Reminiscence - What was the bike you always wanted as a kid?

Escher303

As a child of the seventies the bike I always wanted was a Raleigh Grifter, wasn't quite a Chopper kid. All the kids with Grifters wouldn't let me try there's which made me want one even more. So I had to settle for a go on my mates Boxer (mini Grifter).

Then BMX was all the rage and I wanted a Skyway with white mag wheels, or a Mongoose, a Kuwahara or Raleigh Burner after seeing Andy Ruffell on telly on BMX Beat.

I eventually got a Raleigh burner, blue with yellow mag wheels, that I swapped my generic red BMX for with a mate because he supported Liverpool FC! Ah them were the days.

After that MTB was starting out and I had a Raleigh Maverick I thrashed to death before I finally left school got a job and spend my wages on an Orange Clockwork 92/93 with Deore LX. Still have the frame in the shed, should build it up one day.

So what bike did you always want as a kid? Or did you have it and loved it and were the envy of the other kids?

Other things I remember were the silly accessories we used to festoon our bikes with: Thunder grip I think it was called, a motorbike noise revvy handle bar grip thing, or the yellow radio you could attach to your handlebars that had a microphone and several different siren noises. I could do with one of them now to go on my road bike!

daviesee

A Colnago I saw in a shop window.

:P

There was also a Campagnolo Delta groupset in a box but by all accounts it is best avoided. Looked stunning though.

crispybug2

THIS!!!!






And then I got it....









....And I realised it was a total heap of shite!!!

jawooga

In the late 80s, I had a shit 'racer with drop handlebars' with down tube shifter and 5 or 6 gears.

However I was aware that a couple of cool older kids had Muddyfox mountain bikes. I really knew nothing about bikes (still don't ), but were they really as entry level as they seem to be now? I remember being quite impressed with rumours of "...that costs... like... 2 grand...it's a muddyfox..."

AchillesLeftKnee

Not so much the bike I always wanted, but the bike I had and adored would have to be the Raleigh Equipe "racer" I had in my early to mid teens in the 80s. I covered some amount of distance on it including my first century. Loved it to bits. Sadly it was written off in an accident. Clearly I wouldn't be able to ride the thing if I still had it, and by modern standards it's an absolute bucket of poo, but that one definitely has a load of good memories attached to it.

Having said all that, no single Thingy has ever had such a detrimental effect on my health (see username for details), so I should probably declare the thing to be Evil.

ballysmate

Ah nostalgia........ Not what it used to be.

crispybug2

Ballysmate wrote:

Ah nostalgia........ Not what it used to be.

I remember when we weren't nostalgic.......


































........those were the days!!!

CiB

I always wanted a lightweight racer with thin wheels, proper dérailleurs and side-pull brakes, like those on World Of Sport in its weekly 10 minute wrap of the TdF when On The Ball was off for the summer. That became a desire to own a bike like those that C4 used to feature on the TdF every night for three weeks in the summer, in the 90s. By the time ITV4 had got hold of it I had one.

ademort

A Peugeot as ridden by Bernard Thevenet. I got the shirt which in my opinion is still a classic.

VTech

I was born in the 70's so for me it was a chopper, grifter or a diamondback.

I didnt have any as we were broke.

crescent

CiB wrote:

I always wanted a lightweight racer with thin wheels, proper dérailleurs and side-pull brakes, like those on World Of Sport in its weekly 10 minute wrap of the TdF when On The Ball was off for the summer. That became a desire to own a bike like those that C4 used to feature on the TdF every night for three weeks in the summer, in the 90s. By the time ITV4 had got hold of it I had one.

I remember those days well, right in the middle of the Bernard Hinault / Phil Anderson / Sean Kelly era. I used to look forward to that brief fix of cycling coverage during the summer. Even video recorders were in their infancy so you had to actually watch at the specific time the programme was on or you missed it for the week. I had a Raleigh Arena around the time and it was my absolute pride and joy, I went everywhere on it and it still occupies a special place in my heart. The TdF really caught my imagination and as far as I was concerned, my bike was just like theirs. I also longed to own a Raleigh Record in Team Raleigh colours of red, yellow and black, not to mention a TI Creda team shirt.
Very happy memories indeed

Frank Wilson

ademort wrote:

A Peugeot as ridden by Bernard Thevenet. I got the shirt which in my opinion is still a classic.

I had a Puegeot racer about thirty years ago and when silly things like buying a house, getting wed and all that got in the way I took it to the tip thinking I would never ride again, how daft was that?

mamba80

A Holdsworth Professional - a guy in the village had one when we were kids and it had a sloping fork crown and wrap round seat stays........

Claud Roubaix

My first wish list was a Cresham Flyer as 2 of my mates had one. Never got it.
Then it was a Chopper until Nationwide did an article how dangerous they were? Never got one.
I longed to have a Chopper Sprint until I saw a mate fall off it. Never got one.
Then I fell in love with Falcons beautiful machine a Metallic Red Eddie Merckx. I craved and craved this until mum and dad saved enough to buy me it. I loved it. Went everywhere on it. Even joined my local cycling club where at 13 even 50 miles were normal.

