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Raleigh Chopper

Think once, think twice, think bike!

Raleigh ChopperOkay, we know these entries are supposed to be about toys you wanted but never got, and we’re prepared to concede that pretty much everyone owned a bike as a child. Indeed, given our obsession with catalogues, we’d put money down that plenty of ‘em were bought at a rate of a pound a week for fifty weeks from the subs lady who came round on Wednesdays. But the 1970s opened our eyes to the potential of something new - the designer bike - and, in particular, the Raleigh Chopper1.

Possibly the last bike ever to adopt the penny-farthing-inspired different-sized wheel gauge, the Chopper was (as designer Tom Karen has gone on record saying) intended to reflect the power and style of a dragster. It sounds impressive, but doesn’t quite explain where that goolies-knackering crossbar-mounted gear shift was supposed to fit in. Nevertheless, about two million of the frigging things were sold (and there are two million adults with the healed-over grazes to prove it).

Which Chopper you owned would reflect your personality - if not at first, soon enough by means of customisation with reflectors, spokey-dokeys, mirrors and lights (chunky boxes of battery-powered plastic or sleek wheel-rim-driven dynamos), bottle-carriers and panniers - and be invested with great dedication and pride (except maybe when it came to cleaning it). Mainly, though, a Chopper (like any bike) would unlock a world of adventure beyond the end of your own street; going to your mates’ houses, picking up comics from the corner shop, stickleback fishing, popping wheelies, giving backies, racing - it was all for the taking2.

The advent of the custom-designed all-terrain motocross bike in the early ’80s put paid to the simple pleasures of owning bulky, rusty, aggressively-designed death-traps and turned the bike trade into a genuine, even respected, sporting industry. Children’s telly filled to the brim with professional BMX bandits, clad in padded white sponsor-patched gear, sci-fi dirt masks and helmets, catching air and pulling rad moves in concrete tubes. E.T. and Elliot scraped the face of the moon on the silver screen with Magburners. Kids across the nation started bunny-hopping on knock-offs of the Diamondback Viper and Mongoose.

In 1985, Raleigh introduced the Vektar (the bike of choice for Star Wars’ stormtroopers) before the entire company was acquired by Derby International. Swallowed up, the previously distinctive Raleigh brand ended the era it helped to define making run of the mill mountain bikes, city bikes and something now referred to as a hybrid, whatever that is.

1Believe it or not, the kids’ bike industry in the Cream era was virtually a closed shop; Raleigh alone manufactured the Budgie, Tomahawk, Striker, Chipper, Chopper, Boxer and Grifter, so all that brand rivalry and envy kids wilfully engaged in was just a false war perpetuated by The Man. The likes of Elswick, Dawes and Falcon - the other independent British kids’ bike makers of the day - have since been absorbed by bigger companies or gone to the wall.

2What do kids have now? Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell? Shove it up your fat, sofa-bound arse. Nothing beats the thrill of riding a bike without stabilisers for the first time. For crying out loud, does anyone even bother with the cycling proficiency test anymore?



Posted on June 8, 2006 by Registered CommenterSteve in | Comments15 Comments

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Reader Comments (15)

All these custom Raleigh bikes were great on flat terrain, but introduce a moderate hill into the equation and they soon became impractical.

The Chopper/Tomahawk, as mentioned, had the propensity to launch the unfortunate rider over the handlebars if the front brakes were applied whilst decending a steep hill at speed. Getting up the hill in the first place created it own set of over-heating child problems.

The Grifter whilst moving towards the 'Mountain Bike' / All terrain vehicle proved unusable due to its great weight. It weighed a tonne !

I was therefore lumbered with the 'un-cool' Polish made drop-handled and un-pronounciable 'Pugh'
Jun 8, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterClive Shaw
Raleigh also made smaller choppers called Tomahawk & Budgie.

I learnt to ride on a second hand Budgie, the wheels were the same size it I remember, even though the Chopper handlbars & seat with chrome rear strut were the same. It was passed on to my cousins, one of whom rode it into a stream on a caravan site.
Jun 8, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterRichard Davies
Budgie! My first bike! Tomahawk! My big brother's first bike! I remember well the day those stabilizers were finally removed from the Budgie - it was something of a 'now you're a man, my son' moment.

