Not sure if there is a post yet...BBC Children in Need and Paddy cycle ride, follow here riding in the north west!
https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/shows/paddytracker/
Never ridden one, anyone got one?
He's going past me sometime tomorrow, worth a support:)
Had one back in the seventies (and a Chipper before that).
Perhaps Paddy should do a leg how we used to ride them - two on the seat, one on the rack and one sat between the handlebars! 🙂
I had a Tomahawk and my older brother had a Chopper. By the time I was big enough for one, I didn't want one as I'd ridden my brother's so much so I got a Commando and then later a Bomber (which was basically a mountain bike).
But, back to the OP – I know it won't be easy on a Chopper, but I think they are stretching it a bit to call 300 miles 'Ultra-Endurance'.
They were very expensive when i was little and very stealable and impractical for the paper round. That said when i was 14 chopper's were so last year and everyone wanted a Grifter.
Just thinking about those dodgy three-speed Sturmey Archer gearboxes gives me PTSD (when they slip-wheeled after getting stuck in-between 2nd and 3rd).
Awful things!
Hats off to anyone attempting more than a few miles on a Chopper, but JOGLE has been done, about 3x the CiN distance
I didn't have one but rode friends ones, and Tomahawks and Grifters a bit later on.
My bike of the time was a Raleigh Chico, and then I had a Puch with a sort of beach cruiser frame if I remember.
They were crap, only really spoilt kids had one more than 50 years ago, you didn't need much torque to lift the front wheel, can't believe what some folk think they're worth
They were crap but looked cool, and let's be honest that was all a kid in the late 70s wanted from a bike.
I had a cheaper chopper copy something. Singlespeed, and only a slightly longer saddle. High bars though. No-one actually had a chopper - too expensive.
you didn’t need much torque to lift the front wheel
Making them the ultimate wheelie machine! I could do the whole length of our village main road just on the back wheel.
Were you ever a child - the dynamics of them never entered my head. They had a gear shifter for heavens sake! 🙂
Not sure if there is a post yet
There are at least TWO threads, but finding them is a chore given the way this forum is (not) working at the moment
Ridden my friend next doors when I was a kid in the 70s.
Always thought they were so cool, but never had one. Had a grifter though 🙂
Racer with banana seat and cowhorns ftw!
I had a Budgie in the late 70s. That was the smallest of the 3 Chopper style bikes
My older brothers had the Striker and Grifter which I eventually inherited. Back then if you had skin on your knees you weren't trying hard enough. Halcyon days
I always wanted one and would have used it lots but my parent’s couldn’t afford one. However, I had a rich relative who had one, I spent every Saturday at the hall and farm he lived in, he was away at boarding school. Ooh I had some fun!!
When I was a kid I butchered a bike, ramming lengths of steel tube over the front forks and put a Chopper wheel on the front and made a 'proper' chopper with cowhorn bars. My mate did the same and we would ride around town on them getting cheers from people as we rode around. I so wish I'd taken a picture of the damn thing!
Had one as a child. Bent the handlebars doing jumps on it
I never did as a kid
was so jealous of my mates grifter, even though with hindsight my crappy bmx (a blue & yellow falcon - raleigh burner copy- one with the flexiest plastic 'mag' style wheels) was better!
I have a choper now ( one of the noughties reissue ones) that my uncle was given in a garage clearout and its an absolute turd to ride
and then later a Bomber (which was basically a mountain bike).
The only thing I remember vividly about my bomber was that it seemed to weigh about as much as I did.
I had a purple one, the same colour your plums would look like after a nuts to t-shift incident 🙂
Had one, a black MK2. Rode it for years then progresses to a road bike. Unstable things at best. Shame Paddy's route has changed - initial route showed him coming towards Manchester.
Had a Tomahawk but didn't graduate to a Chopper. Although I rode others' quite a bit. Easy to be critical now, but I think you forget what came before it in the world of Children's bikes. Spoiler, they weren't cool in the slightest. Raleigh completely revolutionised the scene.
And how heavy was a Grifter?!
The only thing I remember vividly about my bomber was that it seemed to weigh about as much as I did.
Agreed - but it was pretty bomb-proof – we had a series of steps at my school (flat bit, set of steps, another flat bit, another set of steps etc) – I used to ride down them over and over and it didn't flinch. The only bad thing about the Bomber was it was quickly named the 'Bummer' by all my mates. Kids, ehh?
