Jim Huntington of Palmer falls in love easily, but he is fickle.
He'll be reminiscing about some classic curves, and then a flash of chrome will
turn his head.
The latest object of his adoration is a ladies'
Lozier, circa 1896-98, with a hickory rear rim, front spoon brake, a laced-on
wooden fender and a wooden chain guard to keep the bike rider's petticoats
clean.
Huntington is a dealer of antique and classic bicycles,
and his revolving inventory of 200 to 300 bikes and assorted spare parts forms a
dusty, rusty history textbook on wheels.
He has some of the
earliest pedal-powered "boneshakers," and precarious high-wheelers, and 1890s
"safeties" -- with equal-sized 30-inch wheels and a seat that "wasn't so far to
fall off of." Sturdy balloon-tired steeds and souped-up motorcycle look-alikes
and sleek 10-speed racers hang from their front wheels or stand
handlebar-to-handlebar in Huntington's cramped storefront at 1005 Central St.,
Palmer.
"Every bike tells a story, of how its owner rode it,"
said Huntington, 46. He conjures up suffragists sporting bloomers, youths
delivering groceries, kids popping wheelies, Olympians sprinting for a gold
medal.
Huntington used to refurnish oak furniture and sell it
at the Brimfield antiques shows. One time, in an attic-ful of old furniture he
bought, there was an old bike that reminded him of his childhood, of the cool
Whizzer bike his big brother had and wouldn't let him ride.
"I
cleaned it up and had fun doing it, and it sold right away. So the next time I
saw a bike I grabbed it, and I put a high price on it so it wouldn't sell, and
it sold anyway," he said. "Oak dressers got to be more work, less fun, and
bicycles became real enjoyment for me. So I got infected with bicycles."
Motorcycles followed, for their development was intertwined
with the evolution of bicycles. Huntington has restored a few antique bikes,
motorized and pedal-powered, including a 1934 Elgin Blackhawk bicycle that he
worked on with Fitchburg State College professor Luther Tabor. Another Blackhawk
that Huntington restored is in the Columbia bicycle museum collection in
Westfield.
Huntington will put several of his bikes on display
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. next Sunday at the Larz Anderson Bicycle Show and Swap,
an annual exhibition and swap meet at the Larz Anderson Museum of
Transportation, 15 Newton St., Brookline (617-522-6547, Ext. 208). Admission is
$5, $3 for students, children and seniors. The theme this year is bicycle
manufacturing in New England, so Huntington plans to show off the Lozier, made
in Westfield.
He'll also display the balloon-tire Buck Rogers
concept bike that adorns his shop window. "This one here is just way too cool,"
Huntington said. "People want to buy it, until they find out it's a creation,
not an antique."
Ex-racer John Illenye of Passaic, N.J., built
the bike from scratch, starting with a 1930s toddlers toy in the shape of a
dirigible. He used the toy, upside down, for the bike's tank (the motorcycle
look was hot), then custom-built a frame and added headlights and a horn. He put
a toolbox in the tank, like the 1930s Elgin Bluebird bikes had, and "watched all
the Buck Rogers videos" to pick up vintage sci-fi touches such as axle wings
made from a 1930s vacuum cleaner exhaust. Huntington is asking $2,000 for it.
At the Larz Anderson show, trophies will be awarded for
"people's choice" winners in several categories: antique bicycles, balloon-tire
bicycles, crate bikes, pre-war track racers, vintage lightweights, custom, and
high-tech. In the vintage lightweight category, Bicycle Classics of Medfield will
award additional prizes in a juried competition, including $200 each for the
best pre-1987 Colnago and the best pre-1987 Hetchins. More information about the
show is available from organizer Peter Naiman (617-469-4581) or from Michael
Kone at Bicycle Classics (508-359-1941).
There will be bike
rides to the Larz Anderson show at 9:45 a.m. and noon from GEAR, an annual rally
of the League of American Bicyclists.
GEAR is bringing about 1,000 cyclists from all over the country to Babson
College in Wellesley next weekend for four days of bike rides, workshops and
exhibits, hosted by the Charles River
Wheelmen.
Day trippers to GEAR may register at Sorenson
Center for the Arts on the Babson campus, on Forest Street off Route 16,
Wellesley; a $25 packet good for all four days, Friday-Monday, contains event
schedules and maps of all the rides.
~~~
TIP OF THE
HELMET to Saturn racer Frank McCormack of Leicester, overall winner of the
Motorola International Cycling Classic, also known as Superweek, a 10-stage race
in Wisconsin in July. McCormack won two stages, both 100-kilometer criteriums.
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