1969 Raleigh Rodeo
(first posted 8/27/2014) One fine fall day in 1970, my father and I headed out to get my first brand new wheels. Dad’s parents came from Scotland, so he insisted on finding something British. This of course meant a longer drive to a dealer, and thus more time for me to get excited. I spent the drive thinking of the open road and the places I could go, and of how great it would be not to have to worry about those clunking noises coming from under me while struggling up a hill.
Soon enough we pulled into the alley by the dealer, got out of the Saab (anglophile or not, his own choice of car was driven by Mom’s Swedish background) and walked in. While Dad talked to the dealer, I walked around the showroom, and there it was in the corner: low, sporty, and very blue; not practical and black like what Dad had in mind. So what was the vehicle that caught my eye? An MG? A TR6? A Lotus? Well, not exactly. It was 1970, I was turning eight, and the wheels were a bicycle. The bike in question was a Raleigh Rodeo, and the dealer was Drexel Hill Cyclery, outside of Philadelphia. 44 years later, both the bike and the shop still exist and look very much like they did that September day.
Similar to the hot rods occasionally seen here on CC, the 1950s saw a huge growth in custom motorcycles, especially in California. As others did with cars, the bikers customized their Harleys and Indians; handlebars were an obvious thing to customize, resulting in the “ape hanger” handlebar.
Sonny Barger of Hells Angels with ape hanger bars on his chopper, 1959
Meanwhile, in a culture about as opposite as you can get, Persons Majestic – an American bicycle seat and accessory manufacturer – was trying to get Americans interested in playing polo… on bicycles. The owner of the company had apparently seen bicycle polo in Europe. To make it easier to control the bike (using the legs) while holding a polo mallet in one hand, they used a long narrow bike seat that had to be held up at the back by a hoop attached at the rear axle; Persons started making them for the US market.
Bicycle Polo, 1956. Courtesy londonbikepolo.wordpress.com/
Bicycle polo never caught on in the US, but California teens soon realized that the seat made a bike look more like a motorcycle. As their fathers did with cars and motorcycles, they modified their old bikes using the Persons polo seat and tall handlebars like those on custom motorcycles, and the high-riser bike was born.
A high riser, even called a polo bike after the seat.
In 1963, Schwinn released the Sting Ray, and the high riser came to the masses. It was an instant hit, and every bike manufacturer soon had their own version. Raleigh, the English manufacturer of conservative, traditional “English racing bikes” like the one my Dad wanted me to buy, came out with the Rodeo in 1966. The Rodeo had two major differences from the Sting Ray.
Raleigh Rodeo and Fireball page from the 1969 catalog. Courtesy Sheldon Brown / Retro Raleighs
First was the thick, pleated, even more motorcycle-like “dragster” seat, made for Raleigh by Brooks, the premier English bicycle seat manufacturer.
Brooks label on the saddle.
The second difference was that the Rodeo had narrow 1-3/8” tires more like a racing bike (the Sting Ray had 2 ½” tires). (Apparently this difference concerned Schwinn somewhat, as they came out with the Fastback in 1967, essentially a Stingray with narrow tires. Conversely, in 1968 Raleigh released the Fireball, a Rodeo with wider tires.)
Narrow slick rear tire and Huret derailleur gears. (The slick is actually a Schwinn; the Rodeo originally had a pretty cool Dunlop tire, which I quickly wore out.)
As shown in the catalog, mine has the one-year-only derailleur gears; previous years had internal hub shifting in 3-speed or the unique 3+2 five speed “twin shift” version.
Chain guard and cottered crank.
Raleigh added several cool touches, like the “R” nut on the front wheel. These are hard to find now. eBay is pretty amazing.
Raleigh headbadge – not just a decal. Note the drip of brazing – not exactly perfect QC.
The Rodeo never sold nearly as well as any Schwinn Stingray; perhaps the relative unpopularity of the Rodeo explains why my bike, purchased in late 1970, was a 1969 model. I rode the Rodeo hard for five years. It took me all over southern Chester County Pennsylvania, to my friends’ houses, to buy apples or doughnuts at Nussex Farms, and just to see what was over the next hill. In a very real way that bike cemented my love for exploration and road trips that lasts today.
