BJ's Bicycles

Here's as much as I can remember as far as all the "bicycles" I've owned and ridden in my life, before we got into recumbent trikes. Of course I started with a "Tricycle" at 4 yrs. old but it was 1963 when I and my brother Bobby got our first bicycles.


Me in the background on my 20 inch JC Higgins coaster brake bike Brother Bobby on his 16 inch JC Higgins coaster brake bike!

The next bike was a Christmas Gift in 1965, I got a new Schwinn Typhoon 24 inch coaster bike!



In 6th. grade I gave the Typhoon to my brother and bought a used 26 inch Schwinn American-2 speed hub model coaster bike from my Uncle.




When I went to Jr. High School, (7th. Grade), my Grandma bought me a new Huffy Sportsman Deluxe 3 speed bike.

A year later with summer jobs money,  I bought myself a new Schwinn Collegiate 5 speed racer with drop bars.


I gave the the Collegiate to my brother and I bought myself a Columbia 10 speed. This bike was used to take my first multi-day tour. Our Youth Pastor was from Austria and only rode bikes, (no car). He set up a tour from Colorado Springs, CO. to Santa Fe, NM. for the Teenagers, it was a blast! The bike didn't fare well, the frame broke in two places on the way back!!


Then I got a job at the old Security Bicycle Shop in Security, CO. in my Sophomore year of high school (1970) and I bought my first serious bicycle. It was a Olmo Italian Racer and I rode it till I enlisted in the US Air Force in June 1973, ! Some how my family lost or left it in "hurry up MOVE", before I got back from Basic Training, :(
  
I didn't have any bicycles from 73 to 82 when I decided to get back into biking and joined up with the local bicycle club here in Co. Springs, called STRADA. I bought a new Univega Grand Turismo 18 speed Touring Bicycle.


Then in 84 I upgraded to a Univega Specialism 21 speed Touring Bicycle. I still think this was the finest bicycle I have ever owned.


In early 85 I started working at a bicycle shop, called the Bikery in Co. Springs. I bought a top of the line Raleigh Mt. Crested Butte Mountain Bicycle and got into mountain bike racing!



Loaded up to go racing with my son Steven with his 20 inch 5 speed Ross MTB.! :)

Well life hit me hard and I ended up selling off my bicycles to buy new beds, etc. for the kids and didn't ride for about 6-8 years! :( 

In 1995 we bought new Fuji Monterey 1.0 Comfort bicycles. We sold them in late 1996 due to financial problems!


1995 Glennwood Canyon Bike Trail, Glennwood Springs, CO.  


Early 2008, the worst year of our marriage life,  we both lost jobs and our car and had to "rent a room" from JoLynn's sister! We needed transportation so we'd be able to get food, etc. I bought a new Roadmaster Mountain Bicycle and a kids trailer and converted it to a utility trailer to get FOOD and big items! 


With our 2008 income tax refund in early 2009 we bought new Jamis Trail X 1.0 Mountain Bikes. a huge improvement over the Roadmaster!!! :) Sadly the original frame developed a small hair line crack but Jamis sent me the upgraded Durango model frame! The bike went from Gray to White. 



 In January 2011 we traded in the MTB's for Recumbent Bicycles, these were SUN EZ-1 SX's but they never fit JoLynn quite right due to her very short X-seam measurement, bummer caused I really liked mine!  


In April 2011 I traded the EZ-1 SX and upgraded to a SUN EZ-Sport AX!


We wanted to buy a SUN Recumbent Tandem but alas we just couldn't afford one so in September 2011 we bought our first tandem bicycle it's a Trek 900 Recreational Tandem. We really loved being a "Tandem Team" but due to my Reiter's Syndrome, (arthritis) my knees could not take the stress of holding both of us and the heavier bike at stops so sadly,  we sold off the tandem early in 2012. :(
 
 
So we had bikes to ride,  when we were not riding the Tandem bicycle together! I picked up a used Research Dynamics Coyote MTB for $50. Sold the Coyote MTB to pick up a used Fuji Monterey 3.0 for $100 and converted to a flat bar road bike to ride with JoLynn's Mongoose Breakaway 4 flat bar road bike, 


  After selling the Tandem and our used single bikes, we bought New 2012 Flat Bar Road bicycles, called "Fitness Bikes".  We still did not own car so I bought 2-bikes each, 1 primary and 1 backup.


2012 Jamis Coda Sport, cro-moly steel framed fitness bike as my #1. bike and a leftover 2011 Jamis Allegro 1 aluminum framed fitness bike as my "back up" bike. 

