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About Me: My History with Vintage Bikes

 

 How I Started in Old Bikes

 I started refurbishing and riding vintage bicycles in the mid-1990s, I would guess about 1995 or so. I started out somewhat by accident. My father and I were looking for lumber in my grandfather's barn, and in the process of hauling the wood out the lower level of the barn, I saw a dusty J.C. Higgins middleweight bicycle sitting in the corner. 

I was outgrowing my Schwinn Aerostar at that time, and needed a new bike soon anyway. I was drawn to the graceful and classic style of the Higgins. It was made probably around 1960 or so, and had the curving, cantilever type frame so many bikes of that era possessed. I convinced my dad that I was serious about wanting the old bike, so he set me up on it (I was too short to reach the ground from the saddle), and I insisted I still wanted it, so it went into the back of the truck with the lumber and back to our house.

I worked with my dad and my grandfather on rejuvenating the old Higgins over the course of a summer - new oil and grease, new tires and tubes, a thorough cleaning, etc. I rode that bicycle for several years until I outgrew its small frame and 24 inch wheels.

In the summer of 1997, we were once again working in the barn to gather lumber. This time, we had to go into the loft of the barn, into an area where very old things were kept. My grandfather was largely a product of the 1930s, and so he kept everything. After searching through various piles, we came to a very dusty lumber pile by a small window. On top of the pile was another old bicycle. This one was more ornate than the Higgins - black with white and red painted darts, big fenders, and fat tires. It had 26 inch wheels and was a "Henderson" - a bike made by Schwinn prior to WWII.

 I asked to see if we could take it down, but my father said, "no", and that the bicycle belonged to my grandfather and not him. After a couple weeks of thinking about the bicycle we had found, I finally worked up the courage to ask my grandfather about it, and he said I could have it. I was ecstatic. We pulled the bike down from the loft the next weekend and I immediately began work on it. 

I worked throughout a summer with help from my dad and grandpa on that bike. It was a learning experience, and I'm sure I made plenty of mistakes, but it was treasured time for me just the same. If only I knew then what I know now about restoring old bikes, the process would have been smoother. But one has to start somewhere, and you have to learn by doing. I still own the Henderson and of all the bikes I own, it is sentimentally the most significant to me because it is a family heirloom. My grandfather used it to commute to work and school in the 1940s, and he had held onto it because it was also significant to him.

I rode that Henderson until I got my license, and then rode only occasionally for fun after that. It was how I got around until I learned to drive, and it sure did have high gearing...

 

Road Bike Interlude

Sometime in 2000, I bought a 10-speed Samurai (a mix of Japanese and Taiwanese parts) to have a road bike. It was too tall for me (24 inch frame and 27 inch wheels), but it allowed me to ride around the area more than the Schwinn Henderson. But it wasn't nearly as nice as the Schwinn, or as meaningful. I ultimately gave the Samurai to a family member a few years later.

 

Three Speed Bikes 

I got into three speed bikes in college, in the fall of 2003. I noticed an old, beat up Raleigh at a tag sale, but the bike was too short for me. Even so, I knew I liked the style immediately. I needed a bike to commute to class in college, and I ultimately ended up with a Specialized brand bike with about 1,000 different speeds on it. It was a wonder of modern technology, but during a prolonged blackout caused by Hurricane Isabel (funny that I remember that name), the Specialized was stolen.

So for its replacement, I spent $30 on a 1974 Raleigh Sports three speed. It was had a nice, 23-inch frame and 26 inch wheels. I cleaned it up and rode it on the original tires until the inner tube started creeping through the sidewall of the rear tire. A lot of what I know about three speed bikes I learned on the 1974 Raleigh. I still have that bike and I am very attached to it. 