Raleigh Chopper page from the 1969 Raleigh catalog. Courtesy Sheldon Brown / Retro Raleighs
In 1969 Raleigh released the more popular (and wilder) Chopper to compete with the popular Schwinn Sting Ray “Krate” versions, but in less than 10 years high-rise bikes would be all but gone, replaced by BMX bikes (which, like today’s SUVs, rarely saw the dirt they were ostensibly created for).
Schwinn Orange Krate ad. Note that both the Krate and Chopper ads have dragsters.
When I turned 13, the Rodeo was passed on to my younger sister and replaced with a brand new Raleigh Grand Prix, also from the Drexel Hill Cyclery; when she turned 13 and got her own Grand Prix, the Rodeo was hung in the garage.
1976 Grand Prix catalog page. Mine was this exact color/model.
We continued to go to Drexel Hill Cyclery for all our maintenance and repairs until I moved away. After my father passed away, I retrieved the Rodeo and set about getting it ready for my kids to ride. The seat had been replaced with something more feminine (and not torn) when my sister rode it, and the original pedals had been replaced in the ‘70s (I rode so far I quickly wore out the bushings (not bearings!) on the originals).
Through the wonders of eBay I actually found originals of both the seat and pedals, along with the correct ribbed derailleur cable housing, tires, and brake blocks. Cleaning the chrome took a lot of elbow grease (it’s still not great), and I had a local vintage bike specialist (Jim Cunningham of CyclArt in Vista, California) straighten out the fork. (I had obviously crashed hard at least once. Apparently I was lucky that time, as I was still able to have children, despite the stylish-but-risky placement of the shift lever.) Though they didn’t appreciate it quite as much as I had hoped, my older son did ride it in our local parade a couple of times, and my younger son rode it for several months before deciding he’d rather ride his rather more modern mountain bike. But I am still very glad to have a connection to a really great part of my childhood.
View from the seat. It’s still fun to ride it around the cul-de-sac where I live.
That’s not quite the whole story though. I have continued to ride throughout my life. At 13, I rode the aforementioned Raleigh Grand Prix across the state of Pennsylvania, from near Philly to near Erie. Later, each fall through high school, I rode 100 miles on my birthday with the local bicycle club. Then, for graduation from college, I asked for a Cannondale touring bike (the engineer in me was fascinated with the new aluminum technology), with the plan of riding cross country (alas, unfulfilled). Though I soon moved away from Philadelphia, somewhere I learned that one of the sons of the bike shop’s owner (who had served us back in the day) was making custom bicycles. Harry Havnoonian had attended Drexel University for mechanical engineering and used his engineering skills to make frames, initially for his brother Frank (current owner of the shop) who raced, quite successfully.
HH Racing Group Professional custom.
In 1995 I got a good bonus from work and decided to treat myself to a custom bike. I contacted Harry, went to his shop (then located in in south Philly) for a fitting and to pick out the components for a new HH Racing Group Professional. I was tired of the harsh ride of my Cannondale so I ordered an old-school lugged-and-brazed steel frame. (Modern carbon forks have made large-diameter aluminum frames more comfortable than my Cannondale was, but good steel frames are typically both stiff and comfortable.) Though I had initially wanted Reynolds 531 tubing, Harry suggested Vitus tubing. (Vitus is best known for their pioneering bonded aluminum frames, but they also make very light steel tubesets.)
Flying buttress lugs on the bottom bracket.
The lugs are unique, with long points and “flying buttress” webbing, which (especially at the bottom bracket) makes the frame quite stiff and responsive but still fairly light. It has wishbone seat stays which, though common now, were unusual then, a custom HH Racing titanium seatpost, and even a painted-to-match Zefal pump. The color is almost the same blue as the Rodeo, but with a purple fade. I also spec’d all European parts – all Campagnolo, no Shimano.
Seat cluster and HH-signature reversed brake
One interesting feature is Harry’s signature reversed rear brake. Besides allowing the mechanic to work quickly on everything from one side (Harry was often his brother’s race mechanic), he feels it improves braking. It is still my primary ride after nearly 20 years.
