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Not sure if there is a post yet...BBC Children in Need and Paddy cycle ride, follow here riding in the north west!
https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/shows/paddytracker/
Never ridden one, anyone got one?
He's going past me sometime tomorrow, worth a support:)
Had one back in the seventies (and a Chipper before that).
Perhaps Paddy should do a leg how we used to ride them - two on the seat, one on the rack and one sat between the handlebars! 🙂
I had a Tomahawk and my older brother had a Chopper. By the time I was big enough for one, I didn't want one as I'd ridden my brother's so much so I got a Commando and then later a Bomber (which was basically a mountain bike).
But, back to the OP – I know it won't be easy on a Chopper, but I think they are stretching it a bit to call 300 miles 'Ultra-Endurance'.
They were very expensive when i was little and very stealable and impractical for the paper round. That said when i was 14 chopper's were so last year and everyone wanted a Grifter.
Just thinking about those dodgy three-speed Sturmey Archer gearboxes gives me PTSD (when they slip-wheeled after getting stuck in-between 2nd and 3rd).
Awful things!
Hats off to anyone attempting more than a few miles on a Chopper, but JOGLE has been done, about 3x the CiN distance
I didn't have one but rode friends ones, and Tomahawks and Grifters a bit later on.
My bike of the time was a Raleigh Chico, and then I had a Puch with a sort of beach cruiser frame if I remember.
They were crap, only really spoilt kids had one more than 50 years ago, you didn't need much torque to lift the front wheel, can't believe what some folk think they're worth
They were crap but looked cool, and let's be honest that was all a kid in the late 70s wanted from a bike.
I had a cheaper chopper copy something. Singlespeed, and only a slightly longer saddle. High bars though. No-one actually had a chopper - too expensive.
you didn’t need much torque to lift the front wheel
Making them the ultimate wheelie machine! I could do the whole length of our village main road just on the back wheel.
Were you ever a child - the dynamics of them never entered my head. They had a gear shifter for heavens sake! 🙂
Not sure if there is a post yet
There are at least TWO threads, but finding them is a chore given the way this forum is (not) working at the moment
Ridden my friend next doors when I was a kid in the 70s.
Always thought they were so cool, but never had one. Had a grifter though 🙂
Racer with banana seat and cowhorns ftw!
I had a Budgie in the late 70s. That was the smallest of the 3 Chopper style bikes
My older brothers had the Striker and Grifter which I eventually inherited. Back then if you had skin on your knees you weren't trying hard enough. Halcyon days
I always wanted one and would have used it lots but my parent’s couldn’t afford one. However, I had a rich relative who had one, I spent every Saturday at the hall and farm he lived in, he was away at boarding school. Ooh I had some fun!!
When I was a kid I butchered a bike, ramming lengths of steel tube over the front forks and put a Chopper wheel on the front and made a 'proper' chopper with cowhorn bars. My mate did the same and we would ride around town on them getting cheers from people as we rode around. I so wish I'd taken a picture of the damn thing!
Had one as a child. Bent the handlebars doing jumps on it
I never did as a kid
was so jealous of my mates grifter, even though with hindsight my crappy bmx (a blue & yellow falcon - raleigh burner copy- one with the flexiest plastic 'mag' style wheels) was better!
I have a choper now ( one of the noughties reissue ones) that my uncle was given in a garage clearout and its an absolute turd to ride
and then later a Bomber (which was basically a mountain bike).
The only thing I remember vividly about my bomber was that it seemed to weigh about as much as I did.
I had a purple one, the same colour your plums would look like after a nuts to t-shift incident 🙂
Had one, a black MK2. Rode it for years then progresses to a road bike. Unstable things at best. Shame Paddy's route has changed - initial route showed him coming towards Manchester.
Had a Tomahawk but didn't graduate to a Chopper. Although I rode others' quite a bit. Easy to be critical now, but I think you forget what came before it in the world of Children's bikes. Spoiler, they weren't cool in the slightest. Raleigh completely revolutionised the scene.
And how heavy was a Grifter?!
The only thing I remember vividly about my bomber was that it seemed to weigh about as much as I did.
Agreed - but it was pretty bomb-proof – we had a series of steps at my school (flat bit, set of steps, another flat bit, another set of steps etc) – I used to ride down them over and over and it didn't flinch. The only bad thing about the Bomber was it was quickly named the 'Bummer' by all my mates. Kids, ehh?
He's in the middle of Birkenhead at the moment. Did well to get through Ellesmere Port without it getting stolen. 😀
You can see on this drone shot how Paddy has a way higher cadence than the guy on a more modern bike
I have ridden an orignal, can't recall when, but it was awful. I know I saw the CIN thing on the BBC this morning and was like hats off to anyone riding one for 300miles!
Loved mine, I ‘customised” it, mirrors, whip aerial, speedo, fly screen, shaggy fur on the seat from the local market. I’m cringing writing this now though!!
