The year was 1994
February 26th, 2005 by CarlAhhhh…. the joy of my mid-90’s Huffy Strata. This bike is what carried me through my middle and high school years, and at the time, it just didn’t get any better.
A few weeks ago I was rummaging around my parents house and noticed to my suprise that they still had my good old Huffy. Curiously, I decided to check it out.
First of all this bike must weigh 50 pounds. I mean, back when I rode this thing as a kid, I probably wasnt more than 130 pounds myself. The fact that I didn’t notice it at the time was amazing; I must have been in great shape back in the day!
Then there’s the fact that there is absolutely no shock on the front fork. I guess this was a late 90’s invention; I certainly never know about them all those times I furiously pedaled to my friends house to watch “Weekend At Bernie’s.”
I suppose the pics speak for themselves. 7 or so years of rain, snow, and ice have taken their toll. This bike is now completly worthless, but I think I’ll still keep it. After all, it’s my childhood bike and regardless of the fact that it’s as obsolete as a Tandy computer I still love it. What about you all? What kinds of bikes did you ride back in the day?
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Dude! You must save those grips! Classic Yeti grips in yellow! Also, those brake levers smack of something decent, save those as well. Rest of bike….well, the rest of the wheeled structure, well….ummmmm. I guess if it has sentimental value…..ahhhh! TRASH IT!!!!
Bring it to Europa Cycle and Ski and we will gladly run it over with the famed Europa Cube Van, while shouting curse words out he window like crazed fools! And yes, save those grips! I used those back in the day. Ultra tacky! Mmmmmmmmm. Tacky.
Man, that bike is still serviceable. Get a new chain, seat, and cables off of another junk bike and give a bum some transportation. Or just send me the friction shifters
-Rob.
I had a very similar Huffy when I was 8-12. My brother and I each had one. We broke so many parts that we finally put them together into one, and I rode that one to death. My brother kept shearing the crank off his–he got it welded several times and finally got a hard bolt that didn’t shear. That second picture of the rear dropout and that lovely Shimano deraileur reminded me of what happened to the dropout on mine…the spot weld came apart and the dropout came out, so I drilled through and put a bolt in. It worked. I was SO happy with my forged dropouts on my Diamondback when I upgraded. Now I ride a GT i-drive with a rohloff speedhub.
I started out with a Huffy Reno, 350 lbs, riding the backwoods of Alabama. Whoo, the rednecks had a good laugh or three.
I’m over that now
Man… Your ride was SWEET compared to mine!
I grew up in Russia and I all the bikes I rode as a kid were heavyweight single speeds. Most were adult bikes; too big for me, but I rode them anyway. Life was so much more fun in the good old days. :-)))
I rode a Silver Fox single speed with motorcycle style spring shocks both front and back, should of kept it.
I really wanted a mountain bike but I didnt have the money for one. I delivered papers on my used Cooks Brother Racing BMX…it was a decent bike as long as you didnt mind using your shoe (Adidas Samba) for a brake. (it wasnt cool to have brakes on your bike in my town…who knows how that trend started, no doubt by a shoe company. I had a raleigh technium after that. I thought it was all that and a bag of chips. Now I realize the geometry on that thing was down right scary. I cant believe I would bomb hills on that. At least it was aluminum.
Nice stroll down memory lane.
Holy crap! I wrote darn near exactly the same entry in my own journal a few weeks ago, when I resurrected my old junior-high Huffy. Many6, many hours of babysitting the bratty next-door neigbor kids are represented in that old $109 bicycle.
I still ride it upon occasion. For as craptacular is it technically is, it’s an amazingly sweet ride.
Whoops…here;s the entry about my own old Huffy.
http://ornery-chick.livejournal.com/146067.html
In my case, the year was 1991.
I go way back. Schwinn Typhoon, Schwinn Varsity (yep, offroad…I was doing cyclocross without knowing), Peugeot U08, on which I won my French club’s Tour de France in ‘73.
And I had a Huffy kind of like yours sometime in the 90s. Didn’t fit me at all, but it’s what you got for $89.
I discovered the freedom of Sunday afternoons at age 13 on a 1960’s era Schwinn 3 speed (Cant remember the make) After ripping off the tractor seat and fenders, ditching the noodley handle bars and replacing with a riser bar, it was just fast enough to keep ahead of high-schoolers throwing oranges my direction. Went places that it shouldn’t have long enough for me to buy a nearly new Specialized Street Stomper represented a quantum leap up the cycling ladder.
You should keep it
When i’m an old fogie (*Ahem* i mean an adult) i would want to keep it
I was born in 1994! Yippee 4 me!
first put on new tires tubes and chain……..maybe a new seat but hey, it’s not my butt.
then go ride a good 20 or so mile trail (some up, some down, lottsa mud), rinse and repeat. maybe try to find an old batman lunch box to carry with you. i guarantee you will feel like a kid again.