Then I saw my first custom made Harry Quinn. I knew I would never be allowed one but I loved it.

30 years on and I saw a Claude Butler Roubaix in black. I loved its look. So I bought it. I genuinely love it. 22 miles is my longest thus far.

My next bike will be a custom fit. Who knows maybe even a Harry Quinn. In my world. ;-)

john_kline

mamba80 wrote:

A Holdsworth Professional - a guy in the village had one when we were kids and it had a sloping fork crown and wrap round seat stays........

I wanted one of those too! circa 1977, orange frame, Super Record throughout, just like Phil Bayton had when rode for Holdsworth-Campagnolo.

mallorcajeff

Wanted Peugeot decathlon. I had a peugeot premiere. Went eveywhere on it at the age of 12

markos1963

I remember looking in the window of Pheonix Cycles on Seaside Rd, Eastbourne and looking at a 'proper' racer for the first time. I was sat on my horrible Raleigh Esquire which I was forced to buy because my parents wouldn't let me have any sort of racer let alone the gorgeous bright red beast that sat in that window. I don't think it was a branded bike, I'm sure it was one of their own frames built up(perhaps someone on here might know, circa 1979) but it just oozed class.

symo

Left field choice here.

A Raleigh Bomber. Remember those; one of my friends Dads had one to go to work upon. Looked rugged.

Other than that a friend of mine Charles Shooter had a redline race BMX, as did his older brother Geth,

simona75

I was desperate for a Raleigh Burner as my friend had one but instead was bought a Striker (in my avatar) it did have front suspension though....

morstar

As a younger kid it was a Raleigh Tomahawk and a few years later a Raleigh Winner. Had them both as christmas presents and they were without doubt the best xmas presents ever.
My only disappointment is my own kids never get as excited about getting bikes as I did as they know they will always have them because I want them to have bikes and they know this.
I didn't get into proper road cycling until my late teens though so didn't hang my nose over anything fancy as a kid. When 18 I worked in Embrun ( where the hilly TT started) and there was a bike shop on the main road just before town where I would always stop and hang my nose over some beautiful machines.
As a footnote, the year was 1989 and we saw both the mens and womens tours that summer. I seem to recall the mens being moderately entertaining.

fleshtuxedo

Wanted Peugeot Super Competition.

Had a Raleigh Module 3 and then a Carlton Criterium.

carrock

Puch alpine 10 speed in yellow. I had a 5 speed in orange but secretly lusted after the 10sp. Would buy one tomorrow if I saw one mint.

Initialised

On holiday at Fort William in the mid 80s I first set eyes on a pair of mountain bikes, no idea what they were. The closest thing I'd seen to them at the time were BMX and Scramblers.

Loretta Damage

When I was about 12 I really wanted a chrome mongoose BMX.

Evogirl

I had set my heart on a Raleigh Chopper in the purple with pink lettering, we were due to go the LBS on the Saturday to order it until my dad saw a programme highlighting that they were the most dangerous bike you could buy your kids.....I never got one!!! I feel that defining moment in my life made me the miserable cow ism today lol.

lostboysaint

In common with a lot of people on here the first one I really lusted after was the Grifter. Then we did a Kelloggs/Halfords promotion thing and I got my first road bike and that changed me, all I wanted then was the "new" 10 speed Raleigh Record. I had a Vindec something or other. Then I saw a pair of cowhorn handlebars in the local shop and I wanted an off-road bike, so I singlespeeded an old 26" racer (just by whipping the mech off and shortening the chain), bought the cowhorns, sprayed the frame an amazing red, got white grips, a rear brake only (ah, those were the days) and my first mountain bike was born, in 1980!!

Never got the Grifter or the Record, but had a great time on two wheels regardless.

Escher303

symo wrote:

Left field choice here.

A Raleigh Bomber. Remember those; one of my friends Dads had one to go to work upon. Looked rugged.

Other than that a friend of mine Charles Shooter had a redline race BMX, as did his older brother Geth,

Oh man, the Raleigh Bomber! A mate of mine had one and until you mentioned it I'd completely forgotten. When we went off fishing together he would ride my bike and he would let me ride his, loved that bike, them were the days.

morstar

lostboysaint wrote:

In common with a lot of people on here the first one I really lusted after was the Grifter. Then we did a Kelloggs/Halfords promotion thing and I got my first road bike and that changed me, all I wanted then was the "new" 10 speed Raleigh Record. I had a Vindec something or other. Then I saw a pair of cowhorn handlebars in the local shop and I wanted an off-road bike, so I singlespeeded an old 26" racer (just by whipping the mech off and shortening the chain), bought the cowhorns, sprayed the frame an amazing red, got white grips, a rear brake only (ah, those were the days) and my first mountain bike was born, in 1980!!

Never got the Grifter or the Record, but had a great time on two wheels regardless.

26" racer? Are you 7 feet tall. But yeah, cowhorn handlebars. I had one of those bad boys but we referred to them as scramblers in those days.

davidtalbot

A Raleigh racer made from Reynolds 531c
Have one now thirty some years later and love it!