[roy_libran]

What a thread to evoke such nostalgia! Thanks OP.

Although I did not retain any pics of my past rides, but here is the list:
1990-1993: Avon SLR
1993-1997: Hero Ranger
2002-2005: BSA Mach 5
2015-2017: Montra Blues 1.1
2017-2021: Triban 500
2020 ---: BTWIN ST520
2021 ---: BTWIN Triban RC 520

[ebonho]

My first cycle was a Raleigh roadster. Gorgeous high quality machine.

I was in the 4th standard, and studying Hindi with my tutor Pandey ji (who used to cycle to our home), when mummy and daddy came into the living room wheeling the gleaming black beauty.

I think nothing ever comes as close to a man's heart as his first bike.

I did everything on that cycle, including racing it in the Nationals (Sub Juniors) in Bikaner in 1984 - 100 km team time trial.




Cheers, Doc

[Sheel]

I was given a blue Hero Ranger. Straight handles had just broken cover and it was a perfect neighbours’ envy owner’s pride ad (just like Onida).

I gifted it to a needy young guy. He deserved it more than (maybe) my memories.

[CarNerd]

I had a BSA Streetcat bicycle which was a good lightweight bicycle for my size. But I wanted a bicycle with shock absorbers. So the BSA was sold and I got myself a Hercules MTB Rockshox with front & rear shock absorbers It was so heavy, it felt like riding a Motorcycle with pedals

I still regret selling that BSA Streetcat

[Ramon]

Mine was a Hercules MTB Highway Patrol in chrome finish with the weld joints in red. Was my ride till I finished my 12th. Had modded it with crappy Starlit 18 speed gears and all. Later when I left home for college it was left unused and neglected.

It started to rust and once I tried to restore it by myself and made a mistake of giving it a coat of yellow metal primer with brush and a red paint coat on top, again with brush. Looked truly horrible. But on hindsight, the primer and paint coat protected it from further rusting.

Then I decided to give a full fledged restoration around 6 years back. Scraped off all the paint and primer, exposing the lovely chrome, took her to the elderly gentleman mechanic who once ran a cycle repair shop near my home. He dismantled the whole thing and gave me the parts for painting, which I took to the FNG where we give our cars. The painter did a fantastic job with it and buffed the chrome and painted the joints with glossy black and that too for free.

Took the finished parts back to the cycle mechanic who assembled it and discarded the non functional gear system and put in a larger sprocket at the rear.

Now parked in our garage and used occasionally.

[Amrik Singh]

I don't remember the make of Bicycles I rode to school, but one of them was a Ladies Cycle.
After schooling, when there was no full time need for them as a Lambretta had made them redundant.
The Ladies cycle was bared to minimum.
No Mud guards, Carrier, Stand and
No Brakes - No Handle, but Premier Padmini Steering Wheel.
The Free Wheel was welded so that Pedals and Wheels would always move together in tandem. To Brake, I would apply pressure on the Pedals backwards.
And I was a College pass out by then and year 1975-76.
Kids from neighbourhood would request for ridng my Bicycle (which I always obliged), try to mount and return the Bicycle with a twisted look.

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

When I was in 7th grade, i wanted a BSA SLR. (Not to be confused with Mercedes Slr)

The BSA SLR was definitely one of the most popular cycles back then. It felt so light and smooth compared with all the MTB cycles I was used to.

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

I had the same cycle. Exact same color. This was the most "00" friendly bike back then.

I had a shortlist of Cannon Barrel, Terrain Tamer (double suspension) and Trailblazer

Well I actually wanted the advertised blue color, unfortunately the dealer didn't have those in stock so settled for red.

Originally Posted by Mi10

Mine was the famed Hercules MTB Rockshox (Terrain Tamer) in glittering grey. The Painjob was fab during its time. And I owned the first Cycle with Shock absorbers in my colony. Literal show stealer

I had many friends owning the Rockshox. It was the most versatile cycle with the option of front suspension, front + rear suspension and front suspension + gear from OEM back then. The alternative from Hero was Ranger Max.

Originally Posted by saket77

My first cycle was a maroon BSA- SLR when I was in the 6th Std. Later I got a Hero Swing- 18 gears & dual suspension which was quite a novelty in 1997-98.

Are you sure you got the Ranger Swing at 1998 ? Because in that case I made my purchase before 1998 as at that time Hercules TopGear just got launched and Swing was released after that.

Originally Posted by dpat17

Mine was Hercules MTB Dx

Hope this rings a bell !

Originally Posted by Sheel

I was given a blue Hero Ranger. Straight handles had just broken cover and it was a perfect neighbours’ envy owner’s pride ad (just like Onida).

The Ranger was a much sought after cycle back then. I was considering Ranger Max while making the purchase. Main standout for this model at that time was the cool dual tone color and more importantly the provision of adding both front & rear shockers down the line which very few models had the option of.

Originally Posted by Ramon

Mine was a Hercules MTB Highway Patrol in chrome finish with the weld joints in red. Was my ride till I finished my 12th. Had modded it with crappy Starlit 18 speed gears and all. Later when I left home for college it was left unused and neglected.

