Hi,
I was hoping someone here can help this boomer-geezer fill in the gaps in his memory about my pride and joy when I was a kid: a 1966 Ross Barracuda I bought new. We called ’em banana bikes back then for the seat (uhhh, I guess). Yep, that’s an outdated term, but I’m gonna use it. Below are details I remember. Thing is, of all the photos of Ross Barracudas I see online, none match my bike. Please excuse my wordiness as it’s just my way. The ad from 1968 is similar, but it’s a 1-speed, and not a Barracuda.
Here in Western NY USA many of us in the burbs near Buffalo were Catholic, and so one’s First Communion at age 9 or 10 was a big deal, often with a party, and with lots of gifts, many of which were cash. My first bike (in 1964, I guess) was a cobbled-together fake banana bike made from old parts, none of which were originally a banana bike (the craze was likely new then). That bike didn’t work well as the rear axle/coaster was probably shot. A neighbor created this re-sprayed-gold POS, and charged me a coupla bucks for it as it was all my family could afford. I dreamed of a proper banana bike. Then I got my 1st communion loot.
My Mom used to work during the holiday season for a local catalog store called J and S Merchandise. The owner was a good guy (either Mr. J or Mr. S, not sure) because he allowed my Mom to buy anything with an employee discount. Mom probably couldn’t shut me up about wanting a real banana bike, so she went to J&S for their latest Summer catalog, just in from the printers. That I remember.
I’m not sure, but I don’t think the Summer 1966 catalog had a Ross banana bike, but I believe it did have Ross bikes. Mr. J (or S) called the factory, and got the scoop on their banana bike offerings. I believe we ordered it without knowing what it looked like. It took a while to arrive (well, a few days is a forever to a 10 year old, so who knows). The final price was quite reasonable, and maybe less than what a comparable ubiquitous vanilla Huffy cost. Huffy 3-speed bikes were everywhere, and boring in my view, much too plain and vanilla, and boring… did I mention boring?
Anyway, I believe some time in late Spring or Summer of 1966 I received a large bobbled-together box with my new bike, all ready to… be assembled??? “Isitdone, isitdone???!!!” If I remember correctly, we received no instructions, and maybe were given the factory phone number to call in case of a problem. Did we receive a late prototype, or early production model?
Then again, could this have been 1967, that is, did I wait a year to buy a bike? I don’t know. I doubt I could’ve waited a year after my First Communion loot was all counted.
By the way, right at this time my parents were splitting (separating) which is 1966 in Western NY was a rare thing. Add to that my maternal Grandfather’s ill health (he passed away that July). Life was complicated, and getting a new bike was therapeutic I suppose.
I believe I had to rely on my Mom and older brother to assemble the new bike. Not ideal. I believe they had to borrow tools to perform the assembly. But at some point (what seemed like many years later) the bike was finally assembled. I couldn’t wait to ride it. It… was… stunning! No one in my town had a bike anything like this! It was the Lamborghini Countach of 1960’s bicycles! And it was mine!
The details of the Ross Barracuda were what made it special. Yes, there were many of the ubiquitous vanilla Huffy banana bikes around, many with 3 speeds, but they didn’t have the unique visual features of the Ross Barracuda which so, so much set it apart.
And what a first ride it was! I hopped on, and the seat crashed onto the mini rear fender. What???!!! WHAT???!!! “Fixit fixit fixit!” The rear sissy bar (holding up the back of the banana seat) was super tall. And it was held up by a clamp on each side… a friction clamp, not a clamp with multiple holes. There were no holes in the bottom of the sissy bar, and even if you tightened the clamp a lot, the seat wanted to lower in the back.
What were the Ross designers thinking by using a friction-clamp set-up on the sissy bar? Plus, we had no shed or garage. To prevent my wonderful new bike from being swiped, we had to carry it down the basement stairs after I rode it, and back up the basement stairs the next day. With the giant sissy bar, it scrapped on the sloped section of drywall above the basement stairs. So, we had to buy a replacement sissy bar that was a little shorter, and which had holes in the bottom of the tube where in met the clamp. Issue solved.
Here are the details I remember about my 1966 Ross Barracuda.
