What did it for you? why did you get hooked on bikes and hooked on this web site?

[Slow-Rider]

when and why did you decide bikes were so cool? you just had to have one ,two, three or more. also why did you join this site out of the many out there? that said what other bike sites are you on ?


for me I always watched my dad building/ working on cool stuff (cars, Boats, dirt bikes) in the garage. one of my uncle was big time in to road bikes IE 10 speeds. so around the 70's age 5/6 I got my first bike. no more big wheel for me. it was Christmas day. I did not care about any other gifts. I may have to open. I knew that box had a bike in it. I tried real hard. not knowing. left from right. to put on a pedal. on cranks. I just could not wait to go ride it. wheels all my own. been hooked ever since then. worked in a few bike shops. had help welding my on frames. when I could not buy off the bike shop show room floor. what I wanted. I am a full on bike addict. LOL. joined a web site BMXmuseum it's grate for BMX. but not to much for other bikes. so found pinkbikes they do all bicycles new and old, but mostly stock. I do stock survivor cruisers and full customs to rusty rats. so found and joined underground velo . com were they told me about Rat Rod bikes site. now this site fits really nice with my life style.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I've been into bikes since I figured out that they were the way to get away from mom and dad, pretty early on. Mountain biking in the late eighties and early nineties cemented it when I figured out that was the way to escape from civilization and most of humanity. Then, ..., drugs and rock n roll made me forget about it all. Stumbled out of the haze and found myself working at a Sprawl Mart warehouse, where I saw boxes and boxes of these two things:

Hyper Easy Rider

Columbia Rambler 26
I said to myself, shucks, I could do better than that, and the Duck Norris experience began. Still want the front end off the Rambler

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

It started in 1968 when I threw a leg over a bike, rolled down the driveway, and then pedaled off down the street.

RRB has a ton of great information on vintage bikes and the attitude of *anything bicycle* is valid drew me in, as resto-modding is something I've been into for about a quarter of a century.

 

[Kevin B]

For me, my Foremost Swinger was freedom for a 9 year old in the 1960s. I've had bikes on and off in my adult years. Buying a home in a town with 100s of miles of suburban and rural roads and 700 miles of Florida canals to explore propelled me into becoming a daily cyclist. Also the health benefits were an incentive. Getting on my bike and picking out a compass direction to head out brings the old sense of freedom even over 50 years from my first bike adventures.
As to the RRB site. I once read that automotive rat rods were born as a throw back to return to the roots of hot rodding. Some people date the current rat rod movement as reactionary to the out of reach for most, billet everything, pro street fad in Hot Rod in the 80s. I've even read where people try to date it to a particular car. This was the car. https://www.motortrend.com/features/pro-streets-most-famous-car/
I guess in the bike world rat rods are a reaction to the carbon fiber, titanium, aero this and that. A reaction to get back to basics. That and the RRB sense of community is what draws me to this site.

 

[us56456712]

By 1951 I was riding a friends bike in the alley. I just got on and rode it. My only instruction from my friend was to turn in the direction I was falling and keep pedaling and that worked. I soon had a red Wards ballooner, which I rode until 1963 when it was stolen. Many adventures on that bike, rock climbing, going into abandoned prospecting pits to dig galena to make crystal sets, to school, to visit friends and trips to the swimming hole. I did this stuff daily when it was warm. My next bike was an “English Racer” three speed branded as a Western Flyer. Far from a racer but better on hills. Then another heavy Murray built Western flyer ten speed. Then a German 10 speed, then a French 10 speed. I wore these bikes out so from then on it was thrift store beaters that I cobbled together for whatever use I had in mind. Being newly married to a much younger trophy wife, a poor job and a wife at university I had no money for new bikes. I used the Coles and Glenn bicycle repair manual for all my cobbling. Later, with the net I started looking stuff up and all the info I needed was on RRB. About 8 years ago I built a winter bike from a Huffy cranbrook and decided to Join RRB and posted it on let’s see those Huffy Cranbrooks. Then I was hooked and inspired.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Being newly married to a much younger trophy wife... I had no money for new bikes

Yeah that really eats up the budget

 

[us56456712]

Yeah that really eats up the budget

I robbed the cradle

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

I was riding all day, and far away at the age of 10 to get away from home. Two wheel therapy.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

It was a combination of things for me. I always thought old bikes were cool, but I never really had the money to buy and fix up a vintage bicycle until recently. Plus, I never really rode my old Mongoose mountain bike ever since I turned about 13 or so years old. My interest in vintage bikes and this website all really started just over 3 years ago when I won this 1950 Schwinn DX at an auction for $65.

