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Totally agree with Fenboy, owned a chipper, then my dad bought me a purple Raleigh Hustler!
I had a black and gold Grifter, loved that bike but it was made from neutron stars! A couple of my mates had Choppers but my only reall memory of the bikes was one of them pulling a wheelie and about 5 yards into it the front wheel fell off and rolled away, he did ok though just kept on the back wheel until he got close to the front one and dropped off the back popped it back on and cycled home to nip it up.
For all you waxing lyrical about the Grifter did you never experience "slip gear"?
The cause of many a blunt force trauma to adolescent testicles. Usually occuring as a result of standing up to apply extra power to the pedals 😬
No mention of the Budgie? Smaller than a Chipper or Tomahawk.
The Raleigh Bomber has real Klunker vibes, perhaps not as iconic as the Grifter.
I remember urban myth from back in the day that there was a lad who was winning a lot of BMX tournaments on Grifter. Got a sponsor deal and asked them to make a BMX to the Grifter geo.
For all you waxing lyrical about the Grifter did you never experience “slip gear”?
The cause of many a blunt force trauma to adolescent testicles. Usually occuring as a result of standing up to apply extra power to the pedals
I certainly did Phil but at that age it can't have been worse than the 'trauma' I was inflicting on myself.
I seem to remember Raleigh USA used to advertise half decent bikes in Dirt Rag different outfit I guess ?
Im too old to have done the Chopper thing . Back in the mid 60s we were busy cannibalising 5 speed racing bikes with cow horns and the playing card on the seat stay to make the authentic braap sound like Badger Goss and Dave Bickers . I reckon we were 10 years ahead of them American fellers 😉
For all you waxing lyrical about the Grifter did you never experience “slip gear”?
On several painful occasions. My grifter was a ss in 2nd and 3rd for more of its life with me than it was geared. I put my SSing down to that early abuse! 🤔😬😁
I had a Raleigh Chipper. It was bright yellow. My first bike. Like the Chopper, it was a bloody death trap, My friend Douglas Forrester bent the bars doing a ghosty down a tiny embankment in the park next to my house. Not long after, I was riding in the same park and my saddle came away from the seatpost. It gradually turned into some kind of Dennis Hopper nightmare bike. I still rode it though.
It was replaced by a bright green Super Sport 5 speed racer that got stolen from my garage before I graduated to an Elswick Superstar BMX which I bloody loved.
Anyone who buys a Chopper has clearly never ridden one…….total crap.
<sighs> Happy days!
Cheers
Sanny
@pjay yep I still have a scar on my right elbow underside where I took it down to the bone sliding downhill while using my elbow as a brake until I wedged under a parked car.
Such great memories 😬
What a 60's/70's hall of fame there is in this thread: Sid James, Dave Bickers, Badger Goss, Dennis Hopper, ...
You may think you’re cool, but you’ll never be Sid James riding a Chopper, smoking a pipe cool
White loafers and no socks. Man was an absolute legend! *does Sid James laugh*
British bike manufacturer
Are they? Are just thought 'Raleigh' was a brand name owned by Accel (this week).
A new chopper you say? Hooray for nostalgia! Perfect for all those tubby 50-somethings with rose tinted memories of the 70s to trundle to the pub on twice over the summer then throw in the shed till these too become a collector's item.
Would rather Transition re-release their Klunker. Always regret not buying one when they came out.
I had an orange one. I remember getting chased by a gang in Linn park in Glasgow. Couldn’t get up the hill fast enough and was shoved off the bike. The wheel was buckled so had to push it home. I did love mine at the time but 18kg and calliper brakes, bikes have moved on so much, so I’m out my money will go on something more usable
I’d like to rent one for a day so I could say I’d had a go on one. Always wanted one in the 70s but no chance in our household.
@Devash - maybe with a smaller gear as I seem to remember the Klunker was a bit hard work to pedal.
My main recollection of the Transition Klunker was Lars Sternberg absolutely shredding one in the promo video, throwing huge air and high speeds at Whistler Bike Park and then loads of people buying them and bumbling along like old men (myself included when I borrowed one).
Pre-bmx we had a second hand purple Chopper that was used for razzing around the local woods and on jumps.
It ended its life at the hands of my cousin, when the handlebars broke at the stem.
Could there have been anyone that didn’t end up on the gear shifter at some point? Usually when the Sturmey Archer gears were between gear.
I have no desire to ride one again. Heavy, unsophisticated piece of junk that we thoroughly abused.
There were a few Choppers in my street. I had a Raleigh Wayfarer. Far better at being an actual bike. Stable. Handling good enough to stop with a skid sideways locking the rear wheel. Chrome steel rims so lethal braking in the wet. All steel components so not light. But a better bike than the Chopper. Good enough to jump a few feet and land safely.
https://function88.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/raleigh-wayfarer-a-late-introduction/
I was out for Christmas drinks in Beeston, Nottingham and when going to the loo, spotted a kind of Raleigh graveyard/museum behind a load of fencing. Here's the Tomahawk. My sister still has the scar on her chin (three stitches) from the time we speed wobbled and hit the deck, her as passenger, me as driver.
I don’t think the Chopper was ever really that cool at the time - just a retro marketing job. The Chipper and Tommahawk were awesome because you had them when you were 6 and 8 and then something that looked like an American motorcycle with playing cards in the rear wheels was not cool because we didn’t know what cool was but definitely what we wanted.
I was a kid in the 70s early 80s but by the time you were big enough to ride a chopper most kids I knew ( me included) wanted a ‘proper’ racing bike with drops and 5 gears. The really rich kids had ‘gasp’ 10 gears!
Funnily enough choppers were mainly for girls and kids that never actually cycled anywhere
like others have said if you wanted to dick about in the woods or do jumps on the rec over your mates all laying down like Evil Kenivel then a Grifter was where it was at.
Grifter ugghh. I remember that gear slip too, every time I had a go of one, also weighed like a tank to my puny frame.