Wheelie bike speedometers, windshields, hand grip streamers, headlights, taller sissy bars, axle spinners, and back rests such as shown on this bicycle: The Raleigh Chopper was the best selling children's bicycle in the UK. The wheelie bike fad drove bicycle sales to over 4 million units in the US, and accounted for 75% of total US bicycle sales in 1968, but it also helped contribute to the impression in the US that bicycles are merely children's toys. Dangerous features, such as shifters mounted on the top tube, were banned in the US in 1974. The wheelie bike fad even attracted the attention
Kona Bicycle Company Kona Bicycle Company Kona Bikes is a bicycle company based in the Pacific Northwest. The company was founded in 1988 by Dan Gerhard and Jacob Heilbron in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Still owned by Gerhard and Heilbron, their world headquarters are located in Ferndale, Washington, with Canadian distribution offices in Vancouver, and European distribution offices in Geneva, Switzerland. Gerhard and Heilbron worked initially with Mountain Bike Hall of Fame rider Joe Murray to create a range of custom steel hardtails. Kona was the first brand to produce a complete range of sloping top tube design mountain bike frames. Paul Brodie