The Raleigh Chopper
A bike designed like a drag racer and handled like one too.
High-back seat, ape-hanger bars, gear lever on the crossbar and a front wheel that lifted if you breathed.
Every child in Britain wanted one and about a third of them got one, usually at Christmas, usually in Infra Red or Ultra Violet. The Mk2 fixed the worst of the handling by moving the seat forward.
The centre-mounted gear stick was, by any modern safety assessment, a catastrophe. It was also the single best thing about it.
Cost back then
£32
Goes for now
£400–£1,500 restored
