# Your first proper bike?



## Kiwiavenger (23 Mar 2012)

I was just thinking earlier about my old bikes and what one I would love to have back just to own it.

I remember having an old Peugeot mountain bike that had a knackered rear derailleur so I removed it and made it a single speed without removing the cassette. I ended up getting rid of it due to buckling the frame! The bike I would love to have back though would be my old claud butler enduro in silver with bar ends 18 gears and knobbly tyres! It was what made me love cycling to begin with. Anyone got one? Lol.


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## Brandane (23 Mar 2012)

A Puch Alpine 5 speed in yelllow (pic is from a recent one on e-bay)







Bought it new in 1976 for £45. Had to pay the money back to my parents, so got a summer job (I was 14) which paid 20 pence per hour. Took me all summer to pay off that bike but I loved it. Then some ba***rd stole it from a tenement close in Edinburgh in 1977. I was gutted. It was recovered by Police a few months later but it had been trashed and was never the same again .

Incidentally, the one on e-bay sold for £85! Not bad for a 35 year old bike that cost £45 new.


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## perplexed (24 Mar 2012)

When I was in my mid to late teens, (1980's) I had a 5 speed Raleigh racer... Lovely.


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## cyberknight (24 Mar 2012)

Raliegh grifter, the hub gear broke in top gear so i cycled round for years like that ...no wonder my legs are worn out


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## dave r (24 Mar 2012)

Mid 1960's, I'd be about 13-14, I brought a Dawes Kingpin, 3 speed with carrier and dynamo lighting, It was brought on HP in my Dad's name and I paid it off out of my paper round money. It was the first bike I brought myself, previous bikes had been brought by my parents.


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## Primal Scream (24 Mar 2012)

1965 CarltonContinental, bronze colour with chrome forks.

5 speed Benelux gears and a singlr chain wheel

£14-10/- From a local cycle shop.


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## Rickshaw Phil (24 Mar 2012)

For me it was a metallic green Dawes Junior Kingpin when I was 7. Just the basic single speed one but I loved it and rode it until I got too big for it.

It's the first proper one coz it was the first bike that actually took me places rather than just up and down the street I lived on.


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## TonyEnjoyD (24 Mar 2012)

raleigh chopper back in '76 but my racer - first "proper" bike in 1980 - an O'Brien Invincible 21 speed.
bugger go nicked a year later and couldn't afford to repace it.


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## Dave 123 (24 Mar 2012)

Raleigh Grifter when I was 11-ish, cut out cereal box, clothes peg=MOTORBIKETASTIC!
Raleigh Winner when I was 15 that I used to do massive 15-20 mile rides on! I see one parked in the lane near my work occasionally, if I stand and look at it long enough my stubble turns all downy and my voice goes all over the place!


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## taximan (24 Mar 2012)

Sun Snipe c1965 £ 16/14/11. a bit basic by todays standards but it was a comfortable ride.


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## MontyVeda (24 Mar 2012)

Dave 123 said:


> Raleigh Grifter when I was 11-ish, *cut out cereal box, clothes peg=MOTORBIKETASTIC!*
> ...!


 
Good Lad!

for me it was the Raleigh Tomahawk in glorious amber. similar to this:






I could fit a house brick on the little back rack, with the idea that i'd be able to do huge massive big wheelies... it didn't really work and I've never been good at wheelies 

I did however claim my brother's Grifter when he'd moved on to a racer and I'd grown out of the tomahawk.

I still have the Tomahawk though  I'm thinking of turning it into a radiator!


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## WorcesteRob (24 Mar 2012)

Mine also was a Raleigh Tomahawk but in fantastic purple!



just like this one, oh the memories.

I remember falling off many a time with the small front wheel slipping on gravel or not making it up curbs.

Can't remember what happened to it, brings a tear to my eye as many an hour was spent playing out having so much fun.


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## Strathlubnaig (24 Mar 2012)

CCM Targa, got it at Canadian Tire on Scott St in St Catharines, did some miles on that, I remember trying to draft behind transit buses on Vine St, happy days. (circa '78)


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## paulw1969 (24 Mar 2012)

Muddy Fox Courier in white with purple airbrushing circa late 80's...my first commuter and doubled up great for canal towpaths at the weekends. I'll count this as my first bike as it was the first one i bought with my own money.


