Your First/Oldest Bike?

godtabh

My Gran was cleaning our her shed over the weekend and found this



Not sure if its my first propoer bike or not but is probably 30 years old.

Was bought from Staggs in Lucan before they changed the phone numbers



So I would say its about 30 years old.

Thinking of doing it up for my 5 year old. Any idea where to get replacement parts/wheels?

07Lapierre

Replace the brake cables, tyres, tubes and brake blocks and A bit of "elbow grease" to clean the surface rust off the wheel rims and frame (and maybe a bit of grease in the wheel bearings) and I'd say that bikes good to go! Looks to be it's in very good condition.

VW 1

First proper one with two wheels was a Raleigh Bigshot which was received as an early xmas present.

godtabh

07Lapierre wrote: »

Replace the brake cables, tyres, tubes and brake blocks and A bit of "elbow grease" to clean the surface rust off the wheel rims and frame (and maybe a bit of grease in the wheel bearings) and I'd say that bikes good to go! Looks to be it's in very good condition.

thats what I was planning. Just no idea where to get parts as the LBS doesnt do kids bikes

Beasty

T'was something like this:


Hand me down from my big sister, who probably inherited it from her aunt or one of the cousins. Saw many years of service that thing

MuffinTop86

A Raleigh Bluebird. Just google searched it, the memories!
Now cycling makes me really nervous so I don't anymore.

NBar

This was my first bike and think it's still in parents garage but I know it's been taken apart. Must take it out and fix it up

jerseyman

MuffinTop86 wrote: »

A Raleigh Bluebird. Just google searched it, the memories!
Now cycling makes me really nervous so I don't anymore.

Something similar but brown, remember the stabilisers coming off thinking I achieved so much

07Lapierre

A Raleigh "Dodo" I believe...:o

MuffinTop86

jerseyman wrote: »

Something similar but brown, remember the stabilisers coming off thinking I achieved so much

I was the same!! My two friends in the estate had theirs taken off so I had to rush back home and get my dad to take them off so I wouldn't be the odd one out.
We were the Cool Girls (in our own heads) after that. Ha, good times.

07Lapierre

godtabh wrote: »

thats what I was planning. Just no idea where to get parts as the LBS doesnt do kids bikes

Buy online or I'd try Eurocycles or Halfords if you have one locally.

smacl

godtabh wrote: »

thats what I was planning. Just no idea where to get parts as the LBS doesnt do kids bikes

I did up what looks like the identical bike a couple of years ago that has been through lots of family members. New tyres, tubes, and brake blocks from CRC, sand paper, elbow grease and some spray paint sourced locally. Makes for a great project to do a bike up with your kid and it ends up as a bike they take real pride in.

smacl

First bike was a Triumph 20 folder, pretty close to the one below. I had chopper envy for years after.

cdaly_

godtabh wrote: »

thats what I was planning. Just no idea where to get parts as the LBS doesnt do kids bikes

None of the parts mentioned are 'kids bike' specific apart maybe from the tyres but that's just a matter of a size.

Miklos

The first bike I can remember having was a black Raleigh 'Max'. I thought it was the dogs whatyoucallthem.

check_six

07Lapierre wrote: »

A bit of "elbow grease" to clean the surface rust off the wheel rims and frame.

Aluminium Foil. Wet the foil. Rub the rusted area. Rust sticks to the foil.

Like sorcery, but less effort!

07Lapierre

Miklos wrote: »

The first bike I can remember having was a black Raleigh 'Max'. I thought it was the dogs whatyoucallthem.

My first "Road Bike" was a 5 speed Elswick "Whirlwind".. I too thought i was the dogs you know what, until my mate turned up with a 10 speed bike! when I got my first 10 speed bike (a Dawes),my mate turned up with a 12 speed! some things never change! (we both have 22 speed's today, but his is Di2! ) :mad:

Matt Bianco

First bike was a President BMX which seems impossible to find a photo of which is surprising as I remember them as a really popular brand in the 80's.

First road bike was a Falcon Scorpio which I adored but was unfortunately robbed while training with school ....... took a long time to get over that one ........

Falcon Scorpio.JPG

.....only to be replaced by a Raleigh Pulsar Aeorspoce Contour with it's cutting edge contoured frame

Raleigh Pulsar Aerospace Contour.jpg

Andy Magic

Mmy first bike was a Raleigh Wildcat. I think this is what makes me like tan wall tyres nowadays

cjt156

^^^ The 80's had a lot to answer for!

When I was very young there was one of those Convertible things with solid tyres in the shed but I hated it - handed down from my older siblings.
The first bike I remember thinking of as mine was a Raleigh Tomahawk - a miniature single-speed version of the Chopper.

LollipopJimmy

Raleigh Burner for me

Stock image



I had a few BMX's and had them through my teens, I had many a smashed up face trying to jump ridiculous objects, I was fearless and if I fell I made sure all my parts were still connected and tried again. I once had a broken arm for a week before I went to my folks telling them my arm was sore. The 80's and 90's were great.