Postscript: Last week I was in the Philadelphia area with my son who is (gulp) looking at colleges there. We drove back through Drexel Hill and found the shop. We parked and went in. It looks almost exactly the same now as it did in 1970, and is in fact owned by the original owner’s son Frank Havnoonian (who is himself about to retire). It is the oldest continuously operating bike shop in Delaware County, and it still sells Raleighs, as it has since Frank’s father opened the doors in 1969.
Drexel Hill Cyclery, 703 Burmont Road. Drexel Hill, PA 19026
Except for the bikes, the inside has hardly changed sing Drexel Hill Cyclery opened in 1969.
Further reading:
Retro Raleighs: http://sheldonbrown.com/retroraleighs/
High risers, now more commonly known as muscle bikes:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2005-07-03/travel/0507030170_1_bicycle-shops-swing-bike-ride
Pictures of an amazing variety of muscle bikes from a (now closed) museum: http://www.nemusclebikes.com/index.php
Frame building video of Harry Havnoonian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lizwOdOEEBc
Drexel Hill Cyclery: http://www.drexelhillumc.org/dhcyclery/
Wow, this brings back memories. I had something very much like the Schwinn Orange Krate. And, yes, I ditched it for a BMX bike.
Back in the 60’s, I had a Schwinn Banana Bike, named after their banana seats.
Thing must have weighed 60 pounds!
A great read – I had no idea that Raleigh made a bike like the Schwinn Stingray. I first heard of Raleigh when my dad and stepmom bought a pair of them. The place where we had always bought our Schwinns (Kern’s Toyland) had started handling Raleigh.
Your timing is interesting, as I started a post on one of my old bikes just a few days ago. In addition to the one I am writing up, Mrs. JPC still has an old English Hercules bike in the garage, and I still have a 1970s vintage yellow Stingray in the basement that I bought for my kids to ride when they were starting out.
The store under the single longtime ownership is a really cool part of the story. Glad you still have your bike to enjoy.
Thanks for the good word.
Does your wife’s Hercules have the rod brakes? A feature on a bike with those would be interesting.
Do not believe it does. I have never seen brakes of the design in your picture.
Those rod brakes were not very common in the US, as the Brit bike makers had pretty much switched over to cable caliper brakes by the time the British Bike Invasion was in full swing. I saw a few back in the day. I think they made them for a longer time for domestic consumption.
Let me get writing – it’ll take a couple of months, as I’m in the middle of fall re-enactment production.
I’ve got a Raleigh Tourist (DL-1) which is one of my favorite ride. Not only are we talking rod brakes, but a much more lax frame geometry. The bike rides very smoothly, but is the absolute opposite of a quick handling bicycle.
And its an old design. Go back and look at some of the village scenes in any season of “Downton Abbey” and look at what they’re riding. Bingo! My Tourist is a 1973, but other than decals, chainguard and shift lever, its identical to the first model from 1913.
That’s what I thought! I used to have a 3 speed Raleigh Sports, with the Brooks leather saddle. Used Neats’ Foot Oil to keep that seat supple.
Don’t remember the Rodeo but Raleigh Choppers were all over the UK in the late 60s/early 70s.My brother had a custard yellow chopper which ended up being passed on to my sister
Ha! I figured you’d be an early commenter! If your brother still had the Chopper, it would be worth quite a lot.
I am not sure the Rodeo was ever released in the UK – it may have been a US-only model.
We had a couple of Rodeo’s at A.R. Adams Cycle in Erie back in 1969-70, but the Chopper was way more popular with the kids.
I had a Schwinn Sting-Ray with the “banana” seat. And yes I left it for a BMX bike later in the 70’s.
Great article! I actually had a Raleigh Chopper XT101 when I was a kid. It had typical British engineering flaws — the 3-speed stickshift had an indicator with the gears backward. The fix? An orange sticker placed on top with the gears shown in the correct order.
Other than that, it was an extraordinary bike that was practically indestructible. We used to have bicycle demolition derbys in the cul-de-sac behind our house. The small front wheel gave me an advantage over my opponents. Even that didn’t kill it…
Finally, in desperation — I really wanted a Peugeot 10-speed — I started to leave the bike outside at night. Someone finally did me a favor and took it. But…that didn’t mean anyone was going to get me a new bike. Noooo! For a while, I had to ride my mother’s Raleigh Twenty folding bike, complete with tartan fabric rear cargo box. Oh, the humiliation!