He's in the middle of Birkenhead at the moment. Did well to get through Ellesmere Port without it getting stolen. 😀
You can see on this drone shot how Paddy has a way higher cadence than the guy on a more modern bike
I have ridden an orignal, can't recall when, but it was awful. I know I saw the CIN thing on the BBC this morning and was like hats off to anyone riding one for 300miles!
Loved mine, I ‘customised” it, mirrors, whip aerial, speedo, fly screen, shaggy fur on the seat from the local market. I’m cringing writing this now though!!
I lived and worked in Morocco for a few years. I was south of Marrakech in the middle of nowhere heading to one of my job's when I spotted a kid riding a mint condition original Chopper. I turned round and tried buying it off him but my Berber dialect wasn't good enough for him to understand my excitement and enthusiasm! I have no idea how it ended up out there - it was pretty much like those fighter planes in the desert at the beginning of Close Encounters of the 3rd kind film.
I thought he was doing it in one go. Which on a Chopper would have been an Ultra Endurance event! But over 5 days. Meh 😉
My brother had a limited edition one, he definitely wasn't spoilt and he probably did some sort of work (maybe a paper round) to help pay for it. I don't recall being allowed to ride it, but it looked so dangerous to me :0)
I had the chipper as a kid, and renovated a chopper at least in part a decade or so ago.
The chopper is so cheaply built im surprised any survived the 70's.. Really poor welding, The first model, the Mk1 had straight right angle for seat and chain stays and many snapped at that point. The Mk2 overcame it by adding a curve on the seat stays. But overall it was just shite
Plus the concept of having cow horn bars, a tiny front wheel and zero reach stem made handling really bad.
Had one as a kid in the 70s. Handed down from big brother and it was likely 2nd hand to him. We broke the frame on it and had it welded up again and again doing jumps. We'd get mates to lay behind the jump and jump over them instead of buses, but we were as good as evel kenevel. The chopper was as ridiculous for jumps as the heavy bike he used.
When bmx came in and we got decent bikes it was magic.... 80s bikes were so much better! Even the cheap bmx I had as we couldn't afford a burner (thankfully! They were rubbish!)
Oh yes, sturmey archer hubs....still awful.
That's exactly it dyna, that's where it snapped, the mk2 frame had a sweeping bend 'seat stay' which I guess flexed enough to stop the snaps.
I had a mark 2 in the early 70's. My neighbour recently bought a mark 3 which I tried out. I couldn't believe how small it felt. Paddy has his work cut out!
I was half watching the piece on BBC Breakfast this morning. He said the chopper had been modified in two ways; the horizontal part of the original saddle had been replaced to a more normal one due to chaffage, and the gear shifter had been changed to a twist shift (still 3 speed).
(He also needed reporting to the Dry Robe ****ers Facebook page)
We’d get mates to lay behind the jump and jump over them instead of buses
Hah yes – I used to do that on my Raleigh Commando. I completely missed the BMX craze as I got hooked on skateboards around that time so presents were always skateboard-themed.
"only really spoilt kids had one more than 50 years ago".
Don't make assumptions that I was a spoilt kid 50 years ago!
Listened to him set off at 8.15am..... Slightly concerned that by now (half 6) hes only done 50 something miles and still has a fair schlep to get to Preston.
Now, I know us 'keen cyclists' might not think the distance is all that much where a non-cyclist might but still - hes got a long week ahead of him if 5mph is the average pace!
He'll have loads of distractions though - photo-ops and the like.
Nowt wrong with 3sp SA gears - I have one today that dates from the 60s. Its just folk never set the cables right
I had a chopper briefly back in the 60s. Cool but shite
He'll be staying about 100m from me on Thursday night, and then leaving from just up the road on Friday morning for the final leg into Glasgow. I wonder if he'd welcome some of my inane patter if I pedalled along with him on Friday AM? I have form for being an irritating encourager of knackered athletes, mostly on WHW support runner duties, but I can sure distract sufferers with a near-constant stream of verbal pish.
Gawdaful things Choppers. Mate had one that we all took turns on. So much weight on the rear that the front washed out on turns and lifted at the first sign of a bump. Great for posing and skidz, useless at everything else.
