Did You Own One Of These Bicycles In The 70s/80s?
- Thread starter maxflinn
- Start date
Enfield boy
pfm Member
Style over safety, substance and performance. The RSW 16 was almost as bad.
I probably bear a grudge as they bought Moulton out and shut it down for years. I bought my first Moulton in 1966 or 7 and still love them.
I probably bear a grudge as they bought Moulton out and shut it down for years. I bought my first Moulton in 1966 or 7 and still love them.
deebster
Half Man Half Biscuit
Red Tomahawk me, big brother had a yellow chipper.
Like all of us, fawned over the chopper, til I rode one and tried to change into 3rd at speed.
How the hell the Rastas around school in Aston rode no-handed I still can't fathom. You'd have thought it'd be more difficult for them.
Like all of us, fawned over the chopper, til I rode one and tried to change into 3rd at speed.
How the hell the Rastas around school in Aston rode no-handed I still can't fathom. You'd have thought it'd be more difficult for them.
No, wasn't allowed to. I got a proper bike, a racer with (wait for it) 10 gears, which was a better scheme all round apart from off road. I do think that the first bikes to really address what kids needed was the invention of the mountain bike in the late 80s and early 90s. Good enough on the road, but it comes into its own on light offroad stuff, which is 80% of what kids do.
Tony L
Administrator
Puch ‘racer’ here, a pretty basic thing with an unreliable 3-speed hub gear that could randomly find ‘neutral’ causing many injuries! I gradually stuck slightly better (though still cheap) parts onto the frame, including a five speed derailleur which made it more reliable and increased my range a bit.
Big Tabs
looking backwards, going forwards
My first bicycle was a second-hand bike. Small framed Eddie Merckx peugeot racing bike with Milremo drop handlebars and stem. Brooks leather saddle, double clanger, 12 speed I think. Centre pulls. it was fancy pants.
I lusted after a Chopper, never had one. Hit my balls on the gear change stick when I had a go on one. A friend of mine broke both his arms when his Chopper got speed wobble on a steep hill.
I think most of my bikes were made from bits off of other bikes.
I lusted after a Chopper, never had one. Hit my balls on the gear change stick when I had a go on one. A friend of mine broke both his arms when his Chopper got speed wobble on a steep hill.
I think most of my bikes were made from bits off of other bikes.
Weekender
pfm Member
I had a Raleigh Commando. "This was a Raleigh Eighteen with a chopper-style seat. It was aimed at the youth market. "
In our village the handsome kid the girls fancied with reasonably rich parents briefly had a new chopper when it first came out but the coolness was fleeting at least among the lads. We tended to use our bikes to mess about on the local common and army tracks as much as the road and it wasn't much good at that. He soon replaced it with a normal bike.
cj66
pfm Member
Nope but one of my bruvs had a red chopper, other had a 5 speed racer and I a standard 3 speed bike, similar to the eighteen mentioned. We all preferred the one we had so no rivalry there. For me the chopper was awkward and slow, the racer was naff off tarmac, mine went everywhere quickly!
Tony Lockhart
Avoiding Stress, at Every Opportunity
When the Chopper was out, my parents bought me a BSA Panther. In a similar style, but probably cheaper.
Cool story. A kid in secondary school three years above me built his own chopper style bike, but broke into school one weekend, nicked the netball posts, and not only turned them into forks for his ride, but rode thing in on the Monday morning! He fascinated us first year kids, but he went well off the rails and the teachers were scared of him. I bet I’d tower over him now!
Cool story. A kid in secondary school three years above me built his own chopper style bike, but broke into school one weekend, nicked the netball posts, and not only turned them into forks for his ride, but rode thing in on the Monday morning! He fascinated us first year kids, but he went well off the rails and the teachers were scared of him. I bet I’d tower over him now!
Tony Lockhart
Avoiding Stress, at Every Opportunity
Best bike ever
richardg
Admonishtrator
I went Raleigh Chipper > Raleigh Arena > Mongoose BMX > Yamaha DT100Went from a Raleigh Chipper - like a Tomahawk but with a larger front wheel and tubular front forks (as opposed to pressed)
to a Grifter.
Space is the Place
pfm Member
I had a Commando, Black/Orange, turns out if you ride into a closed garage door at 15mph the front forks bend so the wheel nearly touches the frame, who knew!?
Next bike some crappy BH BMX from Halford, total rubbish, then... The Diamondback Silver Streak, i could smash clean through the garage doors on that without anything bending! Just looking at the welds on it i knew i'd never own a crappy Raleigh bike again!
...1983, Raleigh Maverick ATB (not MTB, that hadn't been invented yet) a copy of the Stumpjumper lasted as long as the Commando.
Next bike some crappy BH BMX from Halford, total rubbish, then... The Diamondback Silver Streak, i could smash clean through the garage doors on that without anything bending! Just looking at the welds on it i knew i'd never own a crappy Raleigh bike again!
...1983, Raleigh Maverick ATB (not MTB, that hadn't been invented yet) a copy of the Stumpjumper lasted as long as the Commando.