J. C. Higgins: my first ballooner

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Most of the bikes I play with are from the '60s and '70s, but I've wanted an older tank bike for a while. A friend picked this up recently and decided he had too many other projects going, so now I got my tank bike.
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Looking forward to digging into some research on this one. I know nothing about J.C. Higgins, or tank bikes or ballooners in general. The goal for right now is to get it to be a nice rider. I can ride it up and down the block, but it's got enough loose spokes to feel wobbly, so I'll find a newer junk cruiser on CL or FB to rob wheels from temporarily. From there on it'll be an evolutionary thing to pick away at.
 
The serial was throwing me...these 50s Columbias have been surprising me lately as my columbias were all prewar or mid to late late 60s, and there is just enough different about these 50s frames to cause me consternation (and, I even have one now...and still misidentify them :crazy:).
 
After watching what RealltbigTim did with his mini tanker in the MMBO-wumbo, I've gotten much more interested in this style!
 

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