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## deptfordmarmoset (24 Mar 2012)

A white 2nd-hand Youngs racer, around 1970 hence no photos, upgraded to 10 speed! I'd point it at the south coast of a weekend and it would keep on going till it got there, and then I'd point it back towards SE London and, apart from a little struggling back up Polhill, would keep on going till I got home again to do the school homework I'd been avoiding. The most I did on it was a one-day London-Southampton-London, a good 170 miles with a slightly buckled front wheel wearing jeans and no padding. That bike was like an eager working dog - it just wanted to get out in the open and keep on going.


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## redcard (24 Mar 2012)

First bike I remember owning was a Raleigh Strika. 

First bike I remember buying was a Universal mountain bike I bought with my paper-round money. Bike was stolen from me on the way to collect the Saturday night papers. 


---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?xw3clf


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## smokeysmoo (24 Mar 2012)

After Raleigh Budgies and such like my first 'proper' bike was a 5 speed Sun racer, then when I outgrew that my folks got me the 10 speed version of exactly the same bike and man I felt like a king. First thing I did was remove the suicide levers and fit a pair of tan coloured hoods, well it was the early 80's.


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## TheDoctor (25 Mar 2012)

My first decent road bike was a Raleigh Dynatech Ti 401, back in '92 or so.
Still ride it, although it's a SS these days


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## WorcesteRob (25 Mar 2012)

paulw1969 said:


> Muddy Fox Courier in white with purple airbrushing circa late 80's...my first commuter and doubled up great for canal towpaths at the weekends. I'll count this as my first bike as it was the first one i bought with my own money.


I remember these bikes well, they were the envy of many people! The price tag of around £400 was out of my league but the colour scheme looked fantastic and against all the Raleigh mtb's of the time (team, maverick etc) it was a real head turner.


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## smokeysmoo (25 Mar 2012)

paulw1969 said:


> Muddy Fox Courier in white with purple airbrushing circa late 80's...my first commuter and doubled up great for canal towpaths at the weekends. I'll count this as my first bike as it was the first one i bought with my own money.





Rob Wellman said:


> I remember these bikes well, they were the envy of many people! The price tag of around £400 was out of my league but the colour scheme looked fantastic and against all the Raleigh mtb's of the time (team, maverick etc) it was a real head turner.


 
Ah yes, I got a MF Courier with the lilac/white fade colourway for Christmas circa 1987. I had to pay half towards it as it so expensive, (this was when MF was still a respected brand don't forget). I loved that bike but cabbaged the front forks with constant wheelie pulling. I nearly bought one off eBay last year but it so far from original I couldn't be mithered.
It finally got replaced with a yellow Peugeot 10 speed racer 
This wasn't mine, just the first pic I found on t'interweb.


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## youngoldbloke (25 Mar 2012)

1960/61? Secondhand frame, but immaculate -
Frame: Ted Gerrard, dark blue. Campag ends – dropouts
Campag seatpin
Brooks saddle – Swallow? No bag loops, large copper rivets
Cinelli stem – chrome, enamel badge
Alloy bars – not Maes, but deeper
Mafac centre pull brakes – red blocks
Campag small flange QR hubs (rear D/S threaded, fixed and freewheel)
Mavic sprint rims
Stainless double butted spokes
Tubular tyres, tub savers – single wire
Campag Gran Sport (?) front and rear changers, down tube levers, with blue Campag rubbers
Regina 5 speed block (13 top?)
T/A chainrings (small spider 53/42?) on forged steel cottered cranks (UK make)
Lyotard platform pedals, Brooks (?) clips and leather straps.
Pump (Bluemels?) on seat-tube, Campag push on adapter, red, white, blue plastic rings on barrel
Solihull CC sticker
Black cable outers, black cotton bar tape.

Loved that bike, but had to sell it when I went to college - where is it now?


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## palinurus (25 Mar 2012)

paulw1969 said:


> Muddy Fox Courier in white with purple airbrushing circa late 80's...my first commuter and doubled up great for canal towpaths at the weekends. I'll count this as my first bike as it was the first one i bought with my own money.


