Okay not that kind of bike but I'm sure you had one or knew someone who
did as a kid.

<https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-01-04/marble-run-and-chopper-bicycle-designer-dies-aged-96>

--
Bruce Horrocks
FJR1300AS

On 04/01/2023 21:20, Bruce Horrocks wrote:
> Okay not that kind of bike but I'm sure you had one or knew someone who
> did as a kid.
>
> <https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-01-04/marble-run-and-chopper-bicycle-designer-dies-aged-96>
>

Never had one, it was only the cool kids that did. (Or those with
parents that let them have everything).

Mate had a Grifter.

--
Bruce Porter
"The internet is a huge and diverse community but mainly friendly"
http://ytc1.blogspot.co.uk/
There *is* an alternative! http://www.openoffice.org/

YTC#1 wrote:

> >
<https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-01-04/marble-run-and-chopper-bicycle-designer-dies-aged-96>
> >
>
> Never had one, it was only the cool kids that did. (Or those with
> parents that let them have everything).

Nor me, my Mum said they were dangerous (or an alternative reading was
"too expensive").

--
Simon

On 05/01/2023 14:37, sweller wrote:
> YTC#1 wrote:
>
>>>
> <https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-01-04/marble-run-and-chopper-bicycle-designer-dies-aged-96>
>>>
>>
>> Never had one, it was only the cool kids that did. (Or those with
>> parents that let them have everything).
>
> Nor me, my Mum said they were dangerous (or an alternative reading was
> "too expensive").
>

Only dangerous to your manhood

--
Bruce Porter
"The internet is a huge and diverse community but mainly friendly"
http://ytc1.blogspot.co.uk/
There *is* an alternative! http://www.openoffice.org/

YTC#1 <bdp@ytc1-spambin.co.uk> wrote in
news:tp6vn5$2sbn3$2@dont-email.me:

>
>
> On 05/01/2023 14:37, sweller wrote:
>> YTC#1 wrote:
>>
>>>>
>> <https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-01-04/marble-run-and-chopper-bic
>> ycle-designer-dies-aged-96>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Never had one, it was only the cool kids that did. (Or those with
>>> parents that let them have everything).
>>
>> Nor me, my Mum said they were dangerous (or an alternative reading
>> was "too expensive").
>>
>
> Only dangerous to your manhood
>

or gob in my spoilt only child friend's case

he had seen someone else wheelie one and decided to have a go and broke his
very new incisor

there was no risk if me injuring myself at that time as I, as the 4th
child, had inherited the bike from the middle two. Both girls. I did not
have a proper boy's bike until my 13th birthday, a 2nd hand Elswick Hopper.
Much better and safer bike.

On 05/01/2023 17:32, wessie wrote:
> YTC#1 <bdp@ytc1-spambin.co.uk> wrote in
> news:tp6vn5$2sbn3$2@dont-email.me:
>
>>
>>
>> On 05/01/2023 14:37, sweller wrote:
>>> YTC#1 wrote:
>>>
>>>>>
>>> <https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-01-04/marble-run-and-chopper-bic
>>> ycle-designer-dies-aged-96>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Never had one, it was only the cool kids that did. (Or those with
>>>> parents that let them have everything).
>>>
>>> Nor me, my Mum said they were dangerous (or an alternative reading
>>> was "too expensive").
>>>
>>
>> Only dangerous to your manhood
>>
>
> or gob in my spoilt only child friend's case
>
> he had seen someone else wheelie one and decided to have a go and broke his
> very new incisor
>
> there was no risk if me injuring myself at that time as I, as the 4th
> child, had inherited the bike from the middle two. Both girls. I did not
> have a proper boy's bike until my 13th birthday, a 2nd hand Elswick Hopper.
> Much better and safer bike.

Blue Raleigh, then mum's ex green shopping bike (with basket) and
finally my brother handed me his 10 speed racer.

