It'll be really interesting to see what this goes for!
Memories are getting expen$ive!!

https://www.pcarmarket.com/auction/original...-speed-bicycle/

Click to view attachment

Totally remember when those came out; didn't have the money, but totally wanted one!

...and who can forget this ad ??

Click to view attachment

Reddit post with the ad and comments.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comm..._bicycles_late/

I remember I had one second hand in the 80s until free style hit big then it was time to get something with a rotor or gyro

A 3 speed one was my (only) Christmas present one year. Even had the slick rear tire!

Mine was just like the pic below.

Click to view attachment

My brother in law got one new back in the day..

His great uncle owned a Schwinn Dealership and
my in-laws got it for cost..

Great uncle also owned a Harley Dealership and was a Whizzer Dealer..

Supposedly brother in law left the bicycle to his grand son who had no use for it.

I still have a black Stingray in my collection of bikes. It was a re-issue I bought new around 2013. It’s a fun ride.

Click to view attachment

I sold one that someone left in my rental house. Rough condition but unrestored or modified and it went for $2300. It was a real one so just like old Porsche’s it still had a value.

Mine was a gold 5 speed with a sissy bar (!!!)..Very similar to the green one above It was a bad-butt bike that I rode the heck out of.. Gosh...those were the days

My minibike had the springer front forks...
My mom and sister and Blitz

I too wanted one worse than I knew. But my currebt bike is under 16 lbs. These were 38lbs. How did we even move them.

Kevin

How about this one ?

Click to view attachment

.... and "the Rail" ?

IIRC, a neighbor had one with "Rams Horn" handlebars.

Was that an option / aftermarket , or another bike entirely?

Click to view attachment

I remember. They were boss

Bike with Rams Horn handlebars that I've never heard of !!

Click to view attachment

My buddy got an Orange Crate back in the day. The PRR or Penn Central bought it for him.

His original bike was a POS with a 2x4 seat, no gears. He was crossing the railroad tracks by our houses of course not at a crossing. As he was crossing the tracks with his bike he looked back to see a train coming fast at him. He jumped out of the way but the bike was destroyed. The train stopped to check on him. He was ok but the bike was toast so they bought him an Orange Crate.

This may be like the bike my neighbor had...

Click to view attachment

Better ad for the Huffy Rail, with Don Garlits endorsement!

Click to view attachment

Had the the black model, racked myself on the shifter more than once. Someone ended up stealing it from my backyard

OMG! That kid has no helmet or knee pads or gloves! And the bike has no reflectors or safety pads! In another minute he will be dead!

Oh yea. Very cool. Banana seats and ape hangars. I was the resident mechanic for all the kids in the neighborhood because I could rebuild coaster brakes

Many many trips to Western Auto to ogle all the latest stuff like the metal flake seats, sissy bars and of course the mandatory rear slick!!

Ah, yes! The infamous "Testicle Wrecker" gear shift! I have very vivid memories of launching it off a jump and missed the landing...

Wow, my brother got a 20" bicycle when he was 5 or so years old. I also learned to ride on it as did all my close cousins. Then it went to another cousins family where it was modified into a total banana bike and 3 of my cousins learned to ride on it. As my daughters got of age I was able to get it back. Both my girls learned to ride on it, then it went on to my close cousins family again, and their kids kids all have learned to ride a bike on that bike.

Here's a picture of my wife's brother. He actually talked some younger kids into doing this and the picture made the local newspaper!! Click to view attachment

I had the same bike but in candy apple blue, boy memories are coming back. A couple of my 914world buds jamming around on our bikes. Then we moved to 10 speeds and motorcycles right after

Best Bob B

Couldn't wait to get a 10 speed Schwinn Varsity. A good friend got a Paramount, which had all the really good Campy equipment and we were all VERY jealous!! Couple years later got a Legnano Italian 12 speed, and still have it. Basically wall art in the garage now...

My mom asked me what I wanted for my 11th birthday, I said one I want a Schwinn Sting Ray in purple with a shock absorber on the front and a slick in back. On my birthday she said go in the garage. I was blown away there it was. My buddies and I were jumping curbs, later to be jumping motorcycles.

Memories

Best Bob B

A few of the kids on my block got the Krates but my parents couldn't afford a Schwinn for me so I got an Iverson 3 Speed Sting Ray like the one below except that it was plum purple. I was happy. Wish I still had it
Click to view attachment

I had a used no-name single speed, but I put a bananna seat, a sissy bar, and tall handle bars on it. Trying to look the part.

And who remembers these? I had one when I was a kid so I built this one and ride it now in my 60’s…….never grow up!

Click to view attachment

I had a Western Auto knockoff of those bikes in green. I remember taking steel tubing and bolting it to the front forks to make my bike a chopper like the guys in the movie easy rider. I got a hard lesson when the cheap, thin tubing buckled and the front end collapsed.

I remember doing this to my bike too but we cut the forks off a donor and beat them onto the forks with a hammer for that rake look. I also suffered the same fate when one came loose .
Brings back memories from being a kid in the 60's. I don't remember where we got it but I also had a sissy bar on my banana seat to give it that chopper look.

Yep, I had an apple and a host of stingrays, middleweights, and a few lightweights. I soon progressed to BMX racing, mongoose; redline and the like. My current (to keep my old ass in shape) is a 61 Corvette or Suburban.
Click to view attachment

copakeauction.com
Copake, NY

Find your old bike here.

Current & Past Bicycle Auction Catalogs

Click “VIEW AUCTION DETAILS” for all auction information including printable post sale PDF catalogs.

Yep I refuse to grow up as well.
Remember these ?
Any swingers out there ?
I built this about two 30 years ago Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Well, I never thought I'd use the words "investment grade" and "Schwinn Stingray" in the same sentence. Seven large, Holy Cow!!!

How about ANOTHER one? This time it's a '68 Apple Krate in similar condition. Loving the red line slick!

https://www.pcarmarket.com/auction/1968-sch...l%20blast%20car

Click to view attachment

Raleigh Choppers were hot in my childhood neighborhood. There was a dealer that must have sold thousands,

Yet another bike auction to scratch that itch... includes a Schwinn Corvette.

https://www.pcarmarket.com/auction/no-reser...cle-collection/

Very cool, my dad had a Corvette growing up and his Ducati Falcon after he was 16...I got a Falcon, and probably would have gotten a Corvette if he were still around.

Growing up in the early 80s I had a sweet Schwinn Scrambler mag, yellow wheels and yellow tires (my older brother had a red/red one).

these were already in the 2nd hand shops by the time i was ready for my 1st bicycle in the early to mid '70's. didn't take long to figure out that front end wasn't conducive to learning to ride, so off it came...

come to think of this, probably the start of modifying bikes, cars and motorcycles for me...

thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Yeah, I got my start with bikes, too. And also old lawn mowers. I had to compulsively take them apart and then reassemble. And sometimes do a paint job. And then modify. All that got me ready for my first car, from an insurance salvage yard. "Ran when wrecked."