 

In the spring of 2003, I saw an ad for a rod brake roadster in another section of Washington, DC, where I was living and going to college at the time. I took the bus to the closest stop, got one look at the 1948 Raleigh DL-1 that was for sale, and paid $125 (a lot of money to me at the time) for it. I walked the bike all the way back to my home on its flat tires. I gradually refurbished that bike over the course of a few weeks, and during the following summer vacation. I still have that bike as well, and it reminds me of the adventure of trawling through ads for old bikes, finding the one I wanted, and then the long walk back to my room with it. Who says 1970s Raleighs aren't worth your time?

 

While in law school, I commuted on my 1974 Raleigh Sports for the first year, and then finally got a used VW Golf to knock around in, going to work and school. We had several excellent bike trails nearby though for fun riding: the Capital Crescent Trail and the Mt. Vernon Trail. I have especially fond memories of riding the 1974 Sports on both trails with my girlfriend on her 1960s Schwinn middleweight (now my wife, who by the way hates bicycles). 

I kept repairing my small group of old bicycles in the cramped apartments where we were living in the DC area. I managed to get through challenges like re-building a three speed hub in a one bedroom apartment with no work bench (won't try it that way again), and repainting part of a balloon tire bike fender on a 4th floor balcony (fresh air, but cramped). You'd be surprised how much we can make of so little, when we have to do so.


Origins of the Bike Shed - Virginia


 

 The Bike Shed started out as a project of mine in northern Virginia. My wife and I moved to a small house in Fairfax County in mid-2012, after several years of living in apartments in Montgomery County, Maryland and Alexandria, Virginia. The 1974 Raleigh Sports made the trip with me each time, much to my wife's frustration. Also in tow was a 1950 Columbia Three Star balloon tire bike, which was fun to ride but awfully heavy.



 

The house we rented had a neat, little 1940s-era garage. That little building became the "Bike Shed", and I continued my hobby of rejuvenating old bicycles, and riding them around the area. The Bike Shed was always a hobby and never a business, and I never made any real money at it. If I was lucky, I broke even on a project, and if not, I was in the red. But it's a hobby just the same.

I still have some of the bikes from the early days of the Bike Shed: a 1947 Schwinn New World, 1958 Raleigh Sports, and a 1963 Raleigh DL-1 Export Model. I've sold some of the others off to make space, move, or swap to other bikes. I tend to keep the ones I like best. Many of the entries on this website date to the period when I was in Virginia (hence the "va" in the web address).


 

I met many interesting people trading, buying, and selling old bikes in Virginia. A nice, vintage-oriented bike shop also opened in Arlington Virginia, which was also good. My neighbors must have thought I was unbalanced, given the number of bicycles, and the late nights working in the garage (and occasional profanity coming from said garage).  I also gradually focused on utility, three speed type bikes made in the United States and Britain.


Bike Shed Today

I moved back to New England in January 2019, thankfully before COVID struck. Some of the bikes made the journey with me, though I had to downsize somewhat to fit everything in the move. I moved the bikes I liked to ride the most, or that had a sentimental attachment.

Thankfully, the house we are renting has a nice garage. It's a bit cramped with the cars, assorted yard implements, and garbage cans in there, but it's functional. I am still rebuilding and rejuvenating old bikes. I tend to enjoy Schwinn and Raleigh bikes the most, which is in keeping with my old bike heritage. I still focus on internal gear hub utility bikes, which are the diamond-frame three, four, and five speed bikes with Sturmey Archer hubs. They make good riders around the area where I am living, though this area is much hillier than where I lived in Virginia.


 

Many of the entries on this website are the products of years of experience and occasional mistakes on my part. I learn as I go (and occasionally re-learn things forgotten).  I've been in this hobby for about 27 years now (1995 - 2022 as of this writing), and still learning things. I encourage anyone wanting to gain and use mechanical skills, patience, problem solving, and exercise to try their hand at this hobby. I have found it very worthwhile.

 




6 comments:

  1. 5/19/2023 - Greetings from Port of Los Angeles area, my name is Paul. I have my Dad's vintage Schwinn New World configured by the factory in what I'll call a "track version" - Its sports smooth (slick) velodrome type, tread-less tires, nickel or stainless rims, 2 speed shifter, and rams horn type handlebars. I'm trying to find someone capable - and willing of course - to provide an estimate on full restoration so that I can assess whether or not such a project would be worth the cost.

