Community Corner

Check Out This 1957 Columbia Bike

The $90 this 1957 Columbia Jet Rider cost would have put you back about two weeks pay back then.

That's what Mike Ellesio paid for it. Ellesio, now 70, used the bike to deliver the New Haven Register in Fair Haven, his brother-in-law, Guy D'Aniello, says.

D'Aniello has the bike out front of his business, Amity Bike, on Shelden Street in Woodbridge.

It's for sale, and today could cost as much as $3,000.

"I've see worse ones sell for a lot more," D'Aniello says.

The Columbia bike was made in Newfield, Mass. It weighs a whooping 50 pounds -- a far cry from the 16 pounds that today's state-of-the-art bikes tip the scale at.

"They were like the Schwinn of the East Coast," D'Aniello says of Columbia.

With the exception of the grips and tires, everything on the bike is original. And that includes the electric horn, auto-lubricating chain, and the spring-loaded seat.

"It's meant to look like a '57 Chevy sort of," D'Aniello says.

And it's certainly an attention getter. Many customers come in asking how old it is, and D'Aniello often tells them, "It's probably older than you."


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