During the BMX craze of the early 80's, there was much hoo-ha with the Raleigh Burner and its wacky range of colour schemes, maglite(?) wheels, 'snazzy' tyres, etc.
Jun 10, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterUncle Feedle
I later gained a Raleigh Boxer when by brother got a BMX Viceroy, & later got a Releigh Styler Mag which was a BMX clone.
Jun 10, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterRichard Davies
I can testify to the "arse over tit" qualities of the Chooper. I was trying to impress Maureen Kennerdy (the sole pyurpose of my being aged 11) she was waling alomg the field next to the rd i was on, she hadnt seen me but I spooted her, so I rode down the rd in front of her at break neck speed, with one hand on the handle bars the other casualy pushing my her back. a ball suddenly appeared in the road and instinctively I touched the front break.After that I am slidinding head first on my chin elbows and knees for 100 yards, all i could think of was never mind the pain, just pick up the bike and stagger of into the next rd like some heroic soidier who had just rescued his dying mate and inspite of his own injuries got them both safley back to camp. I was off school a week the wounds healed in a month, the anquish of that day as you can see as never gone away.The happest of times...keep up the good work.
Jun 18, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterSteve
I can testify to the "arse over tit" qualities of the Chopper. I was trying to impress Maureen Kennerdy (the sole pyurpose of my being aged 11) she was walking alomg the field next to the rd i was on, she hadnt seen me but I spotted her, so I rode down the rd in front of her at break neck speed, with one hand on the handle bars the other casualy pushing my hair back. A ball suddenly appeared in the road and instinctively I touched the front break.After that I am slidinding head first on my chin elbows and knees for 100 yards, all i could think of was never mind the pain, just pick up the bike and stagger of into the next rd out of her sight like some heroic soidier who had just rescued his dying mate and inspite of his own injuries got them both safley back to camp. I was off school a week the wounds healed in a month, the anquish of that day as you can see as never gone away.The happest of times...keep up the good work.
Jun 18, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterSteve
Yep - the Grifter was a heavy bike alright! The frame itself carried more mass than a 18 wheel artic, and required legs the size of Geoff Capes entire chest just to hoy it up hills.
Mine got run over by a wanker who exclaimed he didn't see it - Oh right, you missed the Grifter, similar in size to the f'cking QE2 and with shiny attachments? B'stard.
Sep 11, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterSimon
Why is it Choppers and Grifters were always owned by 'big boys'? ie. evil, hard bastards, hated and feared by timid children everywhere; the 'I'll get my big brother onto you' types who worked on the Alpine delivery lorries when they weren't vandalising phone boxes or getting ready to join the army.
Sep 14, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterUncle Feedle
My 1st bike was a Pony P, but was handed down from my cousin a 'chipper'. (Smaller version of 'chopper'. Unfortunately kids were soon whizzin' round on 'BMX's' and the 'chopper' and associates were not designed for stunt riding, but for 'cruising'. But the 'chipper' is still in my shed. My Son and Daughter both learnt to ride on it !!
Nov 8, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterMsJ2uk
I had a Raleigh Chopper, after the first two or three years I customised it with other Chopper parts. An extra high back rest and forward slung handlebars made for better wheelies. A black paint job with the name Black Max etched on the side completed the job. I was streetwise, cool and raced around popping my front wheel at every opportunity.
Jan 25, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterAlan Tilmouth
The Raleigh Grifter. What a bike. What a weight. I had the later XL version c.1983. Just to get the thing moving took superhuman effort. And that was downhill. Still, it meant you had to stand on your pedals all the time which was no bad thing, since the design of the saddle (sort of padded diagonal stripes?) had the unfortunate effect of nipping your bollocks if you ever sat on it. As for jumping off ramps, forget it. While my mate on a Striker was leaping over fences, I needed 1/2 mile to get up to speed for a 6-inch flop. Yaas. Still, top bike.
Feb 15, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterDave Miller
I wanted one of these. The Raleigh Chopper, with it's oh so fast Arrow Wedge (patent) frame. And that groovy long seat. Remember the little label which said the cycle wasn't built for passengers? And the T shift goolie remover which doubled as a gear change. Well the reason it was there was coz it looked just like the gear lever in yer dad's Granada, and thus lent the bike an adult air of authority. Dad naturally sat next to the gearlever in his car and therefore his goolies were only at risk from an enraged wife. Being thrown over the 'bars by the front brake was much better that the 10 minutes on the pavement singing tenor and choking back the tears cox you'd stopped in time but slid off the saddle onto the gearshift. The theft of the 'monkey chain' was a problem round our way. All them bikes with the Sturmey Archer 3 speed rear wheel had this little chain which connected the gear lever cable to the doings inside the wheel hub. It's removal immediately put the bike into top gear and there it stayed making quick getaways from the school bully quite impossible. Compared to the chopper the half ton Grifter was sadly lacking in all but weight. There was a kid in my street who dealt almost exclusively in Grifter parts, from a small cupboard next to his front door. The rich inventory of spares held within were the subject of much speculation.
Jul 1, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterAndy
I, too, had a Polish bike given to me at around the age of 8, as it was cheaper. I did have a Raleigh Bobcat when I was small though.

The bike was a BMX clone, all yellow and had a saddle so hard that it sent my bum and bits numb. Its name escapes me, though I do know it was half unpronounceable.

However, it was a good, smooth ride and was repairable with standard (ie - the cheapest and most readily available) parts.

For a while I never appreciated this as I saw the other kids on their fashionable and well-known bikes, Chopper and Grifter amongst them, and wanted to be as cool as them for riding them. But one day we did swap bikes for a quick buzz round teh road and I found that whilst the Choppers and Grifters felt like a substantial downgrade, the riders of my bike didn't want to give it up as they discovered that they could shoot round the place at high speed without getting tired in ten seconds.

From that day I've learned not to dash unthinking towards a brand name and to check out things purely by merit.
Mar 15, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterMichael Braisher
I had a raleigh strika and went way overdrawn on the pocket money by giving the "supergrip" branded octagonal tyres a proper caning as mine had a pedal back rear brake (also known as a bendix I think?) as you could leave thick black skid marks a good 20 feet plus down the road|!
Jun 10, 2008 | Unregistered Commentermark trigg
My mate had a chopper bike way back in the late 70's early 80's. There is this one incident that i still joke about 30 years later!! I was getting the legendary "backer" on his bike but was facing backwards on the seat so you could place your feet on the back rack. During the journey we came across the local bully on his boneshaker who started to chase us. My mate, peddaling like fu@@ was not getting away. I am staring this gorilla in the face who is catching us by the second. It was like the fu@@ing scene from Jurassic park where the rex is chasing the jeep. Unlike Jeff Goldbloom and the jeep, we didn't get away, it cost us two gobstoppers and a bag of tudor crisps LOL
Jan 11, 2009 | Unregistered CommenterShaun

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