View: https://twitter.com/BBCArchive/status/1139857585442643969?s=09
Here's a great clip.
Hell I watched it when it was on.Showing my age now.
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View: https://twitter.com/BBCArchive/status/1139857585442643969?s=09
Here's a great clip.
Hell I watched it when it was on.Showing my age now.
- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
My younger brother had one - he was the coolest kid on the street for a time.
D
Deleted member 26715
Guest
Was it the original wide handled bar one or with the later narrow bars? the wider one was ace, ace btw is a 70's colloquial term for sick or whatever is now in fashion.
One of the original wider ones. There always seemed to be too much flex on the bars when going up a hill, or standing on the pedals. I don't think they were designed to stand up on the pedals.
it felt as if you were going to topple over the front wheel.
D
Deleted member 26715
Guest
Had one for years, never had an issue, used to go everywhere on it, scramble through woods, handlebars were great for hanging paper round sack on.One of the original wider ones. There always seemed to be too much flex on the bars when going up a hill, or standing on the pedals. I don't think they were designed to stand up on the pedals.
Maybe being used to straight and dropped handlebars they just felt strange, anyway I decided there and then that I didn't want one and would keep to the more traditional style of bike.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
Blatant product placement, and on the BBC as well! Shocking……
The Chopper was one of those things that looked better than it worked. They were fun to mess about on, but unstable at speed and much harder work than a large wheel conventional bike. I don't regret choosing a Raleigh Arena instead as it was faster and less effort than a Chopper. The kids I knew fell into two camps; the ones who just wanted to mess around and do stunts would usually own a Chopper, Grifter, Strika or Burner (all Raleighs!) and the ones who covered more distance generally owned a "racer" or a 3-speed, Raleighs or Catalogue bikes for the urchins, and the odd Dawes etc for the well-heeled. That was mainly just the boys though. Most of the girls had scaled down shopper bikes like their mums. A girl riding a Chopper would be considered a Tomboy!
The Chopper was one of those things that looked better than it worked. They were fun to mess about on, but unstable at speed and much harder work than a large wheel conventional bike. I don't regret choosing a Raleigh Arena instead as it was faster and less effort than a Chopper. The kids I knew fell into two camps; the ones who just wanted to mess around and do stunts would usually own a Chopper, Grifter, Strika or Burner (all Raleighs!) and the ones who covered more distance generally owned a "racer" or a 3-speed, Raleighs or Catalogue bikes for the urchins, and the odd Dawes etc for the well-heeled. That was mainly just the boys though. Most of the girls had scaled down shopper bikes like their mums. A girl riding a Chopper would be considered a Tomboy!
Shearwater Missile
Veteran
My brother owned one in the seventies and I rode it and thought that it was sluggish and that perhaps the tyres needed more air. I took it to the local garage and used their compressor to pump said tyres up. Result, I thought as I set off and went round the block until there was one almighty bang as the inner tube burst. Lets just say that it turned peoples heads and mine too, but in a downward get me out of here stance !! I never rode it again.
Shearwater Missile
Veteran
Strange times the 70`s. Along with Choppers we also had pogo sticks, knockers ( two marbles on a bit of string that knocked together, if you were lucky or had your eye out if not ), stylophones ( actually invented in the late 60`s but lasted well into the 70`s), space hoppers etc etc. How did we get through the 70`s without them ? But we did !!
I seem to recall that someone actually rode the TdF route or at least some of it on a Chopper, now they really must have been fit !
I seem to recall that someone actually rode the TdF route or at least some of it on a Chopper, now they really must have been fit !
I had one in the early 70's. They were good for doing wheelies on, even when you didn't want to. But as a bicycle they were pretty crap, all show and no go.
Sometime around 1974, i then got a Sun race bike. Massively better, i was always out and about on it, clocking up fair mileages.
Sometime around 1974, i then got a Sun race bike. Massively better, i was always out and about on it, clocking up fair mileages.
AuroraSaab
Veteran
I think they banned the plastic balls on a string thing when kids started breaking their wrists with them. We had some but I could never get the hang of it. There was a set hanging off the phone wires by the shops on our council estate for years in the '70's lol.
We were way too poor to get a Chopper by the way. They were the preserve of the elite in 1970's Leeds.
We were way too poor to get a Chopper by the way. They were the preserve of the elite in 1970's Leeds.
Shearwater Missile
Veteran
As I said earlier my brother had one, I did`nt want one. I had a Raleigh Olympus 5 speed and to me it was the bees knees and I was always out on it especially in the evenings after school. I had that bike up to 1981 when trying to impress two females ( who I found out were Dutch) I hit a ford in a road at Kersey in Suffolk at about 25mph and I buckled the front wheel. I did get to take the two girls out though (they must have been impressed, or felt sorry for me) so I kinda got a consolation out of it. To this day I do not remember what happened to that bike.
Those knockers you're on about, they were called Clackers round our way. Our school banned them, which is quite surprising for those non H&S 70's times.
