Hi! I'm Paul. I've been lurking on these forums for quite a while, but I thought I'd come out of the shadows.
Like most people I loved riding my bikes when I was a kid, but what with going off to college and getting married and moving around and getting involved in community theatre and having kids and getting fat, I hadn't ridden in probably 30 years or so. But this summer I decided to start riding again for fun and for fitness and I started doing research on what kid of bike to get.
My LBS suggested a $500 Trek Fitness Hybrid, but I would need to upgrade the hubs and ride on fat tires because of my weight. $800 or so total.
I went online and saw some really great bikes built specifically for big guys like myself (Worksman and Zise) but again, prices through the stratosphere, especially for a guy who works in public education and has three kids.
Then I saw an article the suggested that I forget all of that crap and get an old bike at a yard sale and just ride it.
That's when I found this forum. That's when I discovered that bicycles are not all affordable carbon and aluminium and 27 speeds and look like serious work. Here, it seems, there is a community that has serious fun finding, buying and fixing up and riding old bikes.
Inspired, I bought a pair of Murray Westports at a yard sale for $35. $35 for the pair.
I had this idea that my wife and I could ride together, but my daughter appropriated the women's bike--my wife wants a trike. I ride as often as I can, but as with many things, I find I am not as young as I used to be and, being fat, even the slightest rise is difficult on a cruiser. but I've gotten to where I can do 5 km +/- around my relatively flat neighborhood. I would love to be able to ride in the Tour de Cure that the university I work for does every June.
I was perusing Craigslist and came across a couple of kids bikes and got them for $40. My wife thinks I overpaid and the seller should have paid me to come get them.
A 1965 (according to the serial number) AMF Renegade. This one has a Western Auto branded banana seat, so I'm guessing it was a Buzz bike. The headbadge is unreadable but the seat tube has a BMA/6 sticker and a sticker that says it was manufactured by AMF. I had bike similar to this in the early '70s, but it was purple and the brand was Flying O. I loved that bike so much that when I got a 5 speed cruiser (also Flying O) I kept riding it. I eventually had a wreck that destroyed the front wheel and fork, and (I think) bent the frame. I'm gonna restore this one to her former glory. Even when I get to my target weight, I won't ever be able to ride her, but that's OK
This is a Western Flyer Dirt Duster from the late 70s (I'm pretty sure). The only sticker it has left is on the bottom of the seat tube. It says "Murray Ohio Mfg. Co. In Lawrenceburg Tenn. 10-79" I'm not sure if the numbers are the date--October 1979--or not. I did find an Western Auto ad for this bike along with others from a newspaper in 1978. My wife says she remembers having one that had a faded paint job from orange on the forks to yellow on the chain stays. I'm fix it up and flip it if my youngest son isn't interested in riding it.
Anyway. That's my intro!
Like most people I loved riding my bikes when I was a kid, but what with going off to college and getting married and moving around and getting involved in community theatre and having kids and getting fat, I hadn't ridden in probably 30 years or so. But this summer I decided to start riding again for fun and for fitness and I started doing research on what kid of bike to get.
My LBS suggested a $500 Trek Fitness Hybrid, but I would need to upgrade the hubs and ride on fat tires because of my weight. $800 or so total.
I went online and saw some really great bikes built specifically for big guys like myself (Worksman and Zise) but again, prices through the stratosphere, especially for a guy who works in public education and has three kids.
Then I saw an article the suggested that I forget all of that crap and get an old bike at a yard sale and just ride it.
That's when I found this forum. That's when I discovered that bicycles are not all affordable carbon and aluminium and 27 speeds and look like serious work. Here, it seems, there is a community that has serious fun finding, buying and fixing up and riding old bikes.
Inspired, I bought a pair of Murray Westports at a yard sale for $35. $35 for the pair.
I had this idea that my wife and I could ride together, but my daughter appropriated the women's bike--my wife wants a trike. I ride as often as I can, but as with many things, I find I am not as young as I used to be and, being fat, even the slightest rise is difficult on a cruiser. but I've gotten to where I can do 5 km +/- around my relatively flat neighborhood. I would love to be able to ride in the Tour de Cure that the university I work for does every June.
I was perusing Craigslist and came across a couple of kids bikes and got them for $40. My wife thinks I overpaid and the seller should have paid me to come get them.
A 1965 (according to the serial number) AMF Renegade. This one has a Western Auto branded banana seat, so I'm guessing it was a Buzz bike. The headbadge is unreadable but the seat tube has a BMA/6 sticker and a sticker that says it was manufactured by AMF. I had bike similar to this in the early '70s, but it was purple and the brand was Flying O. I loved that bike so much that when I got a 5 speed cruiser (also Flying O) I kept riding it. I eventually had a wreck that destroyed the front wheel and fork, and (I think) bent the frame. I'm gonna restore this one to her former glory. Even when I get to my target weight, I won't ever be able to ride her, but that's OK
This is a Western Flyer Dirt Duster from the late 70s (I'm pretty sure). The only sticker it has left is on the bottom of the seat tube. It says "Murray Ohio Mfg. Co. In Lawrenceburg Tenn. 10-79" I'm not sure if the numbers are the date--October 1979--or not. I did find an Western Auto ad for this bike along with others from a newspaper in 1978. My wife says she remembers having one that had a faded paint job from orange on the forks to yellow on the chain stays. I'm fix it up and flip it if my youngest son isn't interested in riding it.
Anyway. That's my intro!
