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Your first bicycle
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By *dam1971 OP Man
over a year ago
Bedford |
Not the very first one you learned to ride on, the first one that gave you some independence - where you went out with your mates for long rides.
Mine was a Raleigh Striker. It had the look of a BMX but weighed about 4 times as much. This was just before the BMX craze hit Britain so it looked pretty cool although the weight and lack of gears put me off hills (going up them) for life.
What was yours? |
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Mine was Raleigh as well. Got it for my birthday the summer before starting secondary school.
Way too long ago to remember anything else about it 
It was used regularly for the rest of my school years, right up to passing my driving test. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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A Raleigh night burner with red mag wheels! I went everywhere on that bike I loved it, I recently debated buying one on eBay but they go for silly money |
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By *dam1971 OP Man
over a year ago
Bedford |
A few things have occurred to me here:
In the ‘70s and early’80s, did Raleigh have about 95% market share?
Secondly, how tough were those bikes?! Mine was jumped, crashed, abused, left outside and it never went rusty, I never oiled the chain and nothing ever broke! |
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"A few things have occurred to me here:
In the ‘70s and early’80s, did Raleigh have about 95% market share?
Secondly, how tough were those bikes?! Mine was jumped, crashed, abused, left outside and it never went rusty, I never oiled the chain and nothing ever broke!"
I think they must have.
Mine was definitely tough... it got hit by a car at least twice and survived. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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It was probably the Raleigh Stowaway, if not a Raleigh Chipper (the small version of the Chopper with no gears). I was pretty young when I started riding my bike further afield and regularly rode around the area once I was traffic aware and skilled in riding my bike safely on the road.
However it was later when I started riding further distances on my bike and that was when I got my first racing bike which was a Dawes. I had three, 2 of which, got nicked. |
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My first bike was a second hand thing. No idea what make it was, but it was gold in colour. I always wanted a Raleigh Grifter, though, and wasn't allowed one 
Then it was a 3-speed racer, which I think was green. It might have been red once and I painted it, but I can't remember. I rode it a lot, though
My first ever new bike was when I was 15. Another racer, but with more gears. It was metallic white originally, but I eventually sprayed it two different shades of metallic grey. I must have done hundreds of miles on that thing
The thing I remember most is how jealous I was that brother got a black Raleigh Chopper....  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Not the very first one you learned to ride on, the first one that gave you some independence - where you went out with your mates for long rides.
Mine was a Raleigh Striker. It had the look of a BMX but weighed about 4 times as much. This was just before the BMX craze hit Britain so it looked pretty cool although the weight and lack of gears put me off hills (going up them) for life.
What was yours?"
A Grifter weighed as much as a challenger tank but did have a padded seat which was good if you ever slipped off the pedals as it wouldn’t hurt your balls as much  |
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By *edGrayCouple
over a year ago
Swindon |
Mine was on Christmas Day. I must of been 10 years of age. It was a 5 speed Raleigh racing bike. I was over the moon, couldn't wait for boxing day so I could go out on it. I was up as soon as it was light and out riding round our estate. I bumped into my mate from school who had also got a racing bike for Christmas. We spent the day just riding round together.
Back then, we didn't have mobile phones, you knew where your mates where by all the bikes piled up outside one of our houses. |
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My first bike was a second hand one that me dad took me to buy from our local dealer, I was 8 and I remember us catching the bus to get there and then we walked back so I could ride me “new” bike all the way home  it’s been 2 years today since me dad left us so this memory is very important to me |
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By *ltrMan
over a year ago
sheffield |
Raleigh sprint which was a drop handled chopper
should have been called Raleigh trip to the hospital first pot hole I hit went over handle bars and took a chunk out of my chin and gravel rash up my chest  |
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"Raleigh boxer"
Boxer here as well, weirdly didn’t seem too popular, thought it was great, the chopper was more common but that always seemed like an awkward fragile thing, couldn’t throw it around like a boxer. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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A blue Raleigh grifter, it was my sisters but I sort of took ownership of it. Actually thinking about it all of my bikes belonged to others before I decided they would suit me better. I've never bought one. |
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"Not the very first one you learned to ride on, the first one that gave you some independence - where you went out with your mates for long rides.
Mine was a Raleigh Striker. It had the look of a BMX but weighed about 4 times as much. This was just before the BMX craze hit Britain so it looked pretty cool although the weight and lack of gears put me off hills (going up them) for life.
What was yours?"
Oooh close I had a grifter 3 stermy archer internal gears
Built out of solid iron I think  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Custom built (by me) bmx. No brakes (ah the glory days before gyro headsets) many summer days spent at the blue lagoon breaking bones I then progressed onto a 'we the people' downhill bike that I modified and went on to almost end my life on  still have the full face helmet with smashed jawbone (in the ex's garage) as a stark reminder of how fragile life is |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Mine was a Harry Quin 653 frame, Campag, suntour and stronglight equipment on it.
The bike was quite nippy as it had the 653 tubing, the typical short wheelbase of the bike made it interesting to turn corners. |
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My first proper bike that wasn't some random piece of junk was a Raleigh Grifter XL...black and red with different tires and seat compared to the normal Grifters....loved that thing and jumping off the back making it do Knight Riders going off on it's own.
I loved that thing even if it did weigh a ton |
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