--
Bruce Porter
"The internet is a huge and diverse community but mainly friendly"
http://ytc1.blogspot.co.uk/
There *is* an alternative! http://www.openoffice.org/

On 1/5/2023 3:51 AM, YTC#1 wrote:
> On 04/01/2023 21:20, Bruce Horrocks wrote:
>> Okay not that kind of bike but I'm sure you had one or knew someone
>> who did as a kid.
>>
>> <https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-01-04/marble-run-and-chopper-bicycle-designer-dies-aged-96>
>>
>
> Never had one, it was only the cool kids that did. (Or those with
> parents that let them have everything).
>

Neither did I. Dunno what year they came out, but I was too old and big
by then. This was my 1st bike when I was 8. It was prolly a Schwinn.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/turbster/31164634124/in/album-72157676664329092/

--
The erstwhile Thomas
FJR1300, R1200GS & ST1100 (in memoriam)

Turby <xsurf@xmail.com> wrote:
> On 1/5/2023 3:51 AM, YTC#1 wrote:
>> On 04/01/2023 21:20, Bruce Horrocks wrote:
>>> Okay not that kind of bike but I'm sure you had one or knew someone
>>> who did as a kid.
>>>
>>> <https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-01-04/marble-run-and-chopper-bicycle-designer-dies-aged-96>
>>>
>>
>> Never had one, it was only the cool kids that did. (Or those with
>> parents that let them have everything).
>>
>
> Neither did I. Dunno what year they came out, but I was too old and big
> by then. This was my 1st bike when I was 8. It was prolly a Schwinn.
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/turbster/31164634124/in/album-72157676664329092/

I love your "dungarees" with the authentic 50s cuff style.

Is that a soprano trombone you are playing?

I never had an official "chopper", mine was a Schwinn Tornado kid's
bike with 20" wheels, with aftermarket ape hangers and a banana
seat. So, close, but no cigar. My little brother got the real deal
with a 5 speed derailleur stick shift, the lucky shit.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/143729525_1968-schwinn-sting-ray-fastback-5-speed-bicycle

--
FJR1300A, GL1000, KLR650A6F, EX250J9A, DR200SE, Vespa Ciao

On 05/01/2023 20:07, Turby wrote:
> On 1/5/2023 3:51 AM, YTC#1 wrote:
>> On 04/01/2023 21:20, Bruce Horrocks wrote:
>>> Okay not that kind of bike but I'm sure you had one or knew someone
>>> who did as a kid.
>>>
>>> <https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-01-04/marble-run-and-chopper-bicycle-designer-dies-aged-96>
>>>
>>
>> Never had one, it was only the cool kids that did. (Or those with
>> parents that let them have everything).
>>
>
> Neither did I. Dunno what year they came out, but I was too old and big
> by then. This was my 1st bike when I was 8. It was prolly a Schwinn.
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/turbster/31164634124/in/album-72157676664329092/

Very nice but I think I'd stick with a bell.

--
Bruce Horrocks
FJR1300AS

On 1/5/2023 12:36 PM, Mark Olson wrote:
> Turby <xsurf@xmail.com> wrote:
>> On 1/5/2023 3:51 AM, YTC#1 wrote:
>>> On 04/01/2023 21:20, Bruce Horrocks wrote:
>>>> Okay not that kind of bike but I'm sure you had one or knew someone
>>>> who did as a kid.
>>>>
>>>> <https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-01-04/marble-run-and-chopper-bicycle-designer-dies-aged-96>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Never had one, it was only the cool kids that did. (Or those with
>>> parents that let them have everything).
>>>
>>
>> Neither did I. Dunno what year they came out, but I was too old and big
>> by then. This was my 1st bike when I was 8. It was prolly a Schwinn.
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/turbster/31164634124/in/album-72157676664329092/
>
> I love your "dungarees" with the authentic 50s cuff style.
>
I was a young stork (6'4" at 14) so I might have grown into those before
they wore out.