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    1. Schwinn did make a New World "Racer" model, which in the early years had rear-facing back forks, drop bars, wood rims with smooth tires, and no hand brakes. Usually the price of a total restoration exceeds the total value of a basic New World racing model, so they are not often restored. The standard practice today is also to preserve the bike in its as-found and original condition unless it is particularly bad shape. The market for total restorations is not great these days, while everyone seems to want "relic" type originals. You may want to show your bike on the Classic and Antique Bicycle Exchange website (www.thecabe.com) so it can be documented with other New World bikes. There is a database of New Worlds being kept there with serial numbers and descriptions. Dozens of New Worlds have been documented over the past few years, including some other early "racer" models.

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    2. Sadly, I have no room to spare in order to store my late father's Schwinn New World 2 speed Racer. As you kindly described when you responded to my comment at your blog, this is nickel(?) over wood rims and track tires, anad again, 2 speed.
      While I was living out of So Cal for 3 years - 2003 - 2005 and my family - bless em - in "helping Mom out one weekend:, liquidated about 80 percent of my Dad's stuff. ALl manner of items that had been stored since Dad's death in 1998, at our old family homestead near LAX. The house is where my Mom resided, up to her passing in 2021.

      Just as a point of reference, my Dad owned/operated his own foreign car repair shop in LA for 41 years, and none of my sibs nor nephews ever truly spent any time in the shop actually working with my Pop, so from a perspective how things worked there they didn't get it, whereas I had.
      Among the results of their never seeing the workings of "Foreign Car Clinic" when they gathered to clean out Mom's garage one weekend - as far as tools, parts, and peripheral items were concerned - they didn't know what the hell they were looking at! Example: My Dad's 1937 MGTA - remains up, running and still in the family - was his pride and joy, to say he did a lot of work and maintenance on that car, wouldn't convey the half of it. My family threw out all of the documentation of what Dad had done to that car since he first got it in 1954. All the provenance, gone! I was furious but never really said a word, how could I(?)

      To the point, Dad's New World went from garage storage to being left outdoors in SoCal just 5 miles from the ocean. The elements were not kind. All of this said, just wondering if you know of anyone who might be interested in a complete, intact, all original, but rusted New World race purchased in either the veray late 40's or very early 50's.Sorry to be wordy, but I thought a little background was in order....
      Sincerely and respectfully,
      Paul....

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    3. Paul -

      I'm sorry to hear that about the New World Racer. The air near the coast (either any of them) is pretty harsh on any exposed steel. Fortunately, these old bikes are pretty heavily-built, and usually can be cleaned up if the right person gets to work on them. The cost usually exceeds the final value, but some people do the work just because they enjoy it. My suggestion would be to present the bike on The Classic and Antique Bicycle Exchanges, in the "Schwinn lightweight" area:

      https://thecabe.com/forum/index/lightweight-schwinn-bicycles.56/

      You may be able to hook up with someone who is close to you (many Schwinn collectors in California) who can fix up the bike.

      I'm glad you still have the MGTA. MGs were popular here in New England, but it was mainly the post-war MGTD, MGTF, and then the MGA. The MGTA would be an unusual and early MG, even for here in New England. It's worth holding onto that one!

      Mike

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  2. Response so VERY much appreciated, thank you. I have photos of the New World but don't see anyway to share them with you via this platform. Was hoping you might be able to narrow down the year(s) of production on this pup.....
    BTW, the TA - 1937 - is now with my niece in Buffalo, NY. She operates a successful small business and has ample warehouse space to store it. She's also fortunate to have a master-mechanic in her circle of colleagues which for those cars is a must. Ha!
    She keeps it in her company's basement contained in one of those airtight inflatable car storage bubbles.....Thanks again for all your help and directive - Have a good week, Paul....

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    1. I have gmail - feel free to email pictures to

      thebikeshedct@gmail.com

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