All The Cool Kids Rode Choppers

Remember the ’70s? The original Starsky & Hutch, when skateboards had a front and a back end, and when Tom Baker was Dr Who?

I only really remember half of it, because for the other half I was busy drooling, learning bladder control, and stuff like that. I’m still working on those now, actually.

ANYWAY . . . all the cool kids rode Raleigh Choppers. 16 inch front wheel, and a 20 inch rear, handlbars you could really hang from (and hang tassels from too), and a saddle (/seat) that despite the warning notice, was just perfect for giving lifts to your friends. You could fit two passengers on that seat, and still sit down to pedal.

It also had a centre lever shifter for the three gear Sturmey-Archer hub. I’ve gotta tell ya that wasn’t too comfortable if you slid off the front of the saddle!

I wasn’t allowed a chopper though. Nope - I had to have a sensible bike. But I always wanted a chopper. All boys did, which is something that some fathers still understand - that Mikael over at Copenhagenize & Copenhagen Cycle Chic, for instance, who’s just bought a Mk III for his son. In response to a comment I’d left, bemoaning that life was so unfair, and I was never allowed a Chopper as a kid, he just sent me this email:

hey karl
lynn from philadephia.. another reader… just sent this link.
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/bik/942503291.html
spite your parents and buy it! ride to christmas dinner! HA! or, if they’ve passed on, ride circles around the graves while doing ‘dangerous’ wheelies!
cheers
mikael

Hmmm . . . tempting . . . really tempting . . .

Filed under: Bike Culture, Family, Silly Stuff