The story has a happy ending. My parents finally relented and got me a Jeunet 10-speed, which was a Peugeot sub-brand. Never really popular, but it got me through several more years, despite my abuse…
A Raleigh 20? Oh dear, the humiliation.
As near as I can tell, the entire driveline for the Rodeo came from the 20 – hence the narrow tires. When I was looking for parts on eBay, I found the pedals from someone who was parting our a 20.
What humiliation? I have one now, its the bike that gets put in the back of the car when I drop it off for service on the way to work. And, next Saturday, it’ll be getting me all around Richmond International Raceway for the NASCAR race. Sure beats walking.
I had one of those new back in 1973 (traded my ivory Raleigh Sports) for daily transportation. Only mine was converted with a three speed rear cog on the Sturmey Archer AW hub, with a Huret Allvit derailleur to drive it. Nine speed folder.
I don’t know about you, but my skin is lot thicker at age 50+ than it was at age 12 (except when I crash!)
But yes, folding bikes make a lot of sense for adult transport.
Only ever had three bikes in my life. The first was a Brit Dunelt 26″ single speed, which was a mighty big bike for a third grader, but I was exceptionally tall, and the bike did have a downward slope on the rear of the frame like the one in the picture here.
I eventually stripped it of the fenders, chain guard, and tilted the handlebars down. It was like a “modern” fixie” fixed gear single, but did have freewheeling and coaster brake. I was ahead of my time.
Although I was jealous of the kids with their Sting Rays, I could easily outrun them, which was handy when I was being chased (I wasn’t exactly popular in grade school, being a foreigner and all).
I rode that bike all over Iowa City, to all the car dealers and garages, and such. All weekend, I’d be out on my own, riding all over town on that Dunelt.
Bikes were totally uncool in preppy Towson, so it languished and got tossed out eventually.
My second bike was a 10-speed Belgian Vainqueur, with a whopping 271/4″ frame (seriously); I’ve never seen one that tall again anywhere. I bought it for that reasons, as I could just barely straddle it at 6’4″, and I figured no one would be able to steal it! Which was the case…I rode all over Iowa, and commuted down Century Blvd in LA in rush hour on it.
But I foolishly gave it away when I came in to some money and decided I wanted a new bike, a 10 speed Novarra from REI. It wasn’t really any better, although I did eventually convert it to an 18 speed, and I still ride that. It has a pretty tall frame too (26″). I do like a butted steel-tube bike. I’ll probably have it forever.
Stephanie and I also have a tandem, a Burley built in Eugene. Great bike.
Pity you still don’t have that Vainqueur. There’s quite a few collectors who go absolutely ga-ga over Belgian bikes.
Fun article, and great memories. Your Raleigh Grand Prix caught my attention, I, too, had (and still do have) a 1979 Raleigh Grand Prix, it’s silver with blue accents, purchased new at a cyclery in Irvine in Orange County when I lived there in the late 70’s-early 80’s. Rode it all over the hills of south Orange County and by the beach in Newport Beach, and later, often at San Onofre State Park and through Camp Pendleton, where the old Hwy. 101 was retained and turned into a bike/hiking path. Haven’t ridden it in a long time, unfortunately, and it’s a mite dusty now, but still in great condition. It has moved with me countless times, although it languishes in the garage and I look at it longingly with best intentions of replacing the tires and riding it again.
When my parents took me on their shopping trips to the local department store in 1963, I lusted after the radical new Sting-Ray on display. It was like no other bicycle on Earth, and was perfectly sized for my nine year old self. Unfortunately, I ended up with a less expensive Texas Ranger imitation. Just as Jerry Seinfeld never got a GI Joe and had to settle for an Army Pete, I never got close to owning an actual Sting-Ray. There may have been Raleighs in our West Texas town, I don’t recall ever seeing one in person.
