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Wheelie Bike
Also known as a "high-riser", "Stingray", "polo bike", "banana bike", "Chopper". The most horrible children's bikes ever made. Some who had them as children retain a sentimental attachment to them, so there is an active market in "collectible" wheelie bikes, but they were, in my considered opinion, an unmitigated disaster.
Early wheelie bikes were home-made by adapting a bike made for a small child for use by a larger child. A frame from a 20" wheel child's bike would be equipped with tall "ape hanger" handlebars and a "banana seat" which extended back over the rear wheel. The resulting weight distribution created a bicycle that would do a wheelie with the slightest effort.
The American bicycle industry, led by Schwinn with its "Stingray" and "Krate" models, jumped on this early '60's fad. Schwinn made a lot of short-term profit, but, I believe, the wheelie bike led to a serious long-term setback for the American bicycle industry.
Before the wheelie-bike craze, there was a well-established progression of frame sizes for growing children, from 16", to 20", to 24" and finally to 26" wheel bicycles. The wheelie bike killed the 24" bike market, because these bikes would sort-of fit children who should really have been riding on 24" wheels.
Wheelie bikes also greatly reinforced the idea that the bicycle was a child's toy, not a serious vehicle. Wheelie bikes were easy to do wheelies on, but their awkward riding position made them hellishly uncomfortable to actually ride more than a half-mile at a time.
Wheelie bikes in turn were killed by BMX bicycles, which are much more "rideable", but the 24" market never completely recovered.
