The Raleigh Chopper is making a Christmas comeback!

N0bodyOfTheGoat
N0bodyOfTheGoat Posts: 5,834
edited November 2009 in Commuting chat
================
2020 Voodoo Marasa
2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
2016 Voodoo Wazoo

Comments

  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    It does not have the nut crunching gear lever!!!

    raleigh_chopper_gear_lever.jpg
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • girv73
    girv73 Posts: 842
    It does not have the nut crunching gear lever!!![/img]

    It's health and safety gorn mad!
    Today is a good day to ride
  • flicksta
    flicksta Posts: 157
    Raleigh Chopper. One of those nostalgia things that in fact, was and is utter crap. Terrible, heavy, useless bike.
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    And this one isn't even a real chopper. No gear lever where it should be, and the famed long saddle on the old one has been replaced with a standard saddle and a rear cushion. It's madness, utter madness. And it doesn't have the 5-speed dérailleur gears. Tut.
  • moonio
    moonio Posts: 802
    Those new ones have been out for a while, maybe as limited editions.
    The seat is pants though, the best thing about having an original chopper is the fact that you could giver your mate a 'Backy' and still have space on the seat for yourself.

    Having a flag attached to the back was also cool and of course the legendary gear lever.
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    not really a comeback. the Mk 3 came back in 2004.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    And it doesn't have the 5-speed dérailleur gears. Tut.

    I dont think the original did, thought it was a 3 speed hub.
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • iPad
    iPad Posts: 112
    moonio wrote:
    you could giver your mate a 'Backy' and still have space on the seat for yourself.

    What :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

    You mean you ignored the warning on the saddle stating that it was dangerous to do just that..!

    I'm gobsmacked :wink:
    I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they have such great ideas
  • iPad
    iPad Posts: 112
    And it doesn't have the 5-speed dérailleur gears. Tut.

    I dont think the original did, thought it was a 3 speed hub.


    Yep, defo had a 3 speed hub, wasn't it a Sturmey Archer [or somthing like that]
    I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they have such great ideas
  • sicknote
    sicknote Posts: 901
    And it doesn't have the 5-speed dérailleur gears. Tut.

    I dont think the original did, thought it was a 3 speed hub.

    I am sure there were to models, one with 3 and one with 5.
  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    Sicknote
    the MK 1 was the SA 3 speed and the MK2 was the 5 speed derailleur system.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
    Parktools :?:SheldonBrown
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    iPad wrote:
    And it doesn't have the 5-speed dérailleur gears. Tut.

    I dont think the original did, thought it was a 3 speed hub.


    Yep, defo had a 3 speed hub, wasn't it a Sturmey Archer [or somthing like that]

    That wasn't my point - we all know what they started out with, but a proper Chopper was the one that had the 5 speed set-up. And mirrors, tassles on the bars and mudflaps. Come on. Weren't you there? :wink:
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    And the fad for having a dashboard: an analogue speedo, plus a couple of toggle switches for the lights. A Chopper with all that lot was the business. :)
  • CdrJake
    CdrJake Posts: 296
    Ahhh my old Raleigh Chopper served myself and my cousin well at school when cycling from our commoners house into lessons. The Chopper was made slightly redundant when we both became scholars and moved into College itself. Still at weekends back home the Raleigh was still something of a 'chick magnet'. :lol:
    twitter: @JakeM1969
  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    iPad wrote:
    And it doesn't have the 5-speed dérailleur gears. Tut.

    I dont think the original did, thought it was a 3 speed hub.


    Yep, defo had a 3 speed hub, wasn't it a Sturmey Archer [or somthing like that]

    That wasn't my point - we all know what they started out with, but a proper Chopper was the one that had the 5 speed set-up. And mirrors, tassles on the bars and mudflaps. Come on. Weren't you there? :wink:

    Aye was there, only saw the Mk1..... don't think Scotland got the Mk2!! Remember cycling back from Loch Lomond on a Mk1, up a few fierce hills, after being burnt to a frazzle in the sun. Them were the days....
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • iPad
    iPad Posts: 112
    My brother had a Chopper GT, which had a different shape saddle (not as high as a proper chopper), thinner wheels and these bizzare 'dopped' handle bars that when up before they dropped.

    But like the proper Chopper it was, at the end of the day, a pile of sh1t..!

    Unlike my Tomahawk, that was great, it was like a baby chopper.
    I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they have such great ideas
  • moonio
    moonio Posts: 802
    ahh i had a Tomahawk, and yes they were mini choppers :)
    goldtomahawk.jpg
  • iPad
    iPad Posts: 112
    moonio wrote:
    ahh i had a Tomahawk, and yes they were mini choppers :)
    goldtomahawk.jpg

    I'm sure mine had a more Chopper like saddle than that one, and it was metallic blue (last 3 out of my last 4 cars, I wonder if that's a coincidence), but that's the one.

    I love the fake gear change bit in the middle :lol:
    I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they have such great ideas
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    Raleigh Chipper surely? That fitted in the range with the Chopper & Tomahawk.

    Google images for a Raleigh Chipper and you can see the whole range available through a TV production hire company.
  • iPad
    iPad Posts: 112
    Raleigh Chipper surely?

    Good point, that does look more like a Chipper than a Tomahawk (despite the obvious 'Tomahawk' writing down the tube).

    All the Chippers I remember were a sort of yellow/orange colour, and had that saddle and thinner wheels than a Tomahawk.
    I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they have such great ideas
  • iPad
    iPad Posts: 112
    This what I remember as a Tomahawk
    0.jpg

    This was a Chipper

    raleig114.jpg


    I think that other image must be a MKII Tomahawk
    I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they have such great ideas