The Raleigh Chopper is one of the most iconic bikes ever made, and for generations it has been part of people’s childhood memories. I wanted to create my own story with this legendary bike, so I set off from John O’Groats with one goal: to cycle the entire length of the UK and reach Land’s End.
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The gear i am currently using
The tent – https://youtu.be/n9GKHSf805E
Framebag – https://youtu.be/6LM3UJKDOEk
Seatpost bag – https://youtu.be/W1E_iWY6Ajo
Jones Handlebars – https://youtu.be/dhPBSdRros8
Gravel bike – https://youtu.be/Gnd_4LgTyrg
plus bike mtb – https://youtu.be/COTUOzLPbGk
gps device – https://youtu.be/BWeMmx62A9M
mtb shoes – https://youtu.be/OYVEnfXwT0k
All the gear from GNT – https://youtu.be/e5oKSoPoMk0
Vest bag – https://youtu.be/01nzgd-t550
Ortleib bar roll https://youtu.be/Uk9fLgS1ioo
Dynamo setup – https://youtu.be/SL7MhjB6Lp0
Questions answered – https://youtu.be/u1q9AEs9flE
Gb divide bike/gear- https://youtu.be/epcZ81wqFCo
Sonder looped bar – https://youtu.be/BqWGTxd2VaQ
Tarpstar tent – https://youtu.be/RcQoBdZSAb8
37 Comments
My parents couldn't afford a Chopper so I had to settle for a "Triang Dragster", big mustard yellow thing and big gear shifter. It was my pride and joy.
Omg my brother had a chopper as I am younger then him I had a chipper the small version lol 😊
20" rear wheel? Had a Chopper as a kid, the rear wheel was alot bigger than that , maybe a 26". You sure that isn't a Chipper?
I had a red one just like that but with the 3 gear lever in the middle and my m8 had a purple we loved thouse bikes. The adventures we had ! Wicked
i spotted you on another channel . well done on all your vids mate a true inspiration . yes the chopper ,was a bit big for me i had a tomahawk same but for smaller kids. . then bmx came out so didnt get a chopper
Incredible. What shoes do you wear on the bike?
In 1969/70 my Mum and Dad bought me a Chopper for Christmas, I can't remember if it was red or Purple now I think it may have been purple. My brother who was a bit younger had a Raleigh Tomahawk which is a smaller version of the chopper:) Happy memories but they are now quite a long time ago I suppose. I must be getting old!!
Amazing drone shots and autumnal looking colours. Well done Josh.
I still have my Schwinn Pea Picker. It's in sad shape in my basement.
Good on you for doing this!
Serious Mandela effect! I swear I've seen this video before, you uploaded this in 2023! What is going on?!?! 😮
Great video ! I never owned a chopper as a kid unfortunately but I did have a black grifter. I went everywhere on that thing. These memories are making me smile. Thank you for that!!
I was given a Chopper for my birthday in 1976 and I still have it. It has been up in my attic for about 3 decades. It should still be in pretty decent condition, it was the last time I saw it.
always love your first episode of all your southward adventures, you just cycle through all the areas I work in or run in as im from Rosehall and work all over the north. if you ever need roadside assistance when ur in the north, gimme a shout , I can get to anywhere you are cycling, including the cross-country bits 🙂
Great cycling on a small bike. you are some man.
Bloody awful bicycle, never designed to be ridden just for posing on in front of your mates who didn't have one. Probably put more people off cycling than snow.
10 miles would be enough on that let alone 100 😮 epic journey ❤
My man, you keep coming to Scotland and getting the wrong Irn Bru! Need to get the 1901 version for the correct pre sugar tax flavour!
When are going to do it on a unicycle? 🤣
How come your voiceovers are so quiet?! Genuinely struggle to hear what you're saying unless I whack my speakers up fully. Great video as always otherwise though!
Lol Josh, you make that bike look so tiny 😂
Christmas 1972 I woke to a powder blue MkI and instantly fell in love, not knowing how hard it would try to kill me.
First, the death wobble, get any speed up on a hill and the front wheel takes on a life of its own, mine chose to throw me off resulting in dentures instead of two front teeth at the tender age of ten.
Still, onwards and upwards, till I managed to impale my leg on the gear shifter when the screw on gear knob parted ways – a design changed in the Mk2 – another scar I still bear.
I have no recollection what happened to that bike but have a feeling my parents may have quietly got rid to try and keep me alive.
But by the end of that first summer my friends and I had found an old Lambretta LD on the local tip and got it running so it was quickly forgotten, I'm surprised we survived the seventies!
3rd gear. Check you have a tiny bit of slack in the cable in 3rd position.
I won my Chopper in a Daily Mirror competition. Would have been around about 1972. They were £36 new so there is no way my parents could have afforded to buy me one, not even 2nd hand.
Positive squeaks! See how the 🤡🎺 got you to the broken bridge at 53:51
It's scotland, never heard of flow country in 50 years living here😅❤
You just need a couple of strips of cardboard and a couple of pegs to create that 'clacking' sound on the rear wheel spokes. After all if you're going to do it at all you might as well do it right. Oh! and handlebar tassels, too, of course! lol
Good luck ! Those hills will be tough.
It makes me tired and feel cramped just looking at you pedalling with your knees up near your ears. Well done mate.
Unicycle next………….
When I was about 9 years old, I pulled a wheely on my friend's (Gareth Saunders) Chopper. Unfortunately, the front wheel fell off, and I woke up in the hospital with severe facial injuries, not knowing how I got there or why I was in pain, with my head bandaged. I have never ridden a Chopper since! My friend's Chopper was different from the one Josh rode in that it had the centre gear-shift lever, styled like the gear-shift levers in old American automatic cars: a tee handle that was pushed forward and pulled back to select gears. The rear tyre also had a coarse, prominent block-and-diamond-style knobbly tread, and of course, it had the full-length banana seat. The Chopper looked the business, but I remember it as being heavy, slow, and cumbersome. My own bike at that time was an old secondhand Royal Enfield with two-tone paint and a Sturmey Archer 3-speed hub gearbox. It looked like something an old granddad would use, wearing a flat cap and plus-fours while drawing on a roll-up cigarette. However, it was considerably faster than the Chopper and more comfortable. It even had a speedometer, and my fastest speed was just under 30 mph; I couldn't quite crack 30 mph.
I have fond memories of my Raleigh chopper! An epic bike on an epic journey! Well done josh loving this one.
Amazing josh well done epic adventure look forward to the next video
Remember one of the kids on our estate had one, to have gears on a bike – whilst most folk were stuck with single speed bmxs. Noticed you met Dave on his Carlisle video 😄
The original Chopper had a neutral gear, perhaps this is the same, so it is working ok, just two speed?
Need the Street Wolf back on the roads
Oh my life! You must have knees of steel riding that
I collect vintage Raleigh choppers and love cycling so watching this has really made my day, fantastic video and well done. 😊
length^