When I was a kid in the late 70’s/early 80’s, the Chopper was the bike to have. They were unusual in Sweden, but there were some. And the kid who got one was the absolute king over seven counties. I distinctly remember the frame and the seat, but above all, the gear shifter placed on the frame, and looking like a real gear shifter, from a real car! I can’t tell you have incredibly cool that feature was for us 5-7 year olds. It was just so amazingly incredibly cool. Perhaps the single coolest feature ever made for a bike. But yes, as fads come and go, when that fad went they became yesterdays news real fast. I remember in ’83-’84, and the BMX-fad. Everybody, absolutely everybody had to have a BMX. And they got one. I was the only one in my class that didn’t get one. I remember it well, as I was taunted about it. It’s actually amazing how conformist kids can be.
A great read and nice breather from cars/trucks. I don’t remember seeing Raleigh Rodeos or Choppers out here in CA; I had a new Fastback myself.
Love your road bikes – I’ve never seen a buttressed bottom bracket shell. Does someone in your family still have the Grand Prix?
Steel may not be sexy for bike frames these days probably because it’s associated with us old guys. But to ride a steel frame is to love one.
Funny you should ask. During my trip back east I visited my sister in NJ and found out that it is still in her garage. I had assumed it was sold after the house was cleaned out years ago, but apparently not.
Absolutely agree about steel frames (obviously). A good steel frame is perhaps the bicycle equivalent of a straight-6: it’s old tech, sure, but it is very smooth, durable and performs quite well.
Glad to hear it’s still around, back in it’s time I would have loved to have had one. Heck, even now it looks quite appealing as does the HH.
Wondrous timing on an interesting comment.
This past Saturday, Richmond, VA had its annual bike swap at the Museum of Fine Arts parking garage. As I’m really, really, really trying to get my personal collection down below fifteen bikes I took a long look over what I’ve been riding, what’s been gathering dust, and what will never ever leave the collection.
Bottom line: my two modern, brifter equipped, road bikes were both sold, as well as a Schwinn CrissCross I’d used for work commuting for a few years.
Which means I’m currently down to 14 bikes, and only one (the Montague folder I keep at work for daily commuting) is not a steel frame. For that matter, all my road bikes are steel with down tube shifters, and only two are as advanced as six-speed indexed shifting.
The modern stuff is nice, but it just don’t hold a candle to a good steel frame. For the record I’ve got seven road bikes, three folders, and four three speeds (another passion of mine).
Despite the old-school frame, my HH has Ergo shifters, and I do really like them. (Only 8 speed though, as was current for 1995)
OTOH, I kept the Cannondale frame and set it up as a cyclo-cross. It now sports old Campy down tube shifters, controlling an even older Campy Rally derailleur, and 1st gen Campy mt bike cantilever brakes. Old school components on a new(ish) style frame. Of course I don’t race, but I love the looks I get from the young guys on mountain bikes that look like Transformers when they see me on a mountain-top single track on what looks to them like a road bike.
Having owned just 1 Raleigh before switching to the Panasonic brand, I’m amazed that Raleigh produced something like this (but then I had never heard of bicycle polo before today). I think I’m almost as amazed that Schwinn copied design features from Raleigh and vice versa.
Actually, Schwinn copied what the kids were doing with their 20″ wheel regular bicycles. After the Sting Ray took off, everybody else copied Schwinn.
Well, yes, absolutely. But I think he was referring to the Schwinn Fastback (narrow tired like the Raleigh Rodeo), and the Raleigh Fireball (wider tired like the Sting Ray).
Paul N.
One of the reasons why I switched from a Raleigh to the Panasonic brand was also for the bigger / taller frame. In the 80s, dealers for Panasonic had 2 or 3 (slightly)different mens models that topped 27 inches. I took one of them (I’ve owned 4 over the years)”back home” while on deployment in the Navy. For weeks I locked it when I went out in town but then realized that no Japanese man was tall enough to ever ride it. I sold it to a very tall female co-worker and replaced it with another.
My current Panasonic is nearly 30 years old. These bikes are like late 60s Chevy Impalas: big, heavy, and built to last.
Panasonic was probably the best mass-market frame builder in Japan. You’d be amazed how many other marques were actually Panasonic frames. Start with the first Japanese built Schwinns (World Traveler and Voyageur), Lotus, Univega and, I think, Nishiki.
