I guess I was in the first wave of the baby boom (1949). For us it was a little different. Started out in the early 50's with ballon tired coaster brake bikes I rode to elementary school through the late 50's. Then maybe age 12, in the early 60's, graduated to a 3-speed "English racer". It seem really hot compared to the ballon tire model. Only in my college years in the early 70's did I move up to lightweights, first a UO-8, soon thereafter my first top quality one, a Windsor Pro (about to ship the Windsor off for its second restoration).
Regards,
Jerry Moos Houston, TX
John Barry <usazorro@yahoo.com> wrote: Nigel,
I think Peter was pretty close. Quite simply, it was a lot of people of the right age, with enough disposable income (either their own or their parents'), and a ready supply of bikes that weighed about half of what might already have been in the garage.
Prior to the boom, it was rather uncommon for someone here to have a true lightweight. There was no way that the children born in the most prolific years of the baby boom (1956-1961) were gonna get stuck with the 42 pound three speed when they were ready for an adult-sized bike, when the 20-something pound 10-speed was sitting next to it in the bike shop at just a few dollars more. Plenty of adults put their old "tanks" out to pasture then too.
Regards,
John Barry
Mechanicsburg, PA
> What I would like US CR'ers to tell me is what drove the US boom.
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