 

Nice.

My first decent commuter was a Courier Comp, the bright green one. Magic it was. Longest serving commute bike too- 11 years.


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## palinurus (25 Mar 2012)

First proper bike, being the first one I'd ride distances of greater than 10 miles, was a red Raleigh singlespeed with a cantilever frame- possibly called a Raleigh Roller.

First one I paid for myself was a white Peugeot 10 speed from Marshall Ward catalogue. Traded it in a Bob Addy's for the Muddy Fox.


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## paulw1969 (26 Mar 2012)

smokeysmoo said:


> Ah yes, I got a MF Courier with the lilac/white fade colourway for Christmas circa 1987. I had to pay half towards it as it so expensive, (this was when MF was still a respected brand don't forget). I loved that bike but cabbaged the front forks with constant wheelie pulling. I nearly bought one off eBay last year but it so far from original I couldn't be mithered.
> It finally got replaced with a yellow Peugeot 10 speed racer
> This wasn't mine, just the first pic I found on t'interweb.


 
This was the style before mine me thinks. A colleague had this one and when i bought mine the colour scheme was differnet as the lilac/purple faded out halfway down towards the bracket. The one above has obviously been fettled with substantially, but from memory mine had slightly bigger tubing, i think, it had oval cranks and as i have said i think the paint job was different....brings back memories....i sold it dirt cheap when i moved to Nottingham....wish i hadn't but times were hard.
If anyone has any more pics, put them up please i'd be interested if my memory is right and the later model does indeed look different....


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## MisterStan (26 Mar 2012)

dave r said:


> Mid 1960's, I'd be about 13-14, I brought a Dawes Kingpin, 3 speed with carrier and dynamo lighting, It was brought on HP in my Dad's name and I paid it off out of my paper round money. It was the first bike I brought myself, previous bikes had been brought by my parents.
> 
> View attachment 8068


 
Looking sharp!


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## steveindenmark (26 Mar 2012)

I don`t want my chopper back. God they were awful to ride.

I will have the 40 years back instead please.

Steve


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## Sheffield_Tiger (26 Mar 2012)

Raleigh Budgie.
Raleigh Commando.

Then onto grown-up bikes

Raleigh Traveller was my first, did a few short (25 mile) trips

But the real first was an old Raleigh 5-speed, similar to a Superbe but with SA 5-speed hub - the 5-sp shifter fell apart, I rigged a shifting system up that only I could operate with a 3-speed lever and a friction thumbshifter. Then the steel rims bent to hell, so i took the wheel apart and built my first wheel. That was the bike that introduced me to the finer arts of "fettling". Also the first bike I wnt on a camping trip on, from Hull to Spurn Point.

*The one that I did most miles on and enjoyed riding the most* was a Raleigh Sensor that I bought in a real state, repainted in Humbrol enamel, fitted some better brakes (still sidepull), guards and rack, and got running really sweetly - until I ploughed it full-pelt into the back of a Peugeot 205, writing both car and bike off! (15 year olds and bikes...). Funny how indexed gears were just a luxury then.

_Fond Memories..._






A few bikes later came my other milestone - a Raleigh Mustang that I bought cheaply (£100) as it was an old model from the bike shop I had a Saturday job in - part-exed the steel wheels with a lad at school for his alloy rims, got some cheap Mountain LX thumbies which I then mounted onto the side of drop handlebars, and went touring for a week around the North York Moors


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## sunnyjim (27 Mar 2012)

First not-a-child's bike was a Hercules - hand-me-down from elder brother, done up in fancy paper as xmas present. First bike bought with my own earned money - Carlton (Raleigh-owned) Corsa. £76 new IIRC.


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## GrumpyGregry (27 Mar 2012)

First bike, my sister's cast off ?Hercules? with a mixte frame. Wrecked it pavement racing, rode striaght intot a concrete lapmpost - got a bloody good hiding to.

Then a Mk II chopper in red for my 14th Birthday ('74). Stolen from the school bike sheds.

Raleigh Olympus, destroyed 'bombing' down the woods.

Viscount Aerospace, which tried to kill me.

Then I discovered petrol and took rugby seriously and didn't cycle again until the 90's....


