There are various cycling groups and clubs around the world that feature chopper bicycle riders, such as the SCUL and C.h.u.n.k. Arguably, a bought 'chopper' is not a 'chopper' at all because no chopping was done, only a commercial transaction. Even as commercial interests are taking note of the popularity of choppers and expanding their lines, most riders of choppers have hand built choppers and encourage others to make their own. While the term "chopper" is generally used to describe a motorcycle or bicycle that has had some of its original parts replaced with custom parts, today's definition has grown to include custom motorcycles and bicycles that are low to the ground, usually with extended forks creating a long front end. We’ll have to wait and see whether the release of the new Raleigh Chopper will stimulate further success across the different sides of the business.For the model of bicycle called "Chopper", see Raleigh Chopper.Ī chopper bicycle is a highly customized bicycle whose design, construction and style is similar to that of a chopper-style motorcycle.Ībout A custom build Chopper bicycle Kidger says the electric bike market isn’t growing at the rate Raleigh would like it to, but it’s still double the size it was in 2019, and Raleigh has seen “some real successes over the last five or six years in that market”.Īs an indicator of this success, the Financial Times reports Kidger estimates Raleigh’s share of the UK’s electric bike market to be around 5 per cent and that Raleigh made a pre-tax profit of £2.82m on sales of £74.5m in 2020. Recently, it released the Raleigh Modum, a folding e-cargo bike. It has been adapting to the cargo and electric bike market for a number of years, with ebikes becoming a core part of its business in 2018. The brand was bought in 2012 by the Accell Group, one of the biggest electric bike manufacturers and brand owners in Europe. Kidger says ebikes provide an opportunity for Raleigh to expand: “We’ve identified that as a real growth area for the business, and we’ve pivoted Raleigh into that emerging market,” says Kidger. Kidger hopes the