Starlit was surely crappy while comparing to the Shimanos which got introduced with Top Gear & Ranger Swing, however they are still doing their job on my 20+ yr old cycle


In school days I used to collect all cycle articles & ADs on newspapers which I still have. Thought of sharing some here to evoke some nostalgia


Hercules Top Gear Ad


Next best offering to counter Ranger Swing


Prices of cycles back then








India's first electric cycle !

[Osteon206]

My first bicycle was the BSA champ, and then in class V my parents upgraded me to the BSA Trailblazer Junior.

It was difficult to keep up with my friends who had geared bicycles back then (common favorites were top gear and ranger swing). Still loved the trailblazer.

[rohitoasis]

Wow! a thread filled with all the models i wished i could have during childhood. The Hercules MTB, The Rockshox, The Ranger swing. There were NRI return kids who used to own these back then. Among them i would turn up in the hand me down cycle from my elder sister, the BSA SLR ladies version.

Like all wide eyed kids lusting over the latest toys, i would want those cycles with shock absorbers (Even though with my frail self on the bike, the shocks would barely compress), and gears. (Back then the Shimano system would cause a lots of chain slips).

My cycle though boring in their comparison never failed me. Never a chain slip, There was this instance when i T-Boned a Chetak scooter while riding downhill carelessly. Even with the bent front forks, it would take me back home 2 km away. After repairs, it went on its way to another generation of riders as their learners bike.

Just last week i went with my nephew to purchase a cycle for himself. Now the slightly wiser me was suggesting the lighter frame bikes explaining him the benefits. All the while he went on lusting over the fancier ones with gears and shock absorbers. I was silently chuckling at the Irony of the situation. Finally we went ahead with his selection.

[Jaguar]

I started with the BSA champ, somewhere in the early 90's. Outgrew it in some 3-4 years and was without another cycle till 10th.

Originally Posted by Mi10

Mine was the famed Hercules MTB Rockshox (Terrain Tamer) in glittering grey. The Painjob was fab during its time. And I owned the first Cycle with Shock absorbers in my colony. Literal show stealer with its rugged tyres, inverted handlebars and shocks (single speed though)
Well, at that point, we never had a camera so missed framing her.

I too had bought the same cycle and the feeling was exact. I guess mine was the first in the colony as well. Used to ride it to school during 11th and 12th but that stopped after I had a nasty fall next to a speeding truck. By then mom had bought a Kinetic Honda, which she never learned to ride, so I flicked it and pretty much forgot about the cycle. The cycle was there with me for another year or so, just being used for local runs.

Originally Posted by CarNerd

But I wanted a bicycle with shock absorbers. So the BSA was sold and I got myself a Hercules MTB Rockshox with front & rear shock absorbers It was so heavy, it felt like riding a Motorcycle with pedals

Tell me about it. I too had bought the MTB just for its looks and the shock absorbers and ended up pushing the damn thing most of the time thanks to the hilly terrain of my hometown.

[ABHI_1512]

Super thread Sam, brought back so many memories. If I can call a cycle purely as mine, then it was BSA Street Cat, specially liked the cool handles and robust build. Those days, Hero Ranger was also in vogue but I somehow liked the Street Cat. Had brilliant présence with the cool cat emblem and red body graphics. I have to dig some pictures from the old album I guess since I didn’t find it online !!

Later on, BSA Hawk with its angular racing handles caught my fancy but I never owned it !! Let me check if I can get some pictures or not.

[eyedocgb]

A BSA SLR with racing handles, way back in 1985.bought it from Jhandewalan Bicycle wholesale market in Delhi with my own scholarship(JSTS)money-Rs 700.
I gave it up to a neighbour kid ,once I went to Medical College in 1993.

[itisravi]

My first cycle was the BSA Champ too. It was a looker with that elongated seat like the Schwinn sting-ray bikes of the same era and a big reflector on the back. This is the only image I could find online:



It was lying idle inside the house when we were still in the city. My father taught me how to ride it when we moved to the suburbs. It did not see much mileage and I had outgrown it soon after. My 2nd bicycle, a birthday present, was the BSA SLR which I rode extensively from 4th standard to 12th standard(!) for school runs and joy rides. This one was a proper roadster with OEM brake-lever activated brake lights (powered by AA batteries). Good old times.

[matizcrazy]

Originally Posted by tilt

Heheheheh My first "adult" bicycle was given to me in the early 70s (I was born in the very very early 60s).

In those days we used to do what's called "monkey-pedal" to ride bikes that were too tall for us. Oldies here might probably remember this.
It was a 1940s Raleigh "sports" bike from England. Made of steel (but felt like cast-iron - it was so bloody heavy) with no gears.

Cheers

Monkey pedal indeed. It was a necessity to learn this or be left out because smaller bicycles were rare. Snagging one's pants or even skin on the exposed chain and sprocket was common when you fell over to the other side while monkey pedaling.
Raleigh did make some heavy duty and robustly engineered bicycles. Super smooth bearings and the weight allowed coasting after a few turns of the pedal.

[jkrishnakj]

I don’t even remember the model, but mine was a Hercules. Had a stand behind, my younger sister used to happily sit.

I used to me mighty amazed at the stand lock mechanism. Push the lever and the cycle comes off the stand. I always used to push it with my soles, so so ever so, slow to see what really happens that I can get the rear wheel to the ground.

Monkey pedal indeed.