After destroying my first two-wheeler, a red Sears 20″ at 8 years old, I desperately wanted a Schwinn Krate Bike. I didn’t even care which one. The Schwinn’s were very expensive and therefore out of the question since I had been so hard on the old bike.
We went off to Children’s Palace, a toy superstore that had a large selection of bikes and I ended up with a Huffy that was called the “Wheel”. It was blue with a Banana seat, sissy bar, Red-line tires and best of all, a steering wheel in place of handlebars. I’m sure it was priced around $40. I rode that bike until I moved up to my first 10-speed, a blue Azuki at age 13.
I also had the Sears version, as it was significantly less than the Schwinn. Mine was gold with white stripes on the fenders, a black banana seat, and an octagonal reflector light on the back.
Children’s Palace. I worked there for just over five years after high school and during college. Had a bunch of different duties but my primary job for the bulk of my time there was bike mechanic. Mostly I assembled bikes (and swing sets, toy boxes, table and chair sets, whatever) as well as warranty repairs on bikes (“Honest, it just fell off!”)
Built countless Huffy and Columbia ten speeds along with the endless stream of Murray BMX bikes (this was the early eighties) Yup, few of them ever left the pavement (unlike my bike back in the day when we were always out in the woods riding trails on out non-bmx, non-mountain bikes.)
Toward the end of my time there the corporate lords and masters decided to sub-contract bike assembly to save time and money – supposedly the “Bicycle Technicians” were better than any lowly “mechanic” at the job. You know the difference between a “Bicycle Technicians” and a mechanic? The mechanic knows what he is doing. Those twits tossed bikes together and never adjusted a thing, hell, they never checked a thing….which is why they were so fast. Clearly almost 30 years later and I am still annoyed – I must have “issues.”
No, you do an honest job. What you describe is why one should be buying bikes at a bicycle shop. Even WalMart has a few good bikes in their lines (the high priced ones, of course). The problem is their just rough assembled, not set up.
“You know the difference between a “Bicycle Technicians” and a mechanic? The mechanic knows what he is doing. Those twits tossed bikes together and never adjusted a thing, hell, they never checked a thing…which is why they were so fast. Clearly almost 30 years later and I am still annoyed – I must have “issues.””
You and me, both.
“Thanks” for the memories. I’d almost managed to forget this hateful nugget from my past.
I was employed at a Nation-wide Mass Merchandiser, in the automotive department. Had just managed to work my way up to “Full-Time” status when they announced that 50% profit on car parts was no way to make money when they were getting 300% profit on cosmetics and ladies’ clothing. The stand-alone Auto Centers were to be sold to Firestone, the employees had a good chance at keeping their jobs but with a different company writing the paychecks; those auto centers “built-into” the smaller stores like the one in my town were just closed.
“Bike Mechanic”? No, I was an “Auto Mechanic”. As the auto center was winding down, among the many crap jobs handed to us was assembling bicycles. I’d pull them out of the boxes, put ’em together, adjust “everything” as if it was my own bike; and then drive myself crazy trying to get the wheels both straight and round, which makes the bikes ride better, AND allows adjusting the caliper brakes tighter. Apparently, whoever was in charge of QA at “the factory” where the wheels were assembled had no idea what was required. I hate wire-spoke wheels to this day.
FWIW, I believe those frame-mounted shifters were outlawed in around 1974. The fad was mostly gone about that time, anyway, but it was likely the final nail in the coffin. Those ape-hanger bikes with their 20″ tires were ‘slow’ and ten-speeds soon took over.
Mine was an el cheapo Huffy ‘Cheater Slick’ single speed from K-Mart.
It’s a wonder males of my generation were able to reproduce…all the times we’d ‘collide’ with the shifter during the inevitable bike wreck…No wonder the shifters were outlawed.
I remember my brother walking like John Wayne after banging his town halls on the gear shifter
Oh, don’t ‘dis the Cheater Slick! Where I grew up (northern Ohio) Huffy ruled – and few in my neck of the woods could afford a Schwinn (let alone an English bike.) Rode my Cheater Slick everywhere.
Loved the way the tire would squeal (like a car!) when you stood on the brake and skidded – wore that rear tire out in no time, dad was pissed.