Purple with white Barracuda graphics on the chain guard. This is about the time that Dodge, Plymouth, etc. muscle cars were coming out with wild colors, so a purple bike was a big hit, unlike the drab pale gold on Huffy bikes of that era. (Ross: 1 Huffy: 0)
Super tall sissy bar, ignoring the issues with the first offerings having friction clamps. (Ross: 2 Huffy: 0)
A primary chain sprocket with paisley cut-outs that looked great from the side while it was being pedaled. (Ross: 3 Huffy: 0)
Unique handlebars with a great curved-back look, unlike the more wild ones on later Barracuda bikes. Many folks thought those early handlebars were a great look, even though they seem subdued today. (Ross: 4 Huffy: 0)
Console shifter for the axle-shifter cable mechanism (not a derailleur) which looked so much better than the ugly round glob of plastic on Huffy three-speed shifters. (Ross: 5 Huffy: 0)
From what I remember, the Barracuda had plain basic tires, unlike the cool squared-off cheater-slick rear tires seen on the Huffy three speed bikes. (Ross: 5 Huffy: 1)
The Barracuda had basic side-pull brakes, which worked well enough. It had a plain white banana seat with simple cross stitching, which I believe ripped at some point, requiring replacement of the seat with something ugly (maybe with sparkles?) Ugh!
I spent summers with my maternal Grandmother in rural town 60-some miles from Buffalo. The Barracuda was an even bigger hit there as many of the families there were even poorer than mine.
Flash forward a few years to when 10 speed bikes were becoming popular. My Barracuda was by then too small for me as was growing into a 6-foot 3-inch tall teenager, so it was replaced by a Brand X (Sears?) 10-speed bike painted an ugly green (I re-sprayed it black in frustration). The 10 speed I still have, including the ugly orange permits stuck to an upright somewhere required by the college I attended.
But what about my beautiful Barracuda? Well, in the mid-1970’s we had to do a lot of work on the basement in my family’s house, and all old stuff had to be gotten rid of. The Barracuda was sold to a kid up the street (who had no bike) for $5. The father said he couldn’t afford even that much. I never saw the kid ride the bike, so I wonder if his dad flipped it. Oh well, water over the bridge, or however that goes. My old Ross Barracuda was never seen again, and I soon turned to driving cars not bikes.
My Ross Barracuda was a source or pride, but also of independence. I was able to get out of the house, and visit friends, etc. It was an important part of my life when I was 9-to-13 years old.
So, if anyone can help this old geezer remember his 1966 Ross Barracuda bike, I’d appreciate it. I have yet to see any images of a Barracuda like mine. Rhetorical question: how many do you think left the Ross factory with the friction-clamp set-up on the sissy bar? That issue had to have been fixed fast by Ross designers.
Thanks for reading my long-winded blathering.
–Brian in Elma NY USA
I was hoping someone here can help this boomer-geezer fill in the gaps in his memory about my pride and joy when I was a kid: a 1966 Ross Barracuda I bought new. We called ’em banana bikes back then for the seat (uhhh, I guess). Yep, that’s an outdated term, but I’m gonna use it. Below are details I remember. Thing is, of all the photos of Ross Barracudas I see online, none match my bike. Please excuse my wordiness as it’s just my way. The ad from 1968 is similar, but it’s a 1-speed, and not a Barracuda.
Here in Western NY USA many of us in the burbs near Buffalo were Catholic, and so one’s First Communion at age 9 or 10 was a big deal, often with a party, and with lots of gifts, many of which were cash. My first bike (in 1964, I guess) was a cobbled-together fake banana bike made from old parts, none of which were originally a banana bike (the craze was likely new then). That bike didn’t work well as the rear axle/coaster was probably shot. A neighbor created this re-sprayed-gold POS, and charged me a coupla bucks for it as it was all my family could afford. I dreamed of a proper banana bike. Then I got my 1st communion loot.
My Mom used to work during the holiday season for a local catalog store called J and S Merchandise. The owner was a good guy (either Mr. J or Mr. S, not sure) because he allowed my Mom to buy anything with an employee discount. Mom probably couldn’t shut me up about wanting a real banana bike, so she went to J&S for their latest Summer catalog, just in from the printers. That I remember.
I’m not sure, but I don’t think the Summer 1966 catalog had a Ross banana bike, but I believe it did have Ross bikes. Mr. J (or S) called the factory, and got the scoop on their banana bike offerings. I believe we ordered it without knowing what it looked like. It took a while to arrive (well, a few days is a forever to a 10 year old, so who knows). The final price was quite reasonable, and maybe less than what a comparable ubiquitous vanilla Huffy cost. Huffy 3-speed bikes were everywhere, and boring in my view, much too plain and vanilla, and boring… did I mention boring?
Anyway, I believe some time in late Spring or Summer of 1966 I received a large bobbled-together box with my new bike, all ready to… be assembled??? “Isitdone, isitdone???!!!” If I remember correctly, we received no instructions, and maybe were given the factory phone number to call in case of a problem. Did we receive a late prototype, or early production model?
