Raleigh Chopper Raleigh Chopper The Raleigh Chopper is a children's bicycle, a wheelie bike, manufactured and marketed in the 1970s by the Raleigh Bicycle Company of Nottingham, England. Its unique design became a cultural icon and is fondly remembered by many who grew up in that period. The design was influenced by dragsters, "chopped" motorcycles, beach buggys, and even chariots, as can be seen on the centre page of the 1969 Raleigh US catalog. The Raleigh Chopper's design has been a constant debate, with claims by both Tom Karen of Ogle Design and Alan Oakley of Raleigh. The Chopper was designed in
Electra Bicycle Company Wall. Erforth said he could sell the kind of bikes Bänziger was designing, so the two pooled $30,000 in personal savings and founded Electra Bicycle Company. The two were the firm's sole shareholders through at least 2004. The new Electra cruisers were manufactured by a Taiwanese contractor and the two partners began trying to sell them to bike shops. At first, "Dealers laughed at us," says Bänziger. "But people realized they didn't need a mountain bike to go to the grocery store." However, when bike shops tried stocking the Electras, they began to sell, and word-of-mouth convinced more dealers to