I chose to get this bike for a few reasons:
1. I was seriously trying to lose weight and get back in shape, and riding bikes sounded like a fun way to do that.
2. I wanted to learn how to work with hand tools and take something apart and put it back together, hopefully better than before. I own a 1964 Mercury Comet that I sadly know little about working on, and being a classic car owner, that always bugged me. Working on a car is hard, but a bicycle is very simple and easy to figure out. You don't even need a ton of fancy specialized tools to get the job done either. Wrenches, screwdrivers and some pliers are usually all you need to fix an old bike.
3. I have some bad old habits I tend to fall on when my mental health is in decline, so I use bicycles as one of many positive escapes to help me out of my mental funks. It allows me to focus all my brain power on making a worn out old bike into something amazing. When I'm mocking up parts on a frame, or shooting photos of a bike, or sketching ideas for how I'll build or modify a bike, it usually helps me take my mind off the things that bring me down, and allows me to relax. In fact, last year's RRBBO was probably the biggest thing that helped me get through 2020.

As for how I got hooked on this site, I found this site when I was researching this bike shortly after I got it. I don't exactly remember how I found the site, but I think I was looking for pictures of bare metal bikes, and I stumbled across a thread full of them here. I'm glad I joined this site, as the community is really chill here, and it's a great resource to learn more about bikes. Plus, it's just cool to see what everyone else is building and how they build it.

 

[Walter Zoomie]

I love to tinker and fix old stuff if I can do it successfully and on the cheap.
I love old cars and guns.
I'm REALLY bad with old cars beyond bolting on new parts, as evidenced by the '68 Chevelle that's been sitting gathering dust in my garage for 20+ years.

I REALLY need to get rid of this sled and free up some garage space.

I'm fairly good with guns, and enjoy them still to this day.
Both of the above require deep pockets...which I ain't got.
So...the bike thing came up after I just couldn't stand seeing a fixable junker on a buddy's scrapping trailer.
You know the rest.
I came here after an innerwebs search and found the community accepting and helpful without the snide BS one usually finds on message boards.

I'll echo what most others here have said.
I biked as a kid in the late 60's and 70's and enjoyed the freedom. Back then bikes and skateboards were how we got around.
Except for a Sears stingray knockoff, which was soon destroyed, I never had a new bike as a kid. It was always hand-me-downs or something I cobbled together from scrapyard parts. I got a lot of grief from my buddies for some of the jalopies I slapped together and brush-painted with dark green house paint! I used these rigs for my paper route.
My folks were too broke to afford an always-lusted-after Schwinn. Geared bikes were a fantasy for me back then.
I dreamed of a Varsity, Continental, or the pinnacle...LeTour.

In 7th grade I bought a used lemon yellow Collegiate from my social studies teacher with my paper route savings. I was in heaven! I had the local Schwinn dealer do some upgrades because I wasn't confident in my abilities with the fancy schmancy bikes and I didn't want to mess it up.
I rode the wheels off that rig.
Then I got my drivers license, and that was the end of cycling for a little while.
I discovered chicks, beer, and weed...and the bikes were forgotten.
I experimented with university for a couple of years and had the yellow Collegiate there.
That experiment failed miserably, so I joined the Marine Corps and dabbled with that for a few years.

In the meantime, my Dad got rid of the yellow Collegiate because he was tired of it taking up space in his garage.

I met a wonderful women in the late 80's. We got married in 1990.
We bought brand new matching Schwinn Frontier MTBs.
We started a family. Two sons and a daughter.
Many bikes for me to maintain. I was not having "motorized" anything for them.
All pedal power.
No fat, unfit kids in my house!

It paid off. They are all fit, active, intelligent uni grads!
Much smarter and better looking than their old man.

That's my story in a nutshell.
Sorry for boring you to death!

 

[dropstep]

I’ve been into bikes since I was a kid. We built and raced 16 inch bikes in the woods behind the housing project I grew up in. By 16 I was living in Ohio and gave up mountain biking for bmx street. Dad made fun of me and my buddy’s for using my truck to take bikes places. Bikes became second to cars because I started drag racing.

had kids and got my old bmx out to ride with them and some buddy’s. Making grandpa jokes! Tore my mcl and lcl, then herniated a disc in my back. Couldn’t give up bikes and went looking for an old one because my project car is old.

bought this spaceliner marketed on FB as a scwhinn and managed to save the frame and fork. Originally put together with just mountain bike parts with the chain cut down to single speed.

I’ll keep this one forever but this site convinced me I needed to build 20 of them I’m already collecting parts for next years build off. This is a winter hobby for me mostly because my garage is unheated and tiny.

The kids and wife getting into the vintage bikes helps!

This kind of stuff is my normal hobby. Don’t drag race much anymore but this is my fun cruiser/burnout contest car

 

[GeePig]

I grew up riding bicycles everywhere, then cars and small motorbikes took over. I actually do not riding for the first mile or so, until I have my first break to stop and look around. After that I begin to relax, be tempted by side routes, think about stuff and then the whole day can pass. I will frequently stop to look at stuff, and I don't mind having to really regiment myself to get home because I have gone so far.