I lived and worked in Morocco for a few years. I was south of Marrakech in the middle of nowhere heading to one of my job's when I spotted a kid riding a mint condition original Chopper. I turned round and tried buying it off him but my Berber dialect wasn't good enough for him to understand my excitement and enthusiasm! I have no idea how it ended up out there - it was pretty much like those fighter planes in the desert at the beginning of Close Encounters of the 3rd kind film.
I thought he was doing it in one go. Which on a Chopper would have been an Ultra Endurance event! But over 5 days. Meh 😉
My brother had a limited edition one, he definitely wasn't spoilt and he probably did some sort of work (maybe a paper round) to help pay for it. I don't recall being allowed to ride it, but it looked so dangerous to me :0)
I had the chipper as a kid, and renovated a chopper at least in part a decade or so ago.
The chopper is so cheaply built im surprised any survived the 70's.. Really poor welding, The first model, the Mk1 had straight right angle for seat and chain stays and many snapped at that point. The Mk2 overcame it by adding a curve on the seat stays. But overall it was just shite
Plus the concept of having cow horn bars, a tiny front wheel and zero reach stem made handling really bad.
Had one as a kid in the 70s. Handed down from big brother and it was likely 2nd hand to him. We broke the frame on it and had it welded up again and again doing jumps. We'd get mates to lay behind the jump and jump over them instead of buses, but we were as good as evel kenevel. The chopper was as ridiculous for jumps as the heavy bike he used.
When bmx came in and we got decent bikes it was magic.... 80s bikes were so much better! Even the cheap bmx I had as we couldn't afford a burner (thankfully! They were rubbish!)
Oh yes, sturmey archer hubs....still awful.
That's exactly it dyna, that's where it snapped, the mk2 frame had a sweeping bend 'seat stay' which I guess flexed enough to stop the snaps.
I had a mark 2 in the early 70's. My neighbour recently bought a mark 3 which I tried out. I couldn't believe how small it felt. Paddy has his work cut out!
I was half watching the piece on BBC Breakfast this morning. He said the chopper had been modified in two ways; the horizontal part of the original saddle had been replaced to a more normal one due to chaffage, and the gear shifter had been changed to a twist shift (still 3 speed).
(He also needed reporting to the Dry Robe ****ers Facebook page)
We’d get mates to lay behind the jump and jump over them instead of buses
Hah yes – I used to do that on my Raleigh Commando. I completely missed the BMX craze as I got hooked on skateboards around that time so presents were always skateboard-themed.
"only really spoilt kids had one more than 50 years ago".
Don't make assumptions that I was a spoilt kid 50 years ago!
Listened to him set off at 8.15am..... Slightly concerned that by now (half 6) hes only done 50 something miles and still has a fair schlep to get to Preston.
Now, I know us 'keen cyclists' might not think the distance is all that much where a non-cyclist might but still - hes got a long week ahead of him if 5mph is the average pace!
He'll have loads of distractions though - photo-ops and the like.
Nowt wrong with 3sp SA gears - I have one today that dates from the 60s. Its just folk never set the cables right
I had a chopper briefly back in the 60s. Cool but shite
He'll be staying about 100m from me on Thursday night, and then leaving from just up the road on Friday morning for the final leg into Glasgow. I wonder if he'd welcome some of my inane patter if I pedalled along with him on Friday AM? I have form for being an irritating encourager of knackered athletes, mostly on WHW support runner duties, but I can sure distract sufferers with a near-constant stream of verbal pish.
Gawdaful things Choppers. Mate had one that we all took turns on. So much weight on the rear that the front washed out on turns and lifted at the first sign of a bump. Great for posing and skidz, useless at everything else.
It would help Paddy if he wasn't wearing 'baggies', which are ok while mtbing, when we're moving around a lot, on and off the saddle, but not so good for continuous pedalling.
I'll be donating as Paddy has 3 children, all with special needs.
Couldn't afford one, plus my dad, who made motorcycles work better as a hobby, insisted they were crap. So he made me a tracker out of a frame from the local scrappy, a long saddle he fabricated himself, and genuine motorcycle handlebars that were nice and wide. Looking back on it, much more cool, and loads of fun to rag and eventually destroy down the woods.
He’ll be staying about 100m from me on Thursday night
He ends, and starts the next day, around 200 metres from us on Wednesday/Thursday, we were wondering where he was staying, he must have booked an hotel locally, as it’d be grim doing that and not have a proper bed for the night.
Then he has Beattock to get up after a couple of hours of not much downhill from here too. in fact, I dont think he’ll manage the hill out of the village (Ecclefechan) without getting off and pushing.
He's got a camper van, but not sure if he sleeps in it. Raised over 4 million already, good on him.
I had one of the originals in the 70s, and just so @redmex doesn't get upset, it was (very) secondhand off my cousin. I remember it being pretty crap for what we did which was dicking about in the woods as the front tyre was basically a slick and kept washing out on corners. They were a bit of a one trick pony - ideal for wheelies and cycling two streets down to your mates house like in american movies but completely useless on muddy cowpat strewn roads and tracks in rural England. Soon got rid and made up my first 'rough stuff' bike and yeah it had cowhorns!