> Is that a soprano trombone you are playing?
>
Beats the heck out of me. I don't remember anything about it. Prolly
trashed it after a few months.
>
> https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/143729525_1968-schwinn-sting-ray-fastback-5-speed-bicycle
>
The Borden's Ice Cream cart (down the page) - now that's something I
could use today.

--
The erstwhile Thomas
FJR1300, R1200GS & ST1100 (in memoriam)

On 05/01/2023 20:07, Turby wrote:
> On 1/5/2023 3:51 AM, YTC#1 wrote:
>> On 04/01/2023 21:20, Bruce Horrocks wrote:
>>> Okay not that kind of bike but I'm sure you had one or knew someone
>>> who did as a kid.
>>>
>>> <https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-01-04/marble-run-and-chopper-bicycle-designer-dies-aged-96>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Never had one, it was only the cool kids that did. (Or those with
>> parents that let them have everything).
>>
>
> Neither did I. Dunno what year they came out, but I was too old and big
> by then. This was my 1st bike when I was 8. It was prolly a Schwinn.
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/turbster/31164634124/in/album-72157676664329092/

Nor I - in 1951 my grandmother bought me a 3-speed Hercules which I rode
as-was until I reached mid-teens, when I embarked on longer excursions.
Our local friendly cycle-shop owner (Sid Stevens - used to build frames
for Claude Butler) fitted a2-peed Huret derailleur gear to the 3-speed
hub for me and while I outgrew it, I used it until I got a BSA Dandy in
1959 - not my choice, you understand - the Old Man insisted I had to
have it, new, on HP. I wanted a tidy little Excelsior displayed in the
window of GBR Motors in Colchester.

The Old Man vetoed this, stating that I needed a a new, reliable machine
for my impending commute to work. (In those days, a parent had control
until you were 21...)

273 is etched on my memory - it's the mileage at which the osddnig Dandy
died - stator unit went itst-up on the A12 near Witham. As soon as I'd
paid the last instalment I (ignoring 21-year rule) I sold the pile of
poo for a fiver, and with that sum bought a 1942 ex-WD G3 DR Matchbox in
its original khaki drab - rigid reat, girders front.

It was actually brand-new, a lorry driverfriend having mistakenly bid
for five of them at the Bicester auctions - he bought all five, four of
them in substantial crates for a fiver. He sold each bike for a fiver,
and the four crates for a quid each.

The Old man went spare, prophesying all sorts of trouble, but I rode it
twice round the clock, only replacing chains, oil and petrol, sorting
the grease gearbox with a dose of oil to stop it screaming, and getting
a new barrel and piston from Nelson & Ford in Barkingside when the
original begged for a rebore.

I wish I still had it... <sob!>

--
Rusty Hinge
To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer and the BOFH.

YTC#1 wrote:

> I did not
> > have a proper boy's bike until my 13th birthday, a 2nd hand Elswick
> > Hopper. Much better and safer bike.
>
> Blue Raleigh, then mum's ex green shopping bike (with basket) and
> finally my brother handed me his 10 speed racer.

Green Raleigh Olympus, *five* speed *racer* - hand me down from my
cousin.

--
Simon

On 06/01/2023 06:18, sweller wrote:
> YTC#1 wrote:
>
>> I did not
>>> have a proper boy's bike until my 13th birthday, a 2nd hand Elswick
>>> Hopper. Much better and safer bike.
>>
>> Blue Raleigh, then mum's ex green shopping bike (with basket) and
>> finally my brother handed me his 10 speed racer.
>
> Green Raleigh Olympus, *five* speed *racer* - hand me down from my
> cousin.
>
Second hand red Raleigh ???? with Sturmey-Archer hub gears. I
misremember how many gears = probably only 3.

I must have got a better one at some point because I remember riding a
bike to secondary school for a while. Only 3 mile4s, but a certain
amount of weaving between buses required. Fortunately there was a way to
avoid the notorious six ways junction.

