Poll: Simple poll
Total Members Polled: 142
Discussion
the Chopper most of us think about was earlier, 1972 ish. Mine was second hand, and I reckon I had it 1975. Hard to know though.
I'm 51. I had mine just before the Grifter came out. That It was second hand is the issue though, I think if I had been getting a new bike it wouldn't have been a chopper. If I had a bike a year later, it would more likely have been a grafter, if new.
I'm 51. I had mine just before the Grifter came out. That It was second hand is the issue though, I think if I had been getting a new bike it wouldn't have been a chopper. If I had a bike a year later, it would more likely have been a grafter, if new.
TTmonkey said:
Unexpected Item In The Bagging Area said:
I had that siren thing on my light blue Grifter. Did anyone else’s Sturmey Archer gears slip between 2nd and 3rd, risking you whacking your balls on the stem?
Where as the chopper had that very dangerous gear leaver selector actually on the main part of the frame - just right for smashing your 'nads on... 
This was my not-a-Chopper. It was a Spanish-made "Intercity" which was better and worse than the Chopper. Two 20" wheels were far more stable, the seat right over the rear axle made wheelies inevitable (I'm citing that as a good thing - YMMV
), and the T-bar shift lever was cool.But, nylon shim headset, so there was significant fore-aft movement. If it were today, I'd engineer my own bearing but back then it was just something to live with.
Approx 1979 I reckon.
I had this exact model in 1977 IIRC. It was a death trap with horrendous speed wobble with your weight over the drop bars. They didn't last long in production but I thought it was ace. However, my father didn't due to it being a death trap and made me sell it back to Dave Gordon for a tenner after I'd given him all of my £15 10th birthday money for it a mere 3 weeks earlier. A fiver was a lot of dough to an 10 year old back in those days.
The Grifter came in '76 and, would you believe it, weighed in at 35kgs!!! My pal Kev had one for his 11th birthday. You had to plan a kerb hop about 10ft before you got to the kerb it was that heavy!!
The Grifter came in '76 and, would you believe it, weighed in at 35kgs!!! My pal Kev had one for his 11th birthday. You had to plan a kerb hop about 10ft before you got to the kerb it was that heavy!!
RizzoTheRat said:
My mate had a Grifter and his brother had a Chopper. On the road their gears were worth having but for everything else my Team Murray BMX was vastly superior. The Grifter weighed a ton and the chopper was impossible to wheelie.
It wasn't, you had to really roll your weight back in the seat though. I lost my front wheel mid wheelie as I didn't do the nuts up correctly Burner for me, I picked up an original one recently, I fancy it weighed more than my current FS MTB, back in the day it was a complete feather weight compared to a Grifter, I dread to think what they weigh.
Seems they weighed 35Kgs!!!! My old Cove DH bike (also known for being a bit chubby) was 'only' 20Kgs!
35Kgs kids bike, jesus.
Seems they weighed 35Kgs!!!! My old Cove DH bike (also known for being a bit chubby) was 'only' 20Kgs!
35Kgs kids bike, jesus.
Edited by P-Jay on Thursday 18th October 16:50
Grifter for me in light blue , the slip gear really got me one day , accelerating hard it slipped and so did I straight into a concrete lamppost resulting in a trip to AandE , nobody bothered with helmets back in the day . I still have the scar on my now bald head ! My parents could not afford a BMX for me so I used the grifter to try and do tricks and jumps , it was really heavy , I did not realise 35kg ?? ! Anyway I bent the forks in the end and then got a racer or road bike , it was a 5 speed Raleigh ace in red I loved it but desperately wanted the ten speed so I could have 2 shifters , 2 was way more cool !
Watchman said:
This was my not-a-Chopper. It was a Spanish-made "Intercity" which was better and worse than the Chopper. Two 20" wheels were far more stable, the seat right over the rear axle made wheelies inevitable (I'm citing that as a good thing - YMMV
), and the T-bar shift lever was cool.But, nylon shim headset, so there was significant fore-aft movement. If it were today, I'd engineer my own bearing but back then it was just something to live with.
Approx 1979 I reckon.
TTmonkey said:
Watchman said:
This was my not-a-Chopper. It was a Spanish-made "Intercity" which was better and worse than the Chopper. Two 20" wheels were far more stable, the seat right over the rear axle made wheelies inevitable (I'm citing that as a good thing - YMMV
), and the T-bar shift lever was cool.But, nylon shim headset, so there was significant fore-aft movement. If it were today, I'd engineer my own bearing but back then it was just something to live with.
Approx 1979 I reckon.
gazza285 said:
TTmonkey said:
Watchman said:
This was my not-a-Chopper. It was a Spanish-made "Intercity" which was better and worse than the Chopper. Two 20" wheels were far more stable, the seat right over the rear axle made wheelies inevitable (I'm citing that as a good thing - YMMV
), and the T-bar shift lever was cool.But, nylon shim headset, so there was significant fore-aft movement. If it were today, I'd engineer my own bearing but back then it was just something to live with.
Approx 1979 I reckon.
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