Raleigh Chopper
Every young boys dream, the Raleigh Chopper (with three speed
Sturmey Archer hub and a T-Bar gearstick) was the coolest bike to be
seen on…even if it was impossible to ride without falling off and
grazing your knees.
Styled on the dragster, with a long seat and larger back wheels,
it was the first designer bike for kids, and possibly the ugliest
and most unstable push-bike of all time.
The concept was initiated by Tom Karen (who also worked on the
Reliant Bond Bug). A triumph of style over ability, the Raleigh
Chopper was released in 1970 - covered in knobs and whistles that
didn’t really do anything, except the gear lever that made you
fall off when changing gear!
Originally priced at £32, it came in cool and outta-sight
colours, like Infra-Red, Ultra-Violet and Fizzy Lemon. Despite its
impracticality, by 1973 it had become the country’s best selling
bike and is now an icon of the Seventies.
As motorcycle stuntman Evel Kneivel’s popularity reached its
height, Chopper even released a Kneivel bike - complete with fake
exhaust pipe. The Chipper (with detachable cross bar) arrived in
1971 for girls, and the Tomahawk for younger boys came in 1972.
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