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6 comments
Must be the worst bike geometry ever.
It's interesting that they've never tried to revive the Chopper...unless the Health and Safety Executive would prevent it. They were pretty unstable at high speeds, as the scar on my chin still attests some 48 years later.
They did-
A new version of the Chopper, the Mk 3, was launched in February 2004 firstly in red then purple, the Chopper having been out of production for almost 25 years. The Mk3, in deference to modern safety concerns, adopts a more conventional saddle design to discourage "backies", and has dropped the groin-catching gear lever in favour of handlebar mounted gear controls; to commemorate this former feature the Mk 3 has a sticker where the lever once was located. The frame is made from aluminium alloy tubing, rather than the originals' steel, to make the bicycle lighter. The wheels are again 20 inches for the back wheel and 16 for the front wheel.[13] The MK3 remained in production until 2009 when it was replaced by the slightly changed mk4 model. Since then there have been multiple editions of the Chopper - the Beano edition, JPS, Hot One and Mod. Instead of the 3 speed Sturmey Archer hubs they changed to 6 speed shimano derailleur gears. All these were considered mk5, production of which ended in summer 2018.
Wikipedia
See also:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/nov/13/raleigh-chopper-bik...
Some classic comments in there too!
It's not a proper Chopper if there's no gear stick to disembowel you.... or worse! Still, not as bad as the Schwinn Sting Rays gear stick which had echoes of German gay porn (I'm told).
My neighbour to the left, Andy Griffiths, had a Mark One in shitty brown, distinguished from the Mark Two by sloping handlebars. Meanwhile Dean Wilford had a Mark Two in purple. Not shitty purple. Just purple. I think it was Andy's shitty brown one that I came off - luckily going over the handlebars rather than along the frame. Having my chin stitched back together was a lucky escape.
I recall having an epic crash on mine, when the front wheel turned at right angles!