We rode those high-rise bikes all over the woods, trails, construction sites – we basically treated them like mountain bikes before anyone had ever seen one. By the time BMX bikes started showing up most of the woods and trails had been replaced by split-level houses. Yay seventies style.
Great article. I got a red Sears “good” Stingray knock-off for my 10th birthday in 1970, to replace an old hand-me-down Huffy, which was of course eventually replaced with the inevitable 10-speed. It’s funny how we Americans used to refer to an ordinary English 3-speed bike as an “English Racer.” Back when I had my “good” bike, my mom had a Raleigh 3-speed, and it wasn’t bad, but it was no “racer.” In those days, it was really, really uncommon to see an adult riding a bicycle, at least in Small Town America. The only grownup in our neighborhood who ever rode a bike was Mom, and even she didn’t go for a ride that often. People would never fail to comment on it: “I saw your mother riding her BICYCLE.” Oh, the horror!
The horror stories I could tell you about doing bicycle commuting on a daily basis back in 1969 – when the only people riding bikes on a daily basis were the mentally ‘different’, the terminal DUI cases, and me.
It was amazing what drivers could get away with in their behavior towards you. Even the cops . . . .
I remember a couple of kids from the old neighborhood had Choppers. We thought those were some exotic machines!
Great article and I have seen the Raleigh bikes at classic bike shows, which was their answer to the Schwinn Stingrays. As a boy I had to make do with a white and purple girls bike. About 7 years ago I bought a Walmart reproduction of a Stingray for $60,thinking my 6 year old would be interested in driving it (he was not). Trolling craigslist 4 years ago, at age 43, I found a 1976 Stingray fastback, very nice, for $150.00 sitting in someones shed. The seller was younger and when he was coming up the bike was a hand me down, and everybody wanted BMX bikes, so it sat for 30 years. The only thing missing was the stick shift, which Schwinn dropped in 72 in favor of a thumb lever. I finally got the bike I always wanted…take that Dad. I sold the repro to two nice Mexican dudes who were absolutely thrilled to get it. The world was finally in balance.
Great to see a bicycle article on here. I have a rotating fleet bike boom era English 10-speeds for my commute to work, including a ’76 Raleigh GP in that same red shown in the catalog. Other than the pedals and saddle, it’s all original. I’ve often thought that there should be a Curbside Classic-like site for bicycles, as I’m just as prone to stopping to admire the occasional 40+ year old cottered oddity locked up on the sidewalk as I would most of the cars discussed here.
Just walk around any college campus. Since #1 son is a high school senior, we visited a lot of colleges in early August. (13 in 9 days). On every one I saw many bikes of 70s vintage. Some had of course been transformed into the hipster fixie, but just as many were complete and original. I was quite surprised.
I’ve run over 75 70’s 10-speeds through my shop as ‘fix and flips’ (refurbish the bike then sell it to a college student) in the past five years. A lot of them are Raleighs, GP’s are very popular.
Actually, I find I can sell a Raleigh for about $15.00 more than most Japanese bikes. Peugeot’s and Schwinn’s are the only other brands that command that kind of price premium.
Good reputations last.
This year is the first that I don’t have an inventory of bikes ready for the incoming VCU students. A combination of getting back into re-enactment costuming and sellers are getting ridiculous about what they want for a rusted out old bike that’s been sitting the shed for a couple of decades.
Great article! I still have my silver ’82 Raleigh Competition GS from my college days. Very light and top o’ the line for its day…double butted Reynolds 531 frame, Campy crankset and derailleurs, Weinmann rims and QR hubs… all top-notch stuff back then. The original Brooks saddle is missing, but otherwise it’s intact and and in great condition. Still ride it, too.
Wow, I never knew about the Rodeo. I do remember the Choppers, which were a desirable alternative to a Sting Ray. I had a different brand of Stingray knockoff that was sold at Pep Boys.
It doesn’t surprise me that Drexel Hill Cyclery has been there that long. Pretty much all of Drexel Hill and the neighboring community of Lansdowne are frozen in time like that; they are about as Mayberry as you get in the whole Philly area.
After I visited the shop I drove by the apartment complex that I had lived in until I was three, just a few blocks from the shop (Drexelbrook). I could even pick out the exact building, as it is one of the only ones with two distinct wings.
