Tag Archives: bicycle

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CYCLING LEGEND MARSHALL “MAJOR” TAYLOR | THE WORLD CHAMPION BLACK CYCLONE

“Before Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson, or Jesse Owens, there was Marshall “Major” Taylor. The greatest athlete the world ever forgot.”

In 1896, 18-year-old “Major” Taylor dominated the competitive cycling scene as “the most formidable racer in America,” earning up to $15,000 per race. In 1898, at age 20, he set seven world records. In 1899, at age 21, he was the first black World Champion in Montreal, and the American Sprint Champion that year and the next year, 1900.

major taylor driveshaft bicycle

Major Taylor was undoubtedly one of the greatest athletes of his time, but cycling soon declined thanks to the new found fascination with the automobile. The Great Depression, personal trials, and health woes took their toll on Taylor and he soon slipped away into the fog of forgotten memories. Sadly, in 1932 he died a lonely pauper in a Chicago YMCA. In 1948, Taylor was re-buried in Glenview Cemetery, Chicago thanks to the rallying support of Frank Schwinn of the Schwinn Bicycle Company. via Check out that amazing Fearnhead bevel-wheel gear shaft-drive bicycle he’s on!

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1980’s OLD SCHOOL BMX RADNESS | FREESTYLE FLYIN’ & STREET STYLIN’

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Full disclosure — I was the kid with the crappy bike.  No Haro, no Redline, no Mongoose.  Not even a brand new POS Team Murray.  Mom bought me a brand new bike from Pep Boys the summer before 5th grade.  I picked it out.  I didn’t know diddley yet–  I was a kid from Rochester who listened to Van Halen. I just knew it had red rims and looked like the bikes the cool kids were ridin’.  It had that tiny sprocket that couldn’t keep up.  Tiny sprockets suck. No worries, it was stolen.

I didn’t get schooled in bikes until we moved to Anaheim in 1980, and it was all about BMX… and Blondie.  Thought I’d finally made it when I bought my friend’s used Rampar with heavy duty rims. Damn bike was stolen three days later while I played Tron in the local Fry’s.

No, I never was that fly freestyle guy with the rad bike.  But I can still dream.

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Kettering, 1986. via

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Old School BMX/Freestyle –All rights reserved by vincent frames

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“The Condor” Mat Hoffman, mid-flight, Oklahoma City. –All rights reserved by TenEyck Media. via Snapshot from the old Hoffman Bikes HQ in Oklahoma City. Hoffman’s contests were an annual pilgrimage for serious freestylers back in the day.  Between competitions, Hoffman would get towed via motorcycle up to speed, hit the giant quarterpipe and soar. Everyone in attendance held their collective breath until he landed.

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SUMMERTIME STREET CRUISIN’ | RETRO CALIFORNIA TWO-WHEELIN’ FUN

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Chopper bike

1970s Homemade chopper bike-- love the pack of smokes tucked just within reach on the forks.

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Back in the day, you most likely graduated from your Schwinn Stingray straight to a 10-speed– the big leagues, baby. Maybe there was something in-between, a hand-me-down 3-speed or 5-speed– but more than likely you just made the big jump.  I remember some pretty crafty adaptions– like wood blocks taped to the pedals to get you over the hump until you grew into the bigger bike.

And there were always guys like our friend above– that guy whose old man or older brother was a welder, or maybe he was a metal shop junkie himself.  Anyway, he’d build some crazy bike, and it’d become his signature– he’d be that guy with the wild ride.  The two would become inseparable in your mind– even years later when the bike was long gone.  The guy had to have a mustache too– that was like an unwritten rule.  You just couldn’t have a wild bike guy without the ‘stache– it wouldn’t work.

Man, those were the days– not like today.  It wasn’t like most teenagers had cars, the way it seems now. If you were lucky, you got to drive an old family car that maybe you even shared with your siblings.   Spoiled kids got cars, the rest of us dealt with getting rides, pedaling our bikes– or we busted our humps at a job to buy a used car. You didn’t get everything handed to you then– we called it character building. Today it’s all about immediate gratification and convenience, for the kids– and the parents who don’t have the time or interest to mold their kids.  Maybe that’s one reason personal character is becoming scarce.  Nobody wants to bother with learning or earning.  Just give it to me.

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Love this shot-- California chill beach style at its best. Schwinn ten-speeds ruled back in the day.

Love this shot-- 1970s California chill beach style at its best. Makes me want to throw-on a pair of OP shorts and head for the beach on my Schwinn.

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Criusing on an old Schwinn ten spped bike. I remember everyone turning their handlebars back like that-- or flipping them around completely.

1970s California criusin' on an old Schwinn ten speed bike. I remember everyone turning their handlebars back like that-- or flipping them around completely. He kinda looks like a young Tom Cruise.

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THE CLASSIC SCHWINN STINGRAY | A LUCKY BOY’S FIRST FAST WHEELS

The Schwinn Stingray- sparking a boy's love affair with wheels.

The Schwinn Stingray- sparking a boy's love affair with wheels.

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If you were lucky enough to grow up without all the crap of today that sucks our kid’s time and energy– video games, the internet, satellite t.v., then you might remember what it was like to ride your bike all day long with your buddies– crafting makeshift ramps, making up crazy stunts and tricks, and just having a honest-to-goodness blast cruising the streets until Mom called you in.  For a lot of us, it was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with wheels.  The Schwinn Sting-Ray was a two-wheeled blacktop beast back then– especially with the on-the-frame gear shift and a fat rear slick.  It was the only bike that mattered– before the BMX madness struck, that is.

I feel sorry for these fat, lazy, spoiled kids of today– wasting away in front of their t.v. screens and computer monitors.  Man– get outside you chubby little brats!  Seriously– do you think kids are better off today?  No friggin’ way.  They wouldn’t last two seconds back in the day.  It’s time to throw all that crap out and lock ’em outside.  A little road rash would definitely do the buggers good.

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Schwinn Stingray stunts for runts.

Schwinn Stingray-- stunts for runts.

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ALL BIKES AZ | A RYE SENSE OF HUMOR

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Legend has it that sometime back in 1988, All Bikes proprietor, Ron Adler, pulled-up anchor in Tacoma, WA and headed for Rye, AZ with his massive collection of bikes, scooters, motorcycles and other wheeled-oddities packed into eight semi-trailers.  The rest is either history or misery- depending on who you talk to.  All Bikes has a reputation for being difficult, surly and well, eccentric.  Looking at the place, it shouldn’t surprise anyone at all.  You have to be a little different to make this your life’s work. And different is good, it just isn’t always “ready-for-prime-time.”  Good.  I prefer life a little salty.

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all bikes

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