My father salvaged a (what must have been Mk1) frame from a skip and built it up using skis instead of wheels. My brother and I only managed a few "rides" one winter before it snapped.
Had one when they had gone out of fashion.
Awful thing to ride, but the best bike in the world as it was mine and I was riding it.
We manged 5 on it at one point - 2 on the seat, 1 on the rack, one on handlebars and one the top tube(s).
Props to McGuinness for riding the version with the knacker smasher gearshifter.
He’s got a camper van, but not sure if he sleeps in it. Raised over 4 million already, good on him.
He’s staying in hotels, it was Smiths at Gretna last night, probably the best hotel locally after finishing in Ecclefechan. He didnt get to Fechan until around 8pm, then set off this morning at 7am, so he's certainly no slouch. He was really good with the local children last night too, when he must have been shattered after pedalling from Kendal over Shap. Then he has Beattock this morning.
What did surprise was how slow he was, but found out later he is stopping multiple times, and when feeling bad, he has a massage/rest in the camper van, it took him nearly 4 hours from Carlisle to Fechan yesterday for the 22 or so miles.
Anyone remember the chopper sprint? Now thats a confused bike 🙂
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I’ve never seen that abomination but one of my mates younger brothers who was well off had a black one imported from the states with 5 or 10 speed and super wide handlebars that had a proper clamp style stem - by that time everyone was on bmx though so nobody took much notice!
I've got a '79 Quicksilver ?
I've said it before, someone should jump him a la tour de France.
Some influencer type would do it, but I just hate them.
I had a Commando which definitely wasn't as cool as a Chopper. Was Raleigh the only kids bike manufacturer back then? Feels like it.
Never had one. Rode several: friends had various different models over our childhood years. Looked cool. Fun for backies. Awful for riding generally. Terrible for off road and jumps.
in keeping with a lot of Raleigh bikes the mild steel, poor design, and questionable weld quality meant one friend’s dad was forever getting the brazing torch out to fix the rear end.
The swap from long chopper saddle and mid-mount car-style shifter to twist grip and standard saddle removed its main reasons for being. That plus the earlier change to a fixed stem rather than a pinch bolt one.
like folks say BMX rightly and justifiably killed the chopper and the grifter. Even the awful low end Raleigh BMXs were significant all round improvements over those iconic end of era Raleigh bikes.
and the gear shifter had been changed to a twist shift (still 3 speed).
Choppers were re-released about 20 years ago and this was the key modification.
Mate had a Chopper Sprint GT similar to the one above, but green and 5 speed (but I could be wrong on that bit...). It appeared very exotic in comparison to the other Choppers.
Kudos to Paddy TBH - yes, in comparison to some of the serious cyclists on here it appears to be a nothing much ride, but he is achieving the end-game of £'s for charity. He seems like a decent lad.
Out of curiosity, I just had a look on Ebay – £650 for a box full of rusty Chopper bits, getting on to £3,000 for a full bike in decent condition!!! There are also some bikes going for much more, but they are rare versions.
My sister had one in the mid seventies it was orange and black and looked really cool. I had a bog standard "racer" I wanted a shot on the chopper ,but for the reasons described by others a couple of shots was enough. Sister wanted my bike so she could win races even though she had to stand on the pedals all the time. Shes still racing now but the chopper went to the scrappy long ago
Anyone remember the chopper sprint? Now thats a confused bike
Ha! Talk about having an identity crisis! [img] 
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Never had a Chopper, I was a bit too old and big to fit one, and I already had a ‘proper’ bike by then - a BSA Star Rider, 3spd SA, 650b rims, which were standard touring rims/tyres back in the 60’s; I put a set of ‘crosser bars on it, and Avon cyclocross knobby tyres as well. Great for ‘tracking in the local woods and around the local lanes. Wish I still had it, it was a great bike and would have made a terrific single-speed with lighter kit on it.
£7.5 million is a real achievment. Well done Paddy
Hats off to him. I had a black Mk2 in the late 70's - loved it, but they didn't handle. Progressed to a road bike in early 80's when I was 13 or 14. Mate had a Grifter. We did some mad shoot on them, but I do remember saving up for a new rear tyre on the Chopper as I did ride it a lot, and did a paper round.
Well, I’m most disappointed in you all.
For him to complete the ride without any smutty innuendos given the thread title is a poor reflection on where this place is going…
There was some Chopper chat in the pub last night, and a fella told me about the Chopper GT, or Sprint, as above. Couldn’t believe it when I googled I never even heard of it when I was a kid. Madness.
I was a Tomahawk, brother a Chopper.
Well I take back what I said on the other thread.
I thought it was going to heavily modified.
The BBC mention a different saddle and different brakes, it seemed to have neither.
His knees must be absolutely shot after that, the geometry looked to be absolute agony.
Fair play to him.
Had one in the early 70's. The gear chain broke regularly so 90% of your riding was done in 3rd gear. Always wanted a Grifter but the 2nd hand chopper was only £15 so that's what I got.