I have always enjoyed making stuff out of cheap, used materials, but done my way. I cannot say I am particularly interested in what other people are making unless it is something I have not seen before, and I do not mind how much other people copy my ideas. What I am passionate about is that people actually do stuff that they like doing, and not because it is fashionable or trendy.

I like bikes because they are not too large, and yet they can go places. They do not need a vast amount of tools, and I can easily store a ton of bits. Oh, and if you don't attempt to achieve a fully fitted out and painted object then you can easily just break it all down and do something different. So on a build I might be interested in only one or two items, the rest of it being just make it roll.

I stumbled across this site by accident, and I enjoy the build offs because it is full of people who say good things rather than stuffy people trying to tell you how to do it 'properly'. If it is 'proper' then someone has done it before, so it is not original.

 

[Pete Murphy]

when and why did you decide bikes were so cool? you just had to have one ,two, three or more. also why did you join this site out of the many out there? that said what other bike sites are you on ?


for me I always watched my dad building/ working on cool stuff (cars, Boats, dirt bikes) in the garage. one of my uncle was big time in to road bikes IE 10 speeds. so around the 70's age 5/6 I got my first bike. no more big wheel for me. it was Christmas day. I did not care about any other gifts. I may have to open. I knew that box had a bike in it. I tried real hard. not knowing. left from right. to put on a pedal. on cranks. I just could not wait to go ride it. wheels all my own. been hooked ever since then. worked in a few bike shops. had help welding my on frames. when I could not buy off the bike shop show room floor. what I wanted. I am a full on bike addict. LOL. joined a web site BMXmuseum it's grate for BMX. but not to much for other bikes. so found pinkbikes they do all bicycles new and old, but mostly stock. I do stock survivor cruisers and full customs to rusty rats. so found and joined underground velo . com were they told me about Rat Rod bikes site. now this site fits really nice with my life style.

One of my earliest memories in my life at about 5 yrs old my Brother Jimmy showed me how to patch a tube …
I also recall my Dad fixing some old single speeds… painting them and my older Brothers and Sisters using them ..
From there I started to tinker with them on my own ..Next I was buying and selling used ones …From there I got a job in a shop doing repairs …
Fast forward 15 years I then through luck owned one of the largest Bike shops in Canada. Fraser cycle in Vancouver BC
It was a 8000 sq ft shop with an indoor test loop for year round test rides …
We also had a Bike school in the building that would offer a 2 month Bike mechanic training program Free to unemployed youth …. Everyone got a job at the end of the course …!!!
In time I sold my interest in the shop and moved to Vancouver Island where I built Bikes for Big box stores ..
One day while searching online for one of my Bikes that was accidentally sold in a garage sale. …I actually found it ..!!! On Ratrods ..
It’s a Maruishi Beach cruiser /. 26” BMX 6
speed …. The person who had the Bike has since sold it …. And so my search continues …. I’m offering a $100 reward if someone finds it…
Cheers
Peter Murphy
250 338 0585

 

[mikeeebikey]

Oh my, it was a long long time ago, Easter in 1981, Dad gave a set of blue Bullseyes, 36 red, 36 blue spokes and red winaman 20×1.75 rims. Told me,build them and I'll true them. Took a week looking at my Schwinn sx 1000 rims to build them. I was hooked...
RRB was a natural for me as I'd never had "stock " anything since 1981!
Grew up working in bicycle shops, racing BMX and going to school to be a machinist, I never forgot my roots.
20+ years machining with 10 engine rebuilding I picked up some skills. Nothing is stock.
Now a days I build for me, what my heart sings.

 

[rat krate orange]

For me, my Foremost Swinger was freedom for a 9 year old in the 1960s. I've had bikes on and off in my adult years. Buying a home in a town with 100s of miles of suburban and rural roads and 700 miles of Florida canals to explore propelled me into becoming a daily cyclist. Also the health benefits were an incentive. Getting on my bike and picking out a compass direction to head out brings the old sense of freedom even over 50 years from my first bike adventures.
As to the RRB site. I once read that automotive rat rods were born as a throw back to return to the roots of hot rodding. Some people date the current rat rod movement as reactionary to the out of reach for most, billet everything, pro street fad in Hot Rod in the 80s. I've even read where people try to date it to a particular car. This was the car. https://www.motortrend.com/features/pro-streets-most-famous-car/
I guess in the bike world rat rods are a reaction to the carbon fiber, titanium, aero this and that. A reaction to get back to basics. That and the RRB sense of community is what draws me to this site.