 
We decided we wanted to get back into Motorcycles so we ended up selling all four of our fitness bicycles to get the money for a down payment on a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Then out of the blue,  JoLynn got her used Nishiki Ladies Frame MTB back from her daughter, (the daughter decided bicycling wasn't her thing!). I bought a used Mongoose Switchblade MTB so we could ride together ! LOL, we were back riding bicycles anyway! :)

 

Traded in the Mongoose and the Nishiki MTB's when we got our income tax refund in March 2017, we bought new Del Sol  LXI 6.1's comfort bikes.


Traded in the Comfort bike so I could buy my first recumbent TRIKE, a 7 speed Sunseeker Eco Tad SX., in Jan. 2018! 


I sold the Eco-Tad SX and bought a used SUN EZ-TAD SX, which was an upgraded 21 speed version as my next trike. 



Out of the blue I found a 2011 Terra Trike Tour II, sold the EZ-TAD SX as the Tour II was a better trike and I got it for a real bargin price!


Jo had a heart attack in Jan. 2019, to help her rehabilitate back to health, we traded in our "single trikes" and bought a use Terra Trike Rover Tandem!


Since Jo couldn't ride all the time on the tandem, I also found a great deal on a Bike E RX model recumbent bike, if I wanted to ride by myself! 


Late 2019, Jo decided she was strong enough to again, Ride Her Own Trike, so I had the "tandem kit addition" taken out of the TT Rover Tandem and now rode a 30 speed TT Rover trike, 10 speed cassette/derailleur and a Efneo 3 speed IG drive up front! 


Upgraded to a 2014 Terra Trike Traveler Folding model, with 24 speeds and added a EBO 350W/36V Battery, rear hub motor E-assist system.


I entered a contest with Wiz Wheel, Inc. and out of the blue, I actually WON, 2021 Greenspeed GT-20 RS trike!! Sold the TT traveler and added the EBO E-assist system to the GT-20 RS.


We were living in a "shared" House/Garage set up but we had to move to a 2nd. floor apartment set up and decided to sale our recumbent trikes, (DUMB thing to do!!),  as of November 6, 2020, we went back to "BICYCLES"!  I bought a used Electra Townie 21d, 21 speed "feet forward" style bicycle! :)


 I did a "test" ride on a RANS "crank forward" bicycle and decided to see if I could find a used one I could "semi-afford". The local recumbent shop here is a RANS dealer and he had a 2007 Fusion model I just barely afford!  Picked it up as of December 2020. :)


Bummer, as much as I liked the RANS Fusion, I just couldn't get comfortable on it, no matter what I changed I ended up with a "ache" in the middle of my back!!!! :( So I decided to sell it and go back to a much more normal type of bicycle. Bought a 2021 Giant Escape 3 Comfort Hybrid!! LOL, it's gona take a while to get use to a DF (diamond frame) bicycle again :) 


 June 2021, I decided that my fitness bike wasn't very "compatible" when riding with Jo on her recumbent trike, she had to go back to due to balance problems! I couldn't afford a recumbent trike so I picked up a 2007 SUN (Sunseeker) EZ-1 SX recumbent bicycle for an excellent price in very good shape! :)


As of January 2022, Jo got a lighter, upgraded 2014 Terra Trike Rambler 24 speed and she gave me her 2016 Terra Trike Rover X8 so now we are both "back on recumbent trikes"! :)



In late August 2022, I upgraded from the "entry level" Rover to a older style, TT Legacy trike called the "Tour" or Tour 1. This trike has "indirect" steering set up which I prefer over the standard TT "direct steering" set up that the Rover has! This is a older, used trike, it's mfg'er date is between: late 2006 and late 2010. Terra Trike didn't keep good records back then and some trikes didn't get stamped with a "serial number" so I will never know it's true age! It doesn't have "adjustable boom" like the newer trikes, you had to get a sm, md, lg size boom! It came with a medium and it was to, cramped feeling. They could have ordered me a large RED boom for a extra $125 or they had a YELLOW lg. boom in backstock so that's why the trike is "dual colored", LOL. 


Feb. 24, 2023, I sold the TT Tour and upgraded to a used 2011 ICE Sprint 2 Special Edition from Angletech. 




April 2023: I hadn't planned on ever buying another recumbent BIKE but a good friend needed to make room in his garage so he made me an offer I couldn't refuse! I now have  a 2008 SUN EZ-1 SC Lite (Aluminum Framed Version) recumbent bike!! It will now become my "Cargo Trailer Tugger/Errand machine"! 




1 comment:

  1. Man, you guys have been around the block a few times. Me thinks you need a huge storage area that you can turn into a cycling museum. Whenever I get stuck on something pertaining to recumbents or even regular bicycles, I go to BJ for advice.

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