Wheelie bike of non-bicycle manufacturers that developed and sold add-on products, such as the Wham-O wheelie bar. Though initially a US fad, wheelie bikes also became popular in the UK, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. Australia had its own Malvern Star Dragster, ,Brazil had its own Monark Tigrão., and in Norway, Øglænd made the DBS Tomahawk. The former The Shaggs singer Dot Wiggin recorded the song "Banana Bike" in 2013 as a tribute to her sister Helen, who died in 2006. Helen owned a yellow imported Raleigh Chopper that she used to keep fit with, that Dot found amusing that a
Chicago Bicycle Company of Champion Cycles, also in Vermont, to design a marketable bicycle concept that would appeal to commuters and people wishing to have a practical alternative to the mountain bike and road bike without the complication of derailleurs, and above all, made in the U.S. The bicycles sold for $500– $1000, depending on hubs, and options chosen by the customer. They used internal gear hubs from Sachs, with drum, or internal brakes, to avoid the complications of vulnerable external mechanisms. The bikes would later become known as "comfort cruisers", and though CBC was unsuccessful in marketing, famed bicycle maker and MTB