Bicycle pedal'r

If any of you ever attended the Orange county market place at the fair grounds in Costa mesa, my dad had the red with white top 1962 c60 Chevrolet 26 foot truck. He was there over 20 years.

Yes. Bicycle pedal'r, and later he used out family crest with the name "Barnes, Bicycle Pedal'r" Sorry. Somehow it didn't show I was following the thread.

He manufactured them, first at our house, And finally had a place built in the desert of Ca. He sold them at the Orange county market place over 20 years. That was our store outlet.

(I speak for the honor of this kind man and his employees, not to toot my own horn.) Back in the early 1970s when my dad was fixing up old sting rays in Hacienda Heights to resell, he didn't have many wholesale contacts, or the need to buy in huge case quantities, to relace a set of rims, but he friended many GOOD people in the business. Many who were just like him, fixing up old bikes for resale. He some how befriended a guy with a bike shop just north of us, and he'd sell spokes and parts to mom and dad. I'd sometimes get to tag along to ole Jims bike shop. A small shop that smelled like chain oil and rubber. (Oh, you know it too huh?) I was allowed to watch guys build bikes and lace wheels in the back (which I found fascinating). Everyone was always incredibly kind to me and never treated me like a bother. I Always wanted to go see Jim. That's saying allot for being preschool age. One of those trips I remember my dad and he wete really talking over this triangle looking frame. dad was impressed. He handed it over to let me hold and my dad said. He made this. This is going to be his brand. He's naming it JMC. They joked that I'd be a racer for him. I argued that if I had to climb that big hill in Riverside, I wasn't going, because I was scared of being that high. Our business grew and veered to beach cruisers and Jim went bmx. I know he closed his shop and we'd occasionally see a JMC around. Dad would smile and say "There goes ole Jims bike". Bless you JMC for being kind to a little girl. I'm sure you touched many others too.

I follow them on Facebook. I Love Valley relics!!! In fact, their bmx posting lead me to do a casual search for our brand, and I found one of my dad's custom orders here. I showed them on Facebook. Small world!

Figured you ole BMX guys and gals could help me with year. Can anyone recall when the Mushroom (or the cheaper toadstool) grips from ODI craze flooded the market? Thanks!!!

Good ole Bendix 76. Many weren't happy they were in Mexico, but I had one in my cruiser, because Sachs howled like a banshee. Thanks for a walk down memory lane! Wish I was at the beach again too!

Hi!I just did some looking. The article that Leon Dickson wrote for popular mechanics came out in Jan 1978. He had several other articles that came out before, but that one nationalized the "OMG you have a bike worth millions in your barn" craze, ending most chances of getting old frames to use. I recall he started taking his rare bikes to the BICYCLE DEALER SHOWCASE (BDS) shows around the same time. I keep thinking the order was 78-79-ish. I'm pretty sure I was in 5th grade. But dad certainly could have had a frame or 2 set aside a few years later.

Ordering large quantities of frames from Emory proved too difficult and time consuming, and we didn't order any more from them after the 1 batch. We ordered cantilever frames from Giant bicycle, but we ordered them to spec with better steel and they came in powder coated, (or chrome) and had guide wires added for the derailer.

The Sturmy Archur hubs, Carlisle tires, hair pin seat for certain came from wholesaler John T Bill in Burbank. Since this has 80g spokes, it's different rims. I'm going to guess the gold parts came from west coast cycle, and may have had a good chain as well. The Sturmy Archur hubs, Carlisle tires, hair pin seat for certain came from wholesaler John T Bill in Burbank. Since this has 80g spokes, it's different rims. I'm going to guess the gold parts came from west coast cycle, and may have had a gold chain as well.

Most of these frames wouid have been single speed bikes. There was no way to add caliper brakes to this frame. We were able to brag that we were one of the ONLY companies to have a 100% American made bicycle. All regular manufactured bikes would have had wald front hubs kick stand seat post, house neck, long horn bars, messenger seat, sachs hubs, union pedals, 105g spokes,Carlisle tires, and sun rims. Downhill racer... I seem to recall the weight about 46 pounds. But since we dealt with our customers retail with the parts and accessories area, if we weren't super busy with orders, and if the customer was really nice, or we knew him as a regular customer, occasionally dad would take on the challenge of a custom job.

After Leon Dickson spread his articles about the rare and valuable balloon tired bikes, any chance of getting an old one to fix up was impossible. My parents came upon an advertisement for Emory cycles, probably in a BDS magazine and ordered bare frames from them. The first ones were bent beyond repair, so they drove to Jacksonville FL. and picked up about 100. They brought them home, painted them, bought the parts from cycle pro (AKA west coast cycle) and John T Bill. As they were built, they were taken to the Orange county swap meet where they went like hot cakes.

Bicycle Pedal'r was started in the early 1970s. There was a new swap meet that started in Orange County by Bob Teller and my parents would go there and sell mostly old sting rays and bmx bikes, but the older crowd wanted something they could ride along the beach, and the rest of the country was on the 10 speed campy kick. Wed sell at Van Buren swap meet in Riverside on Sundays (initially) and could pick up old balloon tired bikes very cheap, and dad would tear them apart, rebuild them and sell them the following Sat. in Orange County. I mention this, because wed often go to the BMX races and watch the fun. I recall one friend of my dads asking if he could make a mini BMX bike for his youngest son, and dad made him the cutest 12" bike. For quite a while, he was the only one in his class. He'd drag home trophys bigger than he stood. Side hack races were dads favorite. I know he had a few guys come over to the house and have him do some special welding for them.He made some great friends and was proud to see some of his bikes win the races.

look for the histiry of it. Im typing it now!