# In praise of... Raleigh Grifter!



## Andrew_Culture (4 Dec 2012)

Well not much praise because they were a fairly punishing bike to ride, fall off or get trapped under, and I'm amazed 'slip gear' didn't wipe out the fertility of a generation.

But my god they could take some punishment, here's what mine looked like just before I gave up on it and got my first MTB.


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## ianrauk (4 Dec 2012)

Yup had one too. In that Bluey-Grey colour they also came in.
Got it after the Yellow Chopper died.


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## Andrew_Culture (4 Dec 2012)

ianrauk said:


> Yup had one too. In that Bluey-Grey colour they also came in.
> Got it after the Yellow Chopper died.


 
Did yours have the soft padding on the crossbar? Mine was sold as a rock, as my face / chest / head / groin / friends found out on many occasions. My mate's grifter actually had padding on it!


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## ianrauk (4 Dec 2012)

Deffo no soft padding.
And remember, for some reason it had a huge rear mudguard.


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## Beebo (4 Dec 2012)

I had a Raleigh Striker, which was the Grifter's little brother. I always envied boys with Grifters.


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## Andrew_Culture (4 Dec 2012)

Yup, the rear mudguard was like something of a pre-war motorbike, I can still remember the almighty noise mine made when it finally rusted through and fell off.


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## PoweredByVeg (4 Dec 2012)

"Slip gear" made me laugh when I read it, I did it on a friends aged about 15, standing on the pedals then "slip gear" with my knackers hitting the crossbar! That is the first and last time I felt pain like it!


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## Teuchter (4 Dec 2012)

Raleigh Strika and then a Grifter for me. Keep your poncy knacker-catching Chopper gear lever - yellow, blue and red twist shift is the way to go!


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## Andrew_Culture (4 Dec 2012)

PoweredByVeg said:


> "Slip gear" made me laugh when I read it, I did it on a friends aged about 15, standing on the pedals then "slip gear" with my knackers hitting the crossbar! That is the first and last time I felt pain like it!


 
Lucky you! My fleshy eggs seem to attract discourtesies, when I found out my equipment was still in working order I was quite relieved.


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## MontyVeda (4 Dec 2012)

I claimed my brother's Grifter when he claimed my racing bike. These new fangled BMX things had come along so the Grifter got a new lease of life with BMX everything apart from the frame & forks... certainly turned some heads at Coastline BMX and the weekly race meets at Pontins 

In it's heyday, the grifter had that 'padded' crossbar which was solid as rock, the seat like a sofa (in comparison to the racer's seat) and the meaty mudguard with the plastic ends, which, when folded under the mudguard so it rubbed against the tyre, made a cracking motobike noise... until it completely wore down.


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## Drago (4 Dec 2012)

I had a Chopper. Grifters were for the nouveaux wimps 

Looking back now though the lines if the Grifter, Chopper etc were terrible bikes, but we loved 'em.


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## Andrew_Culture (4 Dec 2012)

MontyVeda said:


> I claimed my brother's Grifter when he claimed my racing bike. These new fangled BMX things had come along so the Grifter got a new lease of life with BMX everything apart from the frame & forks... certainly turned some heads at Coastline BMX and the weekly race meets at Pontins
> 
> In it's heyday, the grifter had that 'padded' crossbar which was solid as rock, the seat like a sofa (in comparison to the racer's seat) and the meaty mudguard with the plastic ends, which, when folded under the mudguard so it rubbed against the tyre, made a cracking motobike noise... until it completely wore down.


 
I'd totally forgotten about the ability to make the motorbike sound!


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## Andrew_Culture (4 Dec 2012)

Drago said:


> I had a Chopper. Grifters were for the nouveaux wimps
> .


 
Apart from the fact you could drive straight through anything (fencing, hedges, kids on chippys or tomahawks).


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## Nearly there (4 Dec 2012)

Beebo said:


> I had a Raleigh Striker, which was the Grifter's little brother. I always envied boys with Grifters.


I had a Boxer then striker but never made it to a grifter I think bmx was next for me,who remembers the Bomber ?


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## MontyVeda (4 Dec 2012)

the bomber was an awesome bike.. I would have loved one but they came out at a time I should been going on to grown up bikes... I did however, in my mid twenties, when clearing out a friend of a friends back yard, notice a Raleigh Tomahawk (choppers little brother), but not just any Tomahawk, _my_ Tomahawk, identified by a Formula 1 sticker on the side. "Fackin 'ell... that's my old bike! can i have it back?" ...it's currently residing dismantled in a trunk, waiting to be resurrected as a radiator or something daft... I do like the idea of turning an old bike into a radiator.


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## Andrew_Culture (4 Dec 2012)

MontyVeda said:


> t. I do like the idea of turning an old bike into a radiator.



The coolest thing I have heard today by leagues!


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## mrandmrspoves (4 Dec 2012)

Andrew_Culture said:


> The coolest thing I have heard today by leagues!


 
A cool radiator would be pretty pointless I'm sure I have ridden some bikes that used to be radiators.......


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## subaqua (4 Dec 2012)

mrandmrspoves said:


> A cool radiator would be pretty pointless I'm sure I have ridden some bikes that used to be radiators.......


 
so would a cool convector.


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## cyberknight (4 Dec 2012)

I had a grifter, a blue one with 3 speed hub gear that broke and was stuck in the hardest gear ...
No wonder i have thunder thighs as i was grinding a single speed as a child !