Then again, could this have been 1967, that is, did I wait a year to buy a bike? I don’t know. I doubt I could’ve waited a year after my First Communion loot was all counted.
By the way, right at this time my parents were splitting (separating) which is 1966 in Western NY was a rare thing. Add to that my maternal Grandfather’s ill health (he passed away that July). Life was complicated, and getting a new bike was therapeutic I suppose.
I believe I had to rely on my Mom and older brother to assemble the new bike. Not ideal. I believe they had to borrow tools to perform the assembly. But at some point (what seemed like many years later) the bike was finally assembled. I couldn’t wait to ride it. It… was… stunning! No one in my town had a bike anything like this! It was the Lamborghini Countach of 1960’s bicycles! And it was mine!
The details of the Ross Barracuda were what made it special. Yes, there were many of the ubiquitous vanilla Huffy banana bikes around, many with 3 speeds, but they didn’t have the unique visual features of the Ross Barracuda which so, so much set it apart.
And what a first ride it was! I hopped on, and the seat crashed onto the mini rear fender. What???!!! WHAT???!!! “Fixit fixit fixit!” The rear sissy bar (holding up the back of the banana seat) was super tall. And it was held up by a clamp on each side… a friction clamp, not a clamp with multiple holes. There were no holes in the bottom of the sissy bar, and even if you tightened the clamp a lot, the seat wanted to lower in the back.
What were the Ross designers thinking by using a friction-clamp set-up on the sissy bar? Plus, we had no shed or garage. To prevent my wonderful new bike from being swiped, we had to carry it down the basement stairs after I rode it, and back up the basement stairs the next day. With the giant sissy bar, it scrapped on the sloped section of drywall above the basement stairs. So, we had to buy a replacement sissy bar that was a little shorter, and which had holes in the bottom of the tube where in met the clamp. Issue solved.
Here are the details I remember about my 1966 Ross Barracuda.
Purple with white Barracuda graphics on the chain guard. This is about the time that Dodge, Plymouth, etc. muscle cars were coming out with wild colors, so a purple bike was a big hit, unlike the drab pale gold on Huffy bikes of that era. (Ross: 1 Huffy: 0)
Super tall sissy bar, ignoring the issues with the first offerings having friction clamps. (Ross: 2 Huffy: 0)
A primary chain sprocket with paisley cut-outs that looked great from the side while it was being pedaled. (Ross: 3 Huffy: 0)
Unique handlebars with a great curved-back look, unlike the more wild ones on later Barracuda bikes. Many folks thought those early handlebars were a great look, even though they seem subdued today. (Ross: 4 Huffy: 0)
Console shifter for the axle-shifter cable mechanism (not a derailleur) which looked so much better than the ugly round glob of plastic on Huffy three-speed shifters. (Ross: 5 Huffy: 0)
From what I remember, the Barracuda had plain basic tires, unlike the cool squared-off cheater-slick rear tires seen on the Huffy three speed bikes. (Ross: 5 Huffy: 1)
The Barracuda had basic side-pull brakes, which worked well enough. It had a plain white banana seat with simple cross stitching, which I believe ripped at some point, requiring replacement of the seat with something ugly (maybe with sparkles?) Ugh!
I spent summers with my maternal Grandmother in rural town 60-some miles from Buffalo. The Barracuda was an even bigger hit there as many of the families there were even poorer than mine.
Flash forward a few years to when 10 speed bikes were becoming popular. My Barracuda was by then too small for me as was growing into a 6-foot 3-inch tall teenager, so it was replaced by a Brand X (Sears?) 10-speed bike painted an ugly green (I re-sprayed it black in frustration). The 10 speed I still have, including the ugly orange permits stuck to an upright somewhere required by the college I attended.
But what about my beautiful Barracuda? Well, in the mid-1970’s we had to do a lot of work on the basement in my family’s house, and all old stuff had to be gotten rid of. The Barracuda was sold to a kid up the street (who had no bike) for $5. The father said he couldn’t afford even that much. I never saw the kid ride the bike, so I wonder if his dad flipped it. Oh well, water over the bridge, or however that goes. My old Ross Barracuda was never seen again, and I soon turned to driving cars not bikes.
My Ross Barracuda was a source or pride, but also of independence. I was able to get out of the house, and visit friends, etc. It was an important part of my life when I was 9-to-13 years old.
So, if anyone can help this old geezer remember his 1966 Ross Barracuda bike, I’d appreciate it. I have yet to see any images of a Barracuda like mine. Rhetorical question: how many do you think left the Ross factory with the friction-clamp set-up on the sissy bar? That issue had to have been fixed fast by Ross designers.
Thanks for reading my long-winded blathering.
–Brian in Elma NY USA