I had a couple of mountainbikes then, a 10spd Townsend and then an 18speed Black Diamond Zoom that had an oversize downtube, pretty much unheard of in the early 90's

I stopped cycling at around 19 and then only got back into it 2 years ago.

Eponymous

smacl wrote: »

First bike was a Triumph 20 folder, pretty close to the one below. I had chopper envy for years after.

I learned to ride on one of those! It belonged to my sisters!

Then I got a Universal a bit like this one, but mine was blue:


First racer was a Viking which ended up in bits so I got a Carlton Criterion which was stolen on the last day of my Leaving Cert. After that I "progressed" to a hybrid Peugeot Harvard which is still in service after 27 years. My dad uses it almost every day - he's 84! They're both in pretty good nick!

Tony EH

Raleigh Strika





With a card in the back wheel for engine noise.

triggermortis

First real bike was a Raleigh Chipper in yellow. Later got a Chopper in purple. First 'racer' was a 10 speed Viking

velo.2010

+1 on the Raleigh Burner. I'm sure I had some kiddies bike before that, but the Raleigh was my first 'proper' bike. I covered that thing in Kelloggs reflectors and stickers from all sorts of places.

I remember that we would jam bits of square plywood between the rear stays so it would rub against the wheel and produce a loud squeal. Fairly wore out the rear tyre pretty quickly.

After that, it was a succession of what we then called mountain bikes (probably closer to urban/commuter bikes of today) with an ever increasing number of gears. You were actually considered cool if you had a triple chainset and lots of cogs on the back!

godtabh

Lots of Raleigh bikes!

Alek

Romet Wigry 3, to break the Raleigh combo:

Mean Laqueefa

stock image, but mine deffo made some sound effects

always wanted this tho

rushfan

No recollection of what my first proper bike was like, might have been purple. Where is it now? Most probably part of the Dublin Bay land reclamation project!!!

Tony EH

godtabh wrote: »

Lots of Raleigh bikes!

There was a time in this country when you could only get Raleigh bikes.

Andy Magic

Tony EH wrote: »

There was a time in this country when you could only get Raleigh bikes.

And at the time it was great

Tony EH

[oldman]Certainly was. One thing you could say for them, they were built to last. Not like the crap you get today.[/oldman]

LollipopJimmy

I actually had a 3 wheel bike too, I also came off this while sliding it around the garden and had to have my ear sewn back together. Funnily enough I've no scar from that now, I was so young when it happened. I really was a terror as a child, my poor folks couldn't take their eyes off me for a split second

magicbastarder

Tony EH wrote: »

There was a time in this country when you could only get Raleigh bikes.

there was a time where bike shops here would specifically align with raleigh, e.g. my local bike shop in the roselawn shopping centre in blanchardstown.

LollipopJimmy

magicbastarder wrote: »

there was a time where bike shops here would specifically align with raleigh, e.g. my local bike shop in the roselawn shopping centre in blanchardstown.

A bit off topic but regarding Raleigh, my father, God rest him, used to manage a football team in our area back in the early 80's. When the club needed money to pay for kits, balls etc they held a raffle and my Dad along with the rest of the folks involved went around the businesses in the area looking for help, anyway, he went in to Raleigh who were then on the Kylemore Road, explained why he was there and the lady at the reception told him to wait there for a minute, he was expecting to be told to send a letter or some such by a manager but no, a worker walked out with a bike and handed it to him and just said 'there you are'

NBar

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

Raleigh Burner for me

Stock image



I had a few BMX's and had them through my teens, I had many a smashed up face trying to jump ridiculous objects, I was fearless and if I fell I made sure all my parts were still connected and tried again. I once had a broken arm for a week before I went to my folks telling them my arm was sore. The 80's and 90's were great.

I had a couple of mountainbikes then, a 10spd Townsend and then an 18speed Black Diamond Zoom that had an oversize downtube, pretty much unheard of in the early 90's

I stopped cycling at around 19 and then only got back into it 2 years ago.

have the exact type thrown in a shed in parents next to a raleigh bomber as well

JazzyJ

Eponymous wrote: »

Then I got a Universal a bit like this one, but mine was blue:

I used to have one like that too... but without any padding on the seat :pac:. It must have been about 20 years old by the time I got it, in bits with rust. Back peddle brakes for skids Used to be great for doing ghosties down the roads in our estate :eek::eek::eek:

Then I got a Raleigh Mustang. For some reason I recall that it had an oval chainring, but none of the pictures I can find have one on it... or am I just imaging things???

secman

No pictures, we were poor...no camera in our gaff.. most likely a Raleigh. It was lime green coloured frame with wine/red metal mudguards. Fat wheels with white tyres and stabilizers. Have a scar on my left knee, first day off stabilizers in my then local park Stephens Green...fell off and hit my knee on the metal bar that used to surround the grass areas. Over to the then Adelaide hospital for a couple of stitches. Probably around 1961 or so ... about 4 years old.

Torres09

This will show up how old I am and how poor we were but first bikes a Universal with a "banana" saddle then upgraded to an Eska!!! (anyone remember them?) finally hit the jackpot when I got a Raleigh Burner, like above but in Red with White mag wheels.

