They don't make bicycles quite like they used to. Oh, how we miss the raised handle bars, tassles, banana seats, shrunken front wheels, headlights and stick shifts. No brand dominated the bike market of the 20th century quite like Schwinn. Finding a gleaming red Sting Ray under the Christmas tree was a highlight of your entire youth.

Thankfully, the website Schwinn Cruisers has faithfully preserved the company's catalogs of the past. Here are some of our favorite photos from 1970s Schwinn brochures. Which bike did you have?

Remember when bicycle salesmen were like car dealers? They gave you handy advice like, "Try not to get your bell-bottoms jammed in the gears."

Image: Schwinn Cruisers

With their tiny front wheels, the Schwinn Krates were lowriders for middle-schoolers. The perfect ride for cruising Old McDonald's Farm.

Image: Schwinn Cruisers

What had more groovy engineering and design: this Schwinn Manta Ray or that boy's hair?

Image: Schwinn Cruisers

A pilot watching his stewardess use an Exerciser inside a 747 — officially the most early-'70s image on record.

Image: Schwinn Cruisers

Two guys with tandem bicycles. Maybe they should team up?

Image: Schwinn Cruisers

Schwinn offered fetching rides for the silver set, too.

Image: Schwinn Cruisers

This sweet Hurricane came with the "Positron II Stik-Shift" gear shifter in '79.

Image: Schwinn Cruisers

The Grey Ghost Krate had to be the coolest of the color options.

Image: Schwinn Cruisers

The 1970s triathlon: biking, swimming and flirting.

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Schwinn was all over the rising BMX craze with its Phantom® Scrambler®.

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Two foldable Run-A-Bouts in the trunk: the hybrid vehicle of 1970.

Image: Schwinn Cruisers

Schwinn had something for the entire family, including a firm handshake for pop.

Image: Schwinn Cruisers