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## baldycyclist (5 Dec 2012)

MontyVeda said:


> I claimed my brother's Grifter when he claimed my racing bike. These new fangled BMX things had come along so the Grifter got a new lease of life with BMX everything apart from the frame & forks... certainly turned some heads at Coastline BMX and the weekly race meets at Pontins
> 
> In it's heyday, the grifter had that 'padded' crossbar which was solid as rock, the seat like a sofa (in comparison to the racer's seat) and the meaty mudguard with the plastic ends, which, when folded under the mudguard so it rubbed against the tyre, made a cracking motobike noise... until it completely wore down.


remember when the first BMX came along and Grifters died - good they were meaty


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## uphillstruggler (5 Dec 2012)

i could wheelie my grifter for miles, my sister hand glossed it white for some unknown reason, still struggling to forgive 30 years on.


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## taximan (7 Dec 2012)

I was brought up long before these new fangled choppers, grifters whatever. my schoolboy steed was a bright red Hercules Jeep. 18 inch wheels with rod brakes, single speed and tin mudguards, but I loved it. My father bought it for me when he realised that the bruises on my knees were caused by my knees hitting the handlebars of my trike. It lasted me a number of years until I swapped it for a pack of playing cards with nude women on them. The first 'long run' I ever did was on that bike. My mate and I cycled from Billingham (nr Middlesbrough) to Durham City and back, a distance of about 40 miles altogether. On thing I remember about that outing was a priest suggesting to us that if we must ride our bikes, perhaps we should take them outside the cathedral. A few minutes later we were rattling down a long steep hill to the market. (the brakes had long since stopped working properly) and almost crashed into a sort of covered roundabout structure containing a rather large policeman on traffic control duty. Horror of horrors, he knew us and leaned forward to look down at the tangle of boy's and bikes he said "I think its time you two buggers went back to Billingham". We were happy to comply and eventually reached home happy and contented. I still look back at that ride as one of the best I have ever done.


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## Richard A Thackeray (15 Dec 2012)

I think there might still be one in the garage of my parents neighbour??, it always seemed to get wheeled out when he put his car away (belongs to chaps son)
When I was at School, one lad had the back wheel re-built & had a 5 speed block on it!!


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## smokeysmoo (15 Dec 2012)

I was never allowed any of these 'novelty' bikes, Choppers, Grifters, BMX's etc, but I always bagsied a ride of one of my mates whenever I could.

A couple of them had Grifters, one lad even had a 10 speed purple Chopper, (leave it Fnaar!),and later on most had BMX's. I had racers, I wasn't particularly grateful then, but TBH I'm glad of it now.

A quick Google found this great looking example of a Grifter. I don't think I ever saw/rode one that hadn't had chunks of 'padding' scraped/ripped/picked out of the 'padding' on the bars and the seat!


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## Andrew_Culture (15 Dec 2012)

smokeysmoo said:


>



Ha, I'd forgotten that!


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## palinurus (15 Dec 2012)

Andrew_Culture said:


> My mate's grifter actually had padding on it!


 
Lightweight.


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## Peter88 (20 Dec 2012)

Never had a Grifter but wanted one, had a Striker then a rebuilt (by me and Dad) BSA Firebird. Saw this Grifter on the Manchester Sky cityride back in July


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## Kins (21 Dec 2012)

MontyVeda said:


> I claimed my brother's Grifter when he claimed my racing bike. These new fangled BMX things had come along so the Grifter got a new lease of life with BMX everything apart from the frame & forks... certainly turned some heads at Coastline BMX and the weekly race meets at Pontins


 
The same. Snapped my rear stanchions? on my BMX, kid on my street was gonna stick his grifter in the skip so swapped everything on to it. Rode like a tank but god, could it take some punishment. Best memories of a bike as a kid, bar none.


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## Spokesmann (22 Dec 2012)

Nice example, never really has the same kudos as the Chopper, but rode a bit better!


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## ceepeebee (11 Jan 2013)

I had a grifter XL that I got after thrashing the tomahawk to death. First thing I did was get rid of the rear rack, then took it jumping at the park. It was ace but really heavy, soon moved on to a kuwahara (with blue mags!) that was my pride and joy.


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## Mad Doug Biker (14 Jan 2013)

smokeysmoo said:


> A quick Google found this great looking example of a Grifter. I don't think I ever saw/rode one that hadn't had chunks of 'padding' scraped/ripped/picked out of the 'padding' on the bars and the seat!





Peter88 said:


> Never had a Grifter but wanted one, had a Striker then a rebuilt (by me and Dad) BSA Firebird. Saw this Grifter on the Manchester Sky cityride back in July



The same one perhaps??


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## Hitchington (14 Jan 2013)

I always looked at the picture of the Grifter in my mum's catalogue and dreamed of owning one... until my nan gave me her old Raleigh Shopper to ride about on!


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## Bobtoo (15 Jan 2013)

What about the missing link between Chopper and Grifter? Like most early 70s fashions the Chopper had ceased to be cool long before the Grifter appeared, the kid's bike to have in the mid 70s was the Commando.


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## Andrew_Culture (15 Jan 2013)

Bobtoo said:


> What about the missing link between Chopper and Grifter? Like most early 70s fashions the Chopper had ceased to be cool long before the Grifter appeared, the kid's bike to have in the mid 70s was the Commando.


 
Commando? It would have more sense if it was the 'Chifter'.


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## Nigelnightmare (21 Oct 2017)

I made a "Gripper" out of a MK1 Chopper and the front end of a Grifter.
Kept the Chopper's gear shifter though.
Comfier than a Grifter and better handling than the Chopper. Still damn heavy though, but fun.
Rode that until I'd grown into the racer I'd had given to me (around 1978) 14Yrs old.
10 speed Campagnolo Record MK1 group set apart from having Mafac centre pull brakes.


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## flake99please (21 Oct 2017)

I owned a rust brown ‘budgie’ and then a purple ‘commando’. The budgie was great around the Little Bowden skateboard park.


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## classic33 (23 Oct 2017)




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