Zen0

Learned to cycle on an Eska folder. Couldn't reach the saddle, so I learned to cycle standing on the pedals. Later spent some weekends packing shelves in Dunne's Stores to pay for my first drop bar bike, a bright orange Viking Rambler. It had posh rubber covers on the down tube shifters. Wrote that one off on a crash when I started commuting, and traded up to a Raleigh Clubman. The Clubman was a lovely bike. Had to get Duff Cycles in Summerhill to order it in. I got the impression not many people ordered £300 bikes in Duffs. Traded it in when I got my first mountain bike, something I still regret.

Pinch Flat

Raleigh medale. Got robbed from me. I was gutted, pass a fella on one in Dublin every morning and brings back fond memories.

eeeee

My first blue Peugeot, bout 27 years old I guess.

I have a 42 year old blue Peugeot now, it's a 16kg's tank. I am not as in love with him as I used to be, once I got light bikes.

Inbetween the 2 above I had a Raleigh Pioneer, which was also a tank. Made in Nottingham. Daisy. Had her until I was 25! I got her when I was 10, I was 5'10" at 12 so she was/is a full sized bike. She had 5 gears and remained stuck in the highest one for about 14 years :pac:

Mercian Pro

An Elswick Hopper, the "Lady's" version unfortunately as my older brother got our father's bike and I had to settle for my mother's. That, and the Hopper name, resulted in some slagging in Primary School as hoppers were things that came home with you from the Drum and State cinemas and bit the bejasus out of you.

The bike had history as my mother had broken her kneecap when the front wheel got caught in the tram tracks on O'Connell Street - plus ça change and all that. I eventually killed it by riding it into the back of a parked car while cycling home for dinner and chatting to a mate. Next up was a red Robin Hood bike that lasted until I discovered racing bikes and Mercians in particular.

eeeee

nee wrote: »

<snip>
My first blue Peugeot, bout 27 years old I guess.

I have a 42 year old blue Peugeot now, it's a 16kg's tank. I am not as in love with him as I used to be, once I got light bikes.

Inbetween the 2 above I had a Raleigh Pioneer, which was also a tank. Made in Nottingham. Daisy. Had her until I was 25! I got her when I was 10, I was 5'10" at 12 so she was/is a full sized bike. She had 5 gears and remained stuck in the highest one for about 14 years :pac:

Actually that was fixed I think, it was also my first 'track' bike!

brianomc

I know i had a hand-me-down before I got the Raleigh BMX but I’ve no idea what it was. My spokes would either have the kelloggs reflectors or a playing card/clothes peg combo in them at all times.

All My Stars Aligned

My first bike was a hand me Raleigh Boxer the Santa kindly delivered when I was about 5.
Was big into BMX'ing with my pride and joy being built around a Skyway frame.
My first racer was a Peugeot 10 speed when I was about 17.

Pinch Flat

Actually here’s your truly on a Raleigh (can’t remember the model) that santa brought me back in the day. Single speed from memory. Bought in circa 1981. I’m about 11 in this photo.

http://i64.tinypic.com/35lgew6.jpg

godtabh

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Actually here’s your truly on a Raleigh (can’t remember the model) that santa brought me back in the day. Single speed from memory. Bought in circa 1981. I’m about 11 in this photo.

http://i64.tinypic.com/35lgew6.jpg[\url]

Put a shirt on!

magicbastarder

JazzyJ wrote: »

Then I got a Raleigh Mustang. For some reason I recall that it had an oval chainring, but none of the pictures I can find have one on it... or am I just imaging things???

i don't think so - i knew two guys with mustangs and they were jealous of me on my raleigh memphis with my oval chainrings.

they never actually said they were jealous, though, i just like to think they were.

crosstownk

07Lapierre wrote: »

A Raleigh "Dodo" I believe...:o

Something like the bike in the pic is what I remember as my first bike. Solid tyres too, iirc. It was a Raleigh. After that I had a standard 2 triangle Raleigh single speed for a good few years. Every now and then I got bored with it so my Dad resprayed it a few times to fend off my boredom which seemed to work.

Next up, my Mam gave me her Raleigh Chopper. I loved that bike; it was my first bike with gears. I used to give my mates lifts on it - one on the double crossbar who changed gears at my command and the other on the rear of the saddle sitting on the 'not for passengers' warning .

Then I progressed to a 5 speed racer but my memory can't recall the make/model or colour. It might come back to me later.

In 1987 half the county was out cycling thanks to Stephen Roche winning the TdF. I was working so I bought myself a Peugeot Triathlon - the one with Suntour gears and the chrome forks. A year or two later I bought myself a Raleigh Road Ace with Shimano 600. It cost me IR£644.

OK - so that's a bit more than my first bike but thinking back made me all nostalgic

The chapter ended with me getting a car and selling the two good bikes. What an idiot. :mad:

Pinch Flat

godtabh wrote: »

Put a shirt on!

That’s how we rolled then. :pac:. Wish I was that skinny now......:)