--
Moto Morini 2C/375, Moto Morini 2C/350
Gilera 175 Sport, Husqvarna 401 Svartpilen
"Do not adjust your mind, there is a fault in the reality"

On Fri, 6 Jan 2023 08:08:17 +0000, Pete Fisher
<peter@ps-fisher.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>On 06/01/2023 06:18, sweller wrote:
>> YTC#1 wrote:
>>
>>> I did not
>>>> have a proper boy's bike until my 13th birthday, a 2nd hand Elswick
>>>> Hopper. Much better and safer bike.
>>>
>>> Blue Raleigh, then mum's ex green shopping bike (with basket) and
>>> finally my brother handed me his 10 speed racer.
>>
>> Green Raleigh Olympus, *five* speed *racer* - hand me down from my
>> cousin.
>>
>Second hand red Raleigh ???? with Sturmey-Archer hub gears. I
>misremember how many gears = probably only 3.

Bitsa bike. Our walk home from school took us through an old Brick
Yard (from Slack Lane to Uttox Old Rd) for Derby-ites, since developed
into a giant retail and gawd0know-whar complex) which was used as an
unofficial dumping ground, and was therefore a great source for old
bike frames and wheels, so any bike I had was made up primarily of
bits I'd salvaged from them.

So a 5-speed 'racer' of some indeterminate make (of frame) but 90-odd
percent were made by Raleigh under different names, so it didn't
really make much difference. 'Simplex' derailleurs needed to be
sourced separately, which involved actual money, if and when I had
any. Also cotter-pins which couldn't always be reused,

Looking back I realise that many of these had probably been stolen
then dumped, but at the time I was just glad of the free resource. The
fact that I also had several bikes nicked over my teenage years will
explain to the observent reader why I used the plural in the previous
paragraphs.

Anyway, it started a trend which I continue to this day of continual
tinkering and improvementm sy current stable includes a Mercian,
updated to late 1990s Shimano kit, and which I still love to ride, a
Cadex (1st-gen carbon fibre frame) MTB, with rigid forks and A-head
from a salvaged Specialized and just one almost-original bike (Focus
mtb), with only the brake controls switched round to UK norm.

--
Ace
http://www.chaletbeauroc.com/

On 05/01/2023 20:36, Mark Olson wrote:
> Turby <xsurf@xmail.com> wrote:
>> On 1/5/2023 3:51 AM, YTC#1 wrote:
>>> On 04/01/2023 21:20, Bruce Horrocks wrote:
>>>> Okay not that kind of bike but I'm sure you had one or knew someone
>>>> who did as a kid.
>>>>
>>>> <https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2023-01-04/marble-run-and-chopper-bicycle-designer-dies-aged-96>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Never had one, it was only the cool kids that did. (Or those with
>>> parents that let them have everything).
>>>
>>
>> Neither did I. Dunno what year they came out, but I was too old and big
>> by then. This was my 1st bike when I was 8. It was prolly a Schwinn.
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/turbster/31164634124/in/album-72157676664329092/
>
> I love your "dungarees" with the authentic 50s cuff style.
>
> Is that a soprano trombone you are playing?
>
> I never had an official "chopper", mine was a Schwinn Tornado kid's
> bike with 20" wheels, with aftermarket ape hangers and a banana
> seat. So, close, but no cigar. My little brother got the real deal
> with a 5 speed derailleur stick shift, the lucky shit.
>
> https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/143729525_1968-schwinn-sting-ray-fastback-5-speed-bicycle
>
Estimate $25 to $250,000 !?
Now that's a helluva variation in an estimate!
Mind ewe, I have a miss-pressing of a King Crimson album that seems to
be worth between £20 and £1000 depending where on ebay I look...

Chris
--
The Deuchars BBB#40 COFF#14
Yamaha XV750SE & Suzuki GS550t
http://www.Deuchars.org.uk