Safety issues dogged the Chopper on both sides of the Atlantic, but over in the UK reached monstrous proportions. It didn’t make a reappearance in the 1972 model catalogue. They dipped a cautious toe into the water in 1971 by releasing the mustard coloured High Backrest model, but as quickly pulled it out again after safety campaigners claimed it was even more deadly than the standard model. For some reason Raleigh never trusted its home market with a large model range. We got the standard three speed version, in 6 colour choices. They released 500 bikes to dealers in Croydon, Newcastle and Manchester in the run up to Christmas 1969 and such was their instant popularity that the bike ensured its place in the January 1970 sales catalogue. maybe cable brakes replacing rod actuated brakes was about as ground breaking as it got….Times were changing however… The film ‘Easy Rider’ was released in 1969 over here, and the flood gates opened on the embryonic motorcycle chopper culture. The standard triangular frame ruled the roost, with practically no departures in design…. If you took a bicycle from 1930 and one from 1970, and stood them side by side, you’d have a hard time telling them apart. It was too expensive and too late for the American market but, in September 1969, it was released in the UK, where it was hugely successful.Įngland has a conservative cycling history…. Responding to this, in 1969 Raleigh launched the Chopper in the USA. In the late 1960s, Schwinn and other US cycle makers had discovered a grassroots Californian trend towards high-rise cycles for adolescents and were now capitalising on it. It would easily form the centre-piece of a 1970s collection, is the ideal accessory for a top condition VW campervan, a great present if you were also born in 1975, is perfect for a museum, a practical investment …and you can enjoy riding it too! But it’s time this beauty went to another enthusiast. I like this Chopper a lot and appreciate I’m unlikely to find another as good. I’m learning about 19th century bikes and thinning out my collection so I can put money into restoring them. It has an AW rear hubĪs attractive as it is though, the seventies are not my thing at the moment. The frame number is NG5008322, which means it’s Nottingham built, in May, 1975. I could easily get hooked on these things. I put on my flares and road-tested it (my first ride on a chopper) and it rides well on the road and off road too. With so many vintage vehicles now restored, good condition original examples like this are the most sought-after by collectors. I bought the shop owner’s private collection of early bicycles and, after some negotiation, managed to get him to include this one too.Īfter unpacking it, giving it a good polish and replacing an inner tube, I’m amazed at its original condition. It’s not new-old-stock, but its condition is just about as good as. It had been part-exchanged back to the original bicycle shop a few years after its sale and kept in a box in their storeroom since. But what I could see of it was in such fabulous time-warp condition that I couldn’t help myself. When I found this bike, it was hidden away in a box. My recent nostalgic adventures (as you may have observed from the online museum) have focussed more on earlier history ….that is, until I came across this ’75 Chopper. Though I appreciate the Raleigh Chopper represents a great icon for several generations, I was already into scooters and motorcycles by the time it hit the shops. If that’s the way you like it, then read on, this classic 1970s bicycle might be for you…
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