Raleigh grifter restoration

[stepaway]

Had a Grifter until my Nan reversed over it in my Grandads Granada Ghia Mk2

I then had a series of back yard special mountain bikes until my 16th birthday and I got one of these.

Raleigh Apex K2 cro-mo resplendent with Girvin Flexstem



The one pictured turned up today after an eBay purchase. Looks almost unridden, they’re pretty rare as weren’t many sold bitd.

Although the Raleigh wasn’t a bad steer, I always wanted a Kona Cindercone, so picked up a tatty old ‘92 frame at Christmas and built it up into this.....




[url]

[Simes205]

CoolC said:

My claim to fame is that I managed to break the frame of my Grifter.

It was second hand when I got it, so maybe the previous owner had used it to demolish power stations or something.

How did you do that? They were impregnable!

[Simes205]

davidd said:

I had a Grifter, so heavy it developed it's own black hole.

Would have been great if they had made it a bit lighter. I had a Commando before it, loved that.

I had a commando, always felt the odd one out as everyone else had choppers and grifters.

[andrewcliffe]

I've still got my Grifter. Red one. Needs restoring.

[slk 32]

StuntmanMike said:

I had a new Grifter, Mk1 red.

The thing about them was, you were without doubt the coolest kid on the block.

You were king on your Grifter.

Then BMX’s came out and suddenly you were completely irrelevant, yesterday’s man.

Raleigh always seemed to build the laserdiscs of bikes the Vektar which was a bizarre pre BMX / Buck Rogers mash up and the Bomber which was like the mountain bike missing link.

Edit: just googled the weight of a raleigh grifter..35kg!!.. that must be pretty much the bodyweight of a 10 year old!!

Edited by slk 32 on Friday 26th February 23:54

[Simes205]

slk 32 said:

StuntmanMike said:

I had a new Grifter, Mk1 red.

The thing about them was, you were without doubt the coolest kid on the block.

You were king on your Grifter.

Then BMX’s came out and suddenly you were completely irrelevant, yesterday’s man.

Raleigh always seemed to build the laserdiscs of bikes the Vektar which was a bizarre pre BMX / Buck Rogers mash up and the Bomber which was like the mountain bike missing link.

Edit: just googled the weight of a raleigh grifter..35kg!!.. that must be pretty much the bodyweight of a 10 year old!!

Edited by slk 32 on Friday 26th February 23:54

Seriously 35kg?

[595Heaven]

I had a silver Grifter. Loved it. But, yes, it was a touch heavy!

[steve2]

I started work at 16 in 1976 at Halfords and had to get bikes ready for customers to pick up.
One Xmas we had over 300 bikes to get out and will never forget the weight of the Grifters , bloody heavy for a slightly built lad.
When Halfords started selling all the BMX bikes and gear was much more fun

[Louis Balfour]

I never had a Grifter but I recall that the lads locally managed to get straight forks for them, which made them LOOK like a BMX.

[anonymous-user]

595Heaven said:

I had a silver Grifter. Loved it. But, yes, it was a touch heavy!

You’d make ramps for them and the grifter would just crunch the ramp.

I loved mine but looking back they were a bit rubbish. Far too heavy, the gears kept slipping, the seat was a weird shape the mud flap was only good for turning it inside out to making motorbike noises, then it wore away after a few minutes.

Same with the chopper.

All great fun though and everyone wanted one which I guess was the point.

Nowadays it’s all dads trying to get kids mini versions of their own bikes and obsessing over the components and their weight,

Kids just want a bike that looks cool not a mini bike their parents like.

[Ian-27xza]

Loving this thread!

I never had a Grifter but my brother and I had a secondhand Srika and Boxer in green and blue respectively.

They were the first bikes I can remember and they were kept at my Dad's house. Dad had separated with Mum and I only saw him (and my bike) every other weekend. The excitement on the Friday evening picks-ups was through the roof!!

I remember 'borrowing' my big brothers Strika and completely skinning the rear tyre in a single afternoon with back-pedal skids!!!

We'd make jump ramps with a piece of old plywood and house bricks...no helmets, no body armour, probably wearing sandals...

Those simple, simple days encouraged and fostered a lifetime of cycling....

Those Raleigh bikes from the 70s have a lot to answer for.

[gazza285]

splodge s4 said:

At one point I had pretty much the entire 80's raleigh action bike range, now down to a Mk2 Chopper, tomahawk & a budgie

We had a Tomahawk as the shop bike, I used to ride it to the sandwich/fish and chip shop on a lunchtime to pick up our snap.

I was twenty three.

[slk 32]

Simes205 said:

slk 32 said:

StuntmanMike said:

I had a new Grifter, Mk1 red.

The thing about them was, you were without doubt the coolest kid on the block.

You were king on your Grifter.

Then BMX’s came out and suddenly you were completely irrelevant, yesterday’s man.

Raleigh always seemed to build the laserdiscs of bikes the Vektar which was a bizarre pre BMX / Buck Rogers mash up and the Bomber which was like the mountain bike missing link.

Edit: just googled the weight of a raleigh grifter..35kg!!.. that must be pretty much the bodyweight of a 10 year old!!

Edited by slk 32 on Friday 26th February 23:54

Seriously 35kg?

Unbelievable Jeff!

[Simes205]

Wow....I never had one but many friends did.
Almost all had worn out mudguards to imitate the sound of the IC engine!

[slk 32]

Simes205 said:

Wow....I never had one but many friends did.
Almost all had worn out mudguards to imitate the sound of the IC engine!

Not forgetting the playing card / wooden clothes peg in the spoke!

Or, if you were really posh...

[Simes205]

slk 32 said:

Simes205 said:

Wow....I never had one but many friends did.
Almost all had worn out mudguards to imitate the sound of the IC engine!

Not forgetting the playing card / wooden clothes peg in the spoke!

Or, if you were really posh...

Yep, all of the above were popular, playing cards for me.

35kg I can’t believe is true.
35lb maybe which is roughly 16kg.

My 8 year old is 25kg!

Edited by Simes205 on Saturday 27th February 10:43

[Total loss]

How much do Grifters sell for nowadays?
I bought a used one for £5 about 20 years ago for my nephew, I was into mountain biking at the time & 10 kg was heavy for a MB then, I couldn't believe how heavy the Grifter was in comparison, 35kg? Yep I can believe that!

Edited by Total loss on Saturday 27th February 10:55

[ben5575]

slk 32 said:

Ha, I had one of these too.

My Grifter was black with a three gear thumb click shifter rather than a twist. I'm sure it came with a Ferrari diamond stitched seat and red GT3 rim tape.

I also added these with C batteries for added lightness...

[tedmus]

slk 32 said:

Not forgetting the playing card / wooden clothes peg in the spoke!

Or, if you were really posh...

And one of these

[595Heaven]

slk 32 said:

Simes205 said:

Wow....I never had one but many friends did.
Almost all had worn out mudguards to imitate the sound of the IC engine!

Not forgetting the playing card / wooden clothes peg in the spoke!

Or, if you were really posh...

I did the mudguard trick, and had one of those sirens. I also had a Sanyo speedometer for even more added weight