I moved out close to 50 years ago, yet it still looks quite respectable. That would never happen here in SoCal. Pretty amazing really, and part of why I do miss living in the northeast.
We had a British born neighbor who was related to the royals (she looked like a butterfaced version of Queen Elizabeth, the resemblance was very strong) who rode only Raleighs, of course. She had a red Rodeo for a while, then about 1975 or so, she gave it to her oldest kid who was about 9, and got a new Raleigh 10(I think) speed. She was riding that thing until at least ’85, hours every day. She was a very odd person in so many ways, her husband was very controlling and she was “required” to ride like 120 miles a week during the months it was safe to do so, and ride an exercize bike inside during the cold/rainy months. He picked out her clothes and she had all kinds of oddball rules. She drove an orange VW Beetle and had to account for all the miles she put on it, in writing. I always wondered what he did to her if she broke a rule..There were all kinds of rumors..
Oh boy! I love bikes, too. I just sold three, but still have 14 (!) in the basement. Here’s my favorite: a 1972 Raleigh Sports… I have since replaced the old Brooks seat with a new one (the old one split), replaced the tires, and added an air pump.
And here’s a ’77 Sting-Ray I picked up quite inexpensively last year…
Nice article C. I’m not sure if those gonad munching gear shifters were banned over here, I remember them on mine and my brother’s bikes back in the late 70s.
The one I chuckle over is that Sturmey-Archer ‘twin stick’ five speed internally geared hub put on these bikes. I remember seeing a few Raleigh Choppers equipped that way. They were replaced very quickly with five speed derailleurs because the design wasn’t exactly one of Sturmey Archer’s brighter, or more reliable, moments.
What you had was a (right lever) Sturmey Archer AW 3-speed, with the left lever being an over- or under-drive depending on whether you were in first or third on the right lever. It was an in-out operation on the left side. Raleigh had been using them on the Sprite (an adult bike, a roadster varient of the Sports ‘English racer’); where they worked rather well as long as they were cared for. However, give them to a kid . . . . .
I’ve got a guy dropping a Sprite off to me tonight – haven’t messed with one of those hubs in years.
Very popular here among young girls, as long as I can remember. The official generic term: a Granny-bike.
Basically you ride a bike until the day you die. The oldest man I know who still rides a bike daily is now 93 years old. Then again, he also still drives a VW Transporter daily. And he climbs a ladder, wearing wooden shoes, to pick fruits.
Wow best read this month. My first job was in a true Raleigh bike ship in Tampa. It’s still there but rebuilt into a megastore a couple times over. I never had a Rodeo but a couple knock-off imported Stingrays and then we went nuts on the BMX bikes. The Yamaha Moto-Bike being the top dog with shocks. Thanks for the memory lane stroll
I wanted a Crate of any flavor. I got my brothers hand me down 3 speed. 2 years later I got my first new bike, a Schwinn Varsity 10 speed.
The shop where our family bought all our bikes (Hazel Park Schwinn) closed years ago but people who work on bikes will know of them. As a big dealer they worked on so many bikes they invented a frame clamp bike stand and wheel truing stand that sold so well they shut down their bike shop and started selling tools as Park Tool.
One thing that drives me nuts about bicycles, they always come set up with the rear brake on the right lever. As somebody who has been around motorcycles most of my life, I gotta have the front brake on the right lever. Easy fix of course. Nice bike you have there. I completely forgot about Raleigh bikes.
As a 1960s kid, Schwinn bikes as financially unattainable as Cadillacs, so it was typically something (else) from Sears. I swear I have had no idea all these years where the term “polo seat” or “polo bike” came from—who knew?
When the 10-speed craze hit in the early 1970s, I got a budget-line Gitane, and–purely for sentiment—regret selling it off years ago. Having a bike “in storage” takes up much less space than a car, of course—–and it doesn’t much deteriorate as long as it’s out of the weather. Maybe I’ll scout eBay for a replacement!
Speaking of English bikes. If I ever come into a pile of money I would splurge on a Moulton mountain bike. The frame radiates nuclear levels of coolness. A trellis folding frame I could stare at for days.