I lusted after the Raleigh Cadet and the black and gold un?

Of course I owned a Striker and the one before that? Puk?

Any pics? 8)

I think before the Striker (I had a silver one) was the Boxer?

Oh – can’t forget the Raleigh Burner. I had a Tuff (Tough? sp.) Burner. A blue one with real Skyway wheels. I have some pics somewhere.

Boxer – thats it!

the raleigh museum at brooklands is ace. they have some kerwality old school bikes like. barrie clarks XC bike. titanium m trax full xtr and those continentals with an orange stripe up the middle.

I had one of these

Ooooh I had a boxer! Got a pic of me on it on Christmas day approx 1980. I was very cute then so I shall find it and post it up 😀

I had a Commando

And later an Eclipse.

I can’t even put into words how awesome it was to get the Eclipse.

Bloody hell.

This site have one for sale. Amongst lots of others.

http://www.velosaloon.com/shop/raleigh-eclipse-57-cm.html

My first proper (!) mountain bike ( 1988 ), was a Raleigh Avanti , Reynolds 531 ( i think) , Biopace chainset, u-brakes. At the time bloody brilliant.

I threw my Raleigh Massif in the tip 🙁

First bike was one of these, Raleigh Lion trike.

Had one of these as a teenager, can’t find a bigger picture.
Raleigh Magnum:

Had a Tomahawk and a Grifter, in various states of disrepair, in between 😀

Have a look at the road forum on Retrobike.
Soooo many memories, it’s ace.

I had a Raleigh Tomahawk, then a Grifter, then a Raleigh SuperTuff Burner.

Wish I’d kept the SuperTuff 🙁

For my birthday I had the choice between a Raleigh Grifter or a bmx. I thought “the grifter’s got three gears and bmx’s will never catch on…” It was the biking equivalent of going with betamax.

I had this baby

my first BMX. And my first mountain bike:

I can’t imagine Raleigh being the first port of call for anything nowadays 🙁

I started with one of these bad boys……

I’m sure that the handlebars on it kept on moving in different directions other than the way I wanted them to. Once I’d totally knackered that one I eventually moved up to one of these…….

I used this bike for everything, riding to school, all day fishing trips, days out to far off places (well, seemed far off in those days).Then after sometime I splashed the cash on this monster……

Look at those tyres, I must of had a bit of a thing with white wall tyres!!

Happy days.

….and in 1988, new, my Avanti cost a small fortune relative to bike prices today.

For my birthday I had the choice between a Raleigh Grifter or a bmx. I thought “the grifter’s got three gears and bmx’s will never catch on…” It was the biking equivalent of going with betamax.

😆

mate at school had a ti raleigh replica in a kids size, he’d bought it over to NZ from england, we’d never seen anything like it (this was the 70’s)! Never seen or heard of them since, pretty certain it wasn’t anything flash, and wouldn’t have been a small adults size, he was a tiny guy.

I had the humiliation of having to ride a Raleigh 20, redesigned and built in NZ, through my school years- 2 speed duomatic Sturmey Archer gears, you changed gear by a slight backpedal. It also had a backpedal operated coaster break so life could be interesting at times, juggling the changing gear and stopping. Offroading was tricky, but you coped.

I had a moment last year and bought this…..

And quickly sold it on again.

My first new bike was a silver Strika. Bloody brilliant is was too, from the weird “tick-tock” noise the hubs made and to the triple clamps up front that looked like they were hiding real suspension. I was gutted when Simon Longman kicked it and put a dent into the otherwise pristine rear mudguard. He did and still does look like Herman Munster.

Many years later I was given a Raleigh Winner for Christmas 1985, resplendent in silver and black. Within six weeks I’d worn through the foam handgrip but I loved it – it gave me mobility beyond my estate for the first time and I went bloody miles on it. Even though my father insisted on buying the five gear version and giving me sodding great full length mudguards.

I had a Chipper followed by an Arena “racer” before I got my first mountain bike in 1993:

A Raleigh Activator with front suspension forks! This is my actual bike.

Tomahawk – Grifter – night burner- equipe.

I then wanted an MTB, and the Mirage was on my most wanted list. 🙂

I was talked into a spesh Hard Rock by the LBS. £250 IIRC.

ill trying to get bits to complete this 1958 Raleigh Lenton road bike, it’s 531 and everything.

vinnyeh – Member

I had the humiliation of having to ride a Raleigh 20, redesigned and built in NZ, through my school years- 2 speed duomatic Sturmey Archer gears, you changed gear by a slight backpedal. It also had a backpedal operated coaster break so life could be interesting at times, juggling the changing gear and stopping. Offroading was tricky, but you coped.

Ha ha, I had use of a Raleigh 20 with that fabulous back brake!! Used it for skidding comps with my mates. Always having to fix the small chain linkage on the rear hub too.

Derek – I had one of those. Did your ‘suspension forks’ ever actually move?

Derek – I had one of those. Did your ‘suspension forks’ ever actually move?

From memory, there was a very unconvincing and unhelpful inch before the sound of binding coils. Terrible geometry too. But it was PDC at the time.

Raleigh made some right old shit as well. I think they were responsible for putting more people off serious cycling than anything else.
Raleigh Burner in Gold, proper awesome and I learnt to bunnyhop on it. Raleigh Activator, right old shit that nearly put me off for life.
Damn you Raleigh, damn you!