Raleigh grifter restoration
Discussion
Laughing at this thread. I'm 48 so can remember them all.
I actually swapped a knackered Diamondback bmx for a mint Chopper which I proceeded to make unmint pretty quickly. I broke the rear parcel carrier thing by having my mate sit on in while I went down the local jennel (Sheffield speak for a cut through) and went over a kerb at the bottom which snapped it (didn't do my friend any favours either).
And after all these years I can still remember the weight of the Grifter!
I actually swapped a knackered Diamondback bmx for a mint Chopper which I proceeded to make unmint pretty quickly. I broke the rear parcel carrier thing by having my mate sit on in while I went down the local jennel (Sheffield speak for a cut through) and went over a kerb at the bottom which snapped it (didn't do my friend any favours either).
And after all these years I can still remember the weight of the Grifter!
Brilliant thread.
At Christmas one year when i had just turned 7, my parents (Santa) bought me a Grifter XL. It was huge and about twice my body weight.
I loved that thing and used it for years.
The gears used to wear out on them. Peddling at full tilt in third, only for it to slip into first or neutral was not fun, in fact it was a near castration experience.
Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
At Christmas one year when i had just turned 7, my parents (Santa) bought me a Grifter XL. It was huge and about twice my body weight.
I loved that thing and used it for years.
The gears used to wear out on them. Peddling at full tilt in third, only for it to slip into first or neutral was not fun, in fact it was a near castration experience.
Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
SydneyBridge said:
slk 32 said:
Let's face it, as a child of the 70s there was f
k all to do inside really. Three TV channels and it was about 1980 when the Atart 2600 came out.
I was either out on my bike or playing football unless it was raining (you hardly ever saw fat kids then)
This.....k all to do inside really. Three TV channels and it was about 1980 when the Atart 2600 came out.I was either out on my bike or playing football unless it was raining (you hardly ever saw fat kids then)
We had an Atari and then a ZX Spectrum, but outside was much more fun
All the kids sounded like Ian Paisley and were frankly unintelligible. The show needed subtitles
Terzo123 said:
Brilliant thread.
At Christmas one year when i had just turned 7, my parents (Santa) bought me a Grifter XL. It was huge and about twice my body weight.
I loved that thing and used it for years.
The gears used to wear out on them. Peddling at full tilt in third, only for it to slip into first or neutral was not fun, in fact it was a near castration experience.
Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
I had an XL as well, black and red with disco graphics. Cool as fAt Christmas one year when i had just turned 7, my parents (Santa) bought me a Grifter XL. It was huge and about twice my body weight.
I loved that thing and used it for years.
The gears used to wear out on them. Peddling at full tilt in third, only for it to slip into first or neutral was not fun, in fact it was a near castration experience.
Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
k.Iwantafusca said:
£1200!!That'll buy a lot of cola bottles / space dust / sherbet dip dabs!
slk 32 said:
SydneyBridge said:
slk 32 said:
Let's face it, as a child of the 70s there was fk all to do inside really. Three TV channels and it was about 1980 when the Atart 2600 came out.
I was either out on my bike or playing football unless it was raining (you hardly ever saw fat kids then)
This.....k all to do inside really. Three TV channels and it was about 1980 when the Atart 2600 came out.I was either out on my bike or playing football unless it was raining (you hardly ever saw fat kids then)
We had an Atari and then a ZX Spectrum, but outside was much more fun
All the kids sounded like Ian Paisley and were frankly unintelligible. The show needed subtitles
Battle of the Planets, now there’s a show!
Edited by Simes205 on Saturday 6th March 23:48
I had a black Strika, then a red Grifter. It was a heavy beast, but I'm guessing probably no more than 17-18Kg (we could lift when we were junior school age, they weren't the same wieght as ourselves). Think of the weight of a dumbell/kettlebell.
Plywood and bricks jumps in the road, jumps off big berms and drops in the park, nose diving crashes and concussion. Ah, takes me back.
I then graduated to a gas pipe framed Raleigh Mustang SIS (when the soft, heavy and terrible braking steel rims were replaced, having buckled quickly, I stripped everything off it...it weighed a mere 34lbs) I had great fun on that, and broke the steel frame twice. With hindsight, it was a terrible bike. The alternative would have been a Peugeot, which I suspect would have been far better.
Plywood and bricks jumps in the road, jumps off big berms and drops in the park, nose diving crashes and concussion. Ah, takes me back.
I then graduated to a gas pipe framed Raleigh Mustang SIS (when the soft, heavy and terrible braking steel rims were replaced, having buckled quickly, I stripped everything off it...it weighed a mere 34lbs) I had great fun on that, and broke the steel frame twice. With hindsight, it was a terrible bike. The alternative would have been a Peugeot, which I suspect would have been far better.
Simes205 said:
It was filmed around the country, the accents changed each holiday!
Indeed. The only ones that seemed normal were the scousers as they sounded like my parents. Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 8th March 09:02
I bought a Chopper for a quid off a lad, it worked but the welds and parted company under the front seat stay so it used to flex along its length. It got sprayed with rattle cans in the manner that kids kid this, no parts were remove and nothing was masked.
It was heap but good fun, it just kept going despite flexing along its length due to the welds being broken. We used to race round the school, a lad called Stuart had a nice mongoose BMX, he misinterpreted the instructions and raced the wrong way and I T boned him at speed on 35 pounds of 70s Raleigh pig iron. It was quite a collision and sent him flying into some bushes but I managed to stay on and the Chopper shrugged it off, Stuart got back having shouted some obscenities and then pedalled off looking down at his bike which now had a discernible bend in the frame
The Chopper was around for ages, until a lad called Jonathan Nobbs, and he was a nob, a couple of years old than us and a bit pervy rode it and jumped off it and sent it sailing, riderless across the road where it was collected by a MK2 Ford Granada. Poor sod driving it jumped out and was looking for the kid he had just killed, he looked everywhere, including a garden but obviously found nothing. he dumped what was left of the bike and drove off, that was the end of the Chopper.
Any love for the Bomber ?
It was heap but good fun, it just kept going despite flexing along its length due to the welds being broken. We used to race round the school, a lad called Stuart had a nice mongoose BMX, he misinterpreted the instructions and raced the wrong way and I T boned him at speed on 35 pounds of 70s Raleigh pig iron. It was quite a collision and sent him flying into some bushes but I managed to stay on and the Chopper shrugged it off, Stuart got back having shouted some obscenities and then pedalled off looking down at his bike which now had a discernible bend in the frame
The Chopper was around for ages, until a lad called Jonathan Nobbs, and he was a nob, a couple of years old than us and a bit pervy rode it and jumped off it and sent it sailing, riderless across the road where it was collected by a MK2 Ford Granada. Poor sod driving it jumped out and was looking for the kid he had just killed, he looked everywhere, including a garden but obviously found nothing. he dumped what was left of the bike and drove off, that was the end of the Chopper.
Any love for the Bomber ?
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