Words by Steve Thomas

If you were a child of the 1970s or early 80s, there is perhaps one two-wheeled dream machine that every child wanted to ride – the Raleigh Chopper. 
Somewhat touchingly, much like Slade with Merry Christmas Everybody, the Chopper is once again tugging at Santa’s white beard in the hope that he will somehow get one down that skinny central heating vent.

• How to buy the best mountain bike for your child - whatever their age
• Best mountain bike pedals - the best options from XC to Enduro
• Best mountain bike saddles - the best off-road options tested 

Throughout the land, young boys and girls are eagerly pinning the re-released 2023 Raleigh Chopper towards the top of their Christmas wish lists, albeit they get e-mailed via their iPhones to the North Pole these days. 

Along with these younger and newfound Chopper fans, there is sure to be an equally large number of big boys and girls with the same hopes. These are us who should be old enough to know better, but who are still Chopper starry-eyed. It’s easy to put aside those distant flared and jaded memories of crunched nether regions and bruised chests from the Chopper’s original gear knobs and handlebars and to remember the thrills and spills riding Choppers gave us.

However, there will be a lot of disappointed wannabe Chopper owners around on Christmas morning, as the first batch (undisclosed in numbers) of Choppers that was re-released by Raleigh in July this year sold out within minutes of going on offer, and there is a lengthy waiting list for the next batch of Choppers.

In the beginning

2023 raleigh chopper 3.jpg, by Liam Mercer

There’s long since been controversy and debate over who and how exactly the Chopper came to be and it would probably be fair to say that the idea was conceived by Raleigh’s chief designer of the late 1960s and 70s, Alan Oakley, and then brought to fruition by designer Tom Karen of the OGLE Design Company.

Oakley’s lightbulb moment came after watching the Easy Rider movie and then followed the idea of turning those motorised choppers into pedal bikes, which was aided by the success of the Schwinn Sting-Ray in the USA. Plus – Raleigh was not in the best of states economically, to say the least, and the new Chopper was tasked with rescuing the brand – which it did, becoming one of the best-selling British bikes of all time.

The original Mark1 Chopper was unveiled in April 1969 and became an instant hit with the youthful public, and was the perfect bike for the impending flared and sequin era of the 1970s. In no time at all the Chopper became the Christmas gift of choice for the younger generation, and it did indeed rule the sales roost of bikes for that whole generation. 

My own purple (ultraviolet) Mark2 was delivered by Santa on Christmas Day 1973, and what a grand day that was. Along with it came a bunch of accessories: a foghorn, a wired speedometer and a dandy Tandy on bike radio. It truly was a ride befitting of the great Noddy Holder himself, who could be heard singing from my oval Tandy speaker on the local streets, and indeed that was one Merry Christmas for me.

It's hard to put a finger on why exactly the Chopper was so successful and such an iconic bike, probably the most famous bike of all time in the UK, and yet on the other hand you only need to look at it and then transport yourself back to the era to imagine why. 

There was, and has been nothing else like it, at least not in the UK, and I still regret the day that mine got traded in for a “proper bike”, one with dropped bars and 10 gears. Though, I never let go of the memories and the dream of owning a Chopper again one day – which I did, and you can read about that on road.cc.

The end of an era

Having been through countless interpretations and with a staggering 1.5 million Choppers being sold, the final true Raleigh Chopper ceased production, although some were still produced elsewhere for another 10 years. Sadly, its era as a top dog on the streets and planked jumps of Britain was gone. Those glory days had taken a beating from the arrival of the BMX.

Even so, anyone who ever owned one of these prized machines and many who always wanted to but who never did, have loyally kept the flame burning over the hallowed gear shifter and curvaceous handlebars.

Since its heyday, the Chopper has gained somewhat of a cult following, and Chopper riders of an older generation are still to be found lightly skidding their way around the backstreets with “sissy bars” at their rear wide grins of nostalgia in front of them.

Raleigh x boots, by Suvi Loponen

Return to Chopper greatness?

Much as video killed the radio star, and BMX nailed the Chopper’s top spot, Nintendos and then the likes of iPads and iPhones effectively banished the humble bicycle from most Christmas lists for many years, or at least they did for the younger generation – a very sad sign of the times, in almost every way possible.

After four years of painstaking development, Raleigh released the Mark4 Chopper earlier this year, which is very strikingly similar in almost every detail to the original Mark2, and the components are designed to be virtually the same –and interchangeable with the Mark2. 

The new model is now offered in the same Ultraviolet purple as my old Chopper and in the classic Infrared.  Needless to say, Raleigh has had to meet the vastly increased modern-day safety standards in the reproduction, with the only obvious changes being the lover saddle height and bars and the lower sissy bar (behind the saddle), otherwise, the mere look and thought of it stirs up those hazy emotions of a long since passed childhood.

Whereas the original Chopper was introduced to the public for a not-too-shabby £34, the new Chopper is on sale for £950, which is not far off double the original price in modern-day terms. Either way, it sold out faster than free beer, and buyers are lining up for the imminent second coming, which is hardly surprising.

Should you, like many of us, fancy a splash of Chopper nostalgia without shelling out for a Mark4 then you may be pleased to hear that Raleigh has teamed up with another iconic Nottingham brand – Boots, to offer a range of branded retro-inspired Chopper merchandise, which could be ideal as Christmas presents for those with a love, or unrequited love of the bike.

From shampoo and soap to multi-tools, socks and backpacks, they’re all packaged in Chopper branding and range from £10-50 in price, although they do look rather dapper, we’re not sure whether or not they have that original 1970s old Spice and Brut aroma about them.

However unlikely as it may be, wouldn’t it be amazing if the success of the new Chopper encouraged Raleigh to mass produce a more affordable version? This would more likely find itself in the hands of young hopefuls who may, in turn, have their eyes torn away from the small screens and introduced to the joys of riding bikes, much like many of us were all those years ago. 

Who knows, it could also be a shot of economic sherbet in the mouth for Raleigh as a brand during what is a tough time for the bike industry, but we can but dream.

See the full Raleigh range at Boots here. 

You might also like: 

• Raleigh Chopper now available in 70s-inspired colourways
• Raleigh to open a cycling experience centre in Nottingham
• Six tips to upgrade your winter cycling experience