Bike McCycle

I said I wasn't going to get any more bikes, but this one was a can't miss -- My coworker Maria saw it on a "Buy Nothing" site and with a little coaxing, she got me to say yes to claiming it. Yes. The Bike McCycle.

As you can see in the pic, it's safe in the Velodome now, and there is snow on the ground outside. This has been a ridiculously snowy winter. While it's a stunner, the BeeMcCee will have to wait for temps at least in the 40s before I'll do my usual triage.

Even before I picked it up, based on the neighborhood where it had been living (Gladwynne), I predicted that it would be in decent shape, likely having been ridden for a handful of years, then tucked away into a cozy corner of a 4 car garage for the last 30 years. I was wrong. It was a 3-car garage, and it was more like 40 years. No matter.

Practically no rust. Even the chain is clean. But the notable thing about this 1974 Huffy 10-speed bike (frankly, junk as bikes go, though for its day, it was a very decent ride, what with quick release tires and seat and all. They were trying, anyway) is that it was a McDonalds grand opening give away bike. How many McDonalds grand openings were there in 1975? 212. (Okay, I made that up. I couldn't find this exact answer, but there are currently about 14,000 McDonald's in the US, and McDonald's has been around since 1955, so 14,000 divided by 66 is 212, so a MAX high estimate would mean that 212 of these bikes were ever given away as a Grand Opening raffle prize.)

How do I know it was a give away prize? Thank goodness for google search! First I heard the tale from this Craigslist post:

tugrul04-03-10 04:55 PM
McDonald's Bike Mccycle VERY RARE - $500 (Milford NH)

Quote:
Offering this VERY RARE 1974 Huffy 10 speed 26 inch Bike Mccycle made for just one year and was given away at McDonald's grand openings, if they choose to.This bike was given away at McDonald's in Fitchburg Mass. in 1974. The bike is yellow, yellow seat, chrome fenders & wheels, red taped handle bars., yellowish tires that are original and are dry rotted. Bike Mccycle written across the center bar and McDonalds logo and other info down the center post. I contacted McDonald's in Oakbrook Ill and talked to the folks in archives and they didn't know about it. I talked to the president of McD's collectibles co. and they heard about the bike but never saw one. Talked to Huffy Corp. and they told me the plant that made that bike was closed and Huffy Co. didn't keep record that far back. This would make a great collectible Interested? call 603 673 XXXX after 5 pm and talk to Mike Thanks

You can't trust a random dude named "Mike" from Craigslist trying to sell a junky bike for $500 though right? Even if it sounds like he spent countless hours researching? So I dug some more and found this:

---

Proof! The quality of the pic of that ad isn't the best. You can confirm by visiting here ​https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/533855598/

If you do an internet search for Bike McCyle, you are going to find a lot of stuff that isn't this bike. Confirmation that it's super rare right? [A big plus for me: I'm totally going to crush the SEO on keyword search for "Bike McCycle" after this.] And "rare" equals desirable and expensive. Another impeccible conclusion.

​Want to buy this one for $495? The price will only go up after I tune it up a little!