Raleigh Bicycle Company of bicycles is currently owned by the Dutch corporation Accell. In 2006, the Raleigh Chopper was named in the list of British design icons in the Great British Design Quest organised by the BBC and the Design Museum. The history of Raleigh bicycles started in 1885, when Richard Morriss Woodhead from Sherwood Forest, and Paul Eugene Louis Angois, a French citizen, set up a small bicycle workshop in Raleigh Street, Nottingham, England. In the spring of that year, they started advertising in the local press. The "Nottinghamshire Guardian" of 15 May 1885 printed what was possibly the first Woodhead and
Schwinn Bicycle Company accoutrements of motorcycles customized in the "bobber" or "chopper" style, including high-rise, "ape-hanger" handlebars and low-rider "banana seats". Inspired, he designed a mass-production bike for the youth market known as "Project J-38". The result, a wheelie bike, was introduced to the public as the Schwinn "Sting-Ray" in June 1963. It had ape-hanger handlebars, Persons's Solo Polo Seat banana seat and 20-inch tires. Sales were initially slow, as many parents desiring a bicycle for their children did not find the Sting-Ray appealing in the least. However, after a few appeared on America's streets and neighborhoods, many young riders would accept nothing