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## CopperCyclist (27 Mar 2012)

Depends what you mean by 'proper'! When I was young, I remember getting very excited about by first 18 speed mountain bike. I remember it was red, with the model name being 'Terminator' but more than that escapes me!


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## niggle (3 Apr 2012)

Rickshaw Phil said:


> For me it was a metallic green Dawes Junior Kingpin when I was 7. Just the basic single speed one but I loved it and rode it until I got too big for it.
> 
> It's the first proper one coz it was the first bike that actually took me places rather than just up and down the street I lived on.


I just Googled 'dawes junior kingpin' and this thread was the fifth hit. Freakily my first proper bike was also a Dawes Junior Kingpin, also when I was 7 (bought for my 7th birthday in fact) in 1970, only difference is that mine was gold. Mine was also single speed, but I suppose that was the way the Junior came, and it did not fold. My sister got one for her 7th birthday as well, in red. They were so well made, I treated mine just like a BMX, years before they were invented, but it withstood this to the end when I was about 12 and was given a second hand Hercules Hustler. I cannot seem to find a picture of the Junior version of the Kingpin anywhere, or anything about it.


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## Rickshaw Phil (3 Apr 2012)

niggle said:


> I just Googled 'dawes junior kingpin' and this thread was the fifth hit. Freakily my first proper bike was also a Dawes Junior Kingpin, also when I was 7 (bought for my 7th birthday in fact) and this was also in 1970, only difference is that mine was gold. Mine was also single speed, but I suppose that was the way the Junior came, and it did not fold. My sister got one for her 7th birthday as well, in red. They were so well made, I treated mine just like a BMX, years before they were invented, but it withstood this to the end when I was about 12 and was given a second hand Hercules Hustler. I cannot seem to find a picture of the Junior version of the Kingpin anywhere, or anything about it.


 Mine was bought for my birthday too only it was in 1980. I do remember having a Dawes catalogue in the early 80's showing two models - the basic one and a 3 speed. I'm pretty sure (although I'm happy to be corrected) that the junior version was never offered as a folder it just copied the frame shape of the adult version.

I think I used mine 'til I was about 14 (and too big for it really) then it sat in the shed 'til a couple of years ago when it went to a collector who was going to restore it.


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## niggle (3 Apr 2012)

Rob Wellman said:


> Mine also was a Raleigh Tomahawk but in fantastic purple!
> View attachment 8110
> just like this one, oh the memories.
> 
> ...


My cousin had a Raleigh Chipper in yellow, just like this one:







I 'borrowed' it once and rode it round the village hall 'power sliding' in the mud, then dad made me clean it from top to bottom as a punishment, took ages. TBH non of these Choppers, Chippers or Tomohawks were a match for my ancient Hercules Hustler, like this one:


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## User16625 (6 Apr 2012)

Kiwiavenger said:


> I was just thinking earlier about my old bikes and what one I would love to have back just to own it.
> 
> I remember having an old Peugeot mountain bike that had a knackered rear derailleur so I removed it and made it a single speed without removing the cassette. I ended up getting rid of it due to buckling the frame! The bike I would love to have back though would be my old claud butler enduro in silver with bar ends 18 gears and knobbly tyres! It was what made me love cycling to begin with. Anyone got one? Lol.


 
A claud butler for me aswell. It was a £300 San remo I had. Cant say I wanna have it back coz I got a £1500 carbon fibre job now. I never had problems with gear mechanisms or any other parts on any of my bicycles (dramatically excepting my Carrera I had, dam thing was scrap metal on wheels).


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## Herbie (6 Apr 2012)

niggle said:


> My cousin had a Raleigh Chipper in yellow, just like this one:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Very handsome machine


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## Xiorell (6 Apr 2012)

I remember having a range of "kiddie" type bikes, but the first propper one, was a Claud Butler MTB, in a glorious shade of blue. I can't recall the model, I've been trying to figure it out, I'd buy one now and restore it to a mint condition. I think it had 18gears, I recall friction shifters and that it was awesome lol


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## Cyclist33 (7 Apr 2012)

Can't find my old pics on my computer despite searching far and wide, but it was one of these in the silver...

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?arc=2005&spid=20844

Stu


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