The neighbor kids kitty corner from me had a 16" side walk when i was around 6 or 7 in the 60's and I would ride that bike around the block all the time. Then my friends down the street had a 24 or 26" boys bike i rode until i CRASHED into a phone pole and bloodied my nose pretty bad. So then my dad bought me my first new bike, a 20" Murray built Hiawatha Cadet that i rode the wheels off of until it got ripped off.. Then i got my first JUNKER a Columbia Rambler 26" Guys bike from the 30's which was my first rat bike back in the 60"s and the rest is history.. RaToN... Razin..

 

[Thxcuz]

As a kid, riding a bike was just something you did. I inherited my brother’s roll fast muscle bike right when they were considered “old fashioned” and all the kids were riding bmx bikes. I moved up to an amf scorcher 10 speed. Calling that bike garbage is an insult to garbage. Nonetheless I rode the hell out of it until I turned 16 and started driving.
fast forward 20 years and I started getting curious about electric bikes. The technology wasn’t quite there yet so I just found a bike to ride around on until the technology and price point came into my wheelhouse.
I found this forum and got hooked on both cycling and vintage bikes. I’d change bikes more frequently than some guys change their underwear. I never had more than 2 in my stable for space reasons.
I started losing weight, wearing Lycra and riding for miles every day. Usually on a heavy schwinn, giving a symbolic finger to all the “weight weenies”.
My kids came along and I had to take care of other things. Bikes sort of took a back door to soccer practice and being a scout leader. Then I went to the leaky oily side of things and got into vintage mopeds.
a few months ago I finally got an ebike hub drive kit and fell in love again. I’m not losing weight but I’m having twice as much fun. This week I’m removing the kit from my townie and putting it on a typhoon. I can’t wait to wrench again on rusty gold.
by the way, both my kids have newer bikes. They don’t ride them much.
kids around here ride scooters. The bike rack at the catholic school where my youngest attends is full of maybe 2 bikes and about 100 scooters. At least it’s 2 wheels and they get outside
I added some pictures of the many bikes I found, messed with then sold.
then regretted it.

 

[rowesauto1]

I’m pretty confident that my story mirrors everyone else’s
Went from bikes, to RC cars and models, skateboarding, rollerblades, bodyboarding, real cars, firearms, everything is like a yo-yo effect, you go back into it and then you quit again when the money dries up, then you go back again.
Currently have too many car builds and other projects going at once, money is drying up, so I decided to build me and my kids “rat bikes” again by cannibalizing junkers and yard sale specials.
I don’t have any photos of my original bike builds as I grew up in a non digital era, but I will be posting here shortly!

 

[Rustinkerer]

My family moved to the NJ suburbs in Jan. '77, and that spring, I was cruising the 'hood, on my 20" Columbia. Some kid said I should take the fenders off, it'd make it look cool. So I did! Thus began a like of tinkering! In the summer of '80, I saw a rusty black Schwinn at a garage sale. Much like the movie Christine, which wouldn't come out for another few years, I saw it, and knew it had to be mine! And I still have it, 41 + years later! A 1957 model Schwinn Corvette, born in October '56. I'd get into making old mowers run again, and then cars, but in '97, I was offered a pile of bikes, and I was back in! I believe I saw RRB mentioned on a car forum in '08, and from here, to the Cabe. As my son, born that year, got older, he was joined by a brother in 2014. And wrenching was further set to the side. But I needed recliner time after work, and could spend a good bit of time learning about the bike companies, and find books about them. I became pretty knowledgeable, and always enjoyed helping folks out, spreading knowledge. Someday, I'll have time to start building and riding again! -Adam

 

[Tallbikeman]

1961 My mom bought a used Columbia 26" balloon tire bike without fenders for her 8 yr old son. I don't remember how I learned to ride. Started wrenching on the bike and by 5th grade I figured out how to lace up wheels and sorta true them. That was the start of a lifelong love affair with bicycles. I commuted to work all my life by bicycle, I raced bicycles, I built or bought bikes for all my family and kept the tires aired up. My wife and I recently bought a pair of e-bikes and I'm totally enjoying them. I love bicycle forums and I found RRB a couple of years ago by accident. I love the atmosphere of this website and all the wonderful creators that showcase their work here. Best bicycle forum site on the Web.

 

[Singleton]

when and why did you decide bikes were so cool? you just had to have one ,two, three or more. also why did you join this site out of the many out there? that said what other bike sites are you on ?

Well given my poor eyesight preventing me from driving it started with 'lack of options' for mobility and while that sorta forced the matter? There is a certain amount of relaxation just hopping on and Going. Doesn't matter where. Problems? That's for later. Just. Go.

i've been on a few other sites and subreddits and all of the mare very VERY snobbish. 'Oh that's dumpster bait. get rid of that bike shaped object and buy a REAL bike don't bother us. Wait why are you acting offended we're HELPING you.' and on and on.

Here... doesn't have that vibe.