes together. Ended up costing me the guts of 600 punts, but I can remember cycling it back from the cycle superstore (who'd put it together for me), it was about 5 in the evening, a lovely sunny day, I was burning down the dual carriageway, and that's when the obsession really started . The difference between MTBing on a good, proper MTB and a cheapo one was mind blowing.

Still have that bike in my brother's shed, though with the exception of the frame and the wheels, almost everything else has been changed.

ROK ON

showry wrote: »

1983,
red peugeot 5 speed racer - a combined confirmation/birthday present I think,
beautiful bike,
trumped a year later by my brother getting a black 10 speed peugeot,
I still used to kick his ar$e on it though.

They were all the rage for a couple of years those peugeots.

Mine was a navy blue 5 speed puegot. Great bike. I think it was around1983/84. Christmas ressie. There was a forest near where I lived in Limerick with a very steep climb up to the top. I could floor it on that bike when I was 11/12. Now with 27 gears I would be grunting like a pi trying to get up that climb.
Great bikes, I still see a lot of them around Dublin.

goods

Had one of these and managed to split my head with it !

Lumen

Raleigh Burner! I had one of those too, except with a red/yellow colour scheme.

Much lighter than the Grifter, which was useful given my runt-like strength.

Wez

Quigs Snr wrote: »

Replaced it with a Kalkhoff 5spd racer when I was about 11. Never looked back, used to go out on this thing against the local cycling clubs and do well on it despite the mudgaurds, carrier and dynamo ! Got off the bike when I was about 17 (at which point I had a Raleigh Record Sprint, having previously owned by then a Triumph 10 speed, Raleigh Winner, Flyer and Banana)

Goo on the Sprint! Have one now converted to a fixed but they seem to be rare as hens teeth! Really nice bike, mad light for it's time!

That's pretty much the love of my life right now! Also had a beater/trick bike that I left in a friends house when they moved.. Miss that thing so much!

Harrybelafonte

goods wrote: »

Had one of these and managed to split my head with it !

Man I craved one of these when I was a kid, craved, craved, craved and still do. When I get money together I'll get one. Iwas instead give a yello and blue Raleigh Stryker/Striker which was the monster truck of BMX. Was banned from ramps cos I'd cush them. The chainguard was diamondplate for chrissakes. Still liked it though. After messing my face up I got a Burner helmet, made me happy enough

The one used the most was a Townsend tourer I got for some birthday that I used all the way up to college when it was basically dumped there. It came with mudguards and a f'kin dyno all of which were stripped off to my parent's disgust and I taped some pipe installation to the top bar cos I used to have carry it over a lot of fences cos I was trying to be Alf Tupper doing cyclo cross.

decrrrrrr

Classic thread... I had many bikes over the years, but I guess the first is the lasting memory.

For me it was the Raleigh Boxer which I got sometime around 1983

I cycled 20 miles on that one day with the gang of lads that I grew up with. They were all on BMX's and the older brother had the red/yellow Raleigh Burner.

I had no bother sleeping that night.....

Danbo!

goods wrote: »

Had one of these and managed to split my head with it !
...

Love the blue dice valve caps!

For me, it was an 'el presidente' BMX I got passed down from a cousin. Coaster brake for pulling the longest skids out of everyone on my road. The back tyre had to be replaced on a daily basis.

ednwireland

raleigh javelin racer 5 speed sachs huret gears cottered cranks junk really but I tnought it looked cool

Gavin

I've had several bikes. Ones inherited from older brothers, blue and red grifters. My first own bike was a second hand one, looked like the raleigh burner above, can't remember if it was one though. My parents then attempted a business importing bikes, so from then on the family got Gitane (french) and Schauff (german) bikes.

I suppose it was good, we were the first people in the country on those bikes and they were decent bikes, so there was a 'cool' factor there. I had a Schauff for years, then moved onto a Gitane mountain bike which eventually I allowed to be stolen. My lock fell off and broke one morning on the way into college and I couldn't have been bothered going back home, so I left it in the rack with the lock hanging loosely there. After several days of doing this, the bike was gone when I got back. I felt bad for a while, but I got over it by buying the first ever bike I actually paid for (and only one actually). My current rockhopper.

However, having said that and recounted a thoroughly uninteresting bicycle history of my life, none of these were the 'bike that meant it all to me', although I would be happy to have them all again in my shed. The bike that means it all to me is my current self built 1990s Raleigh Max Singlespeed, aka the Banana. It's the only bike I've really invested blood, sweat and tears into. Well, literally the first two and if it's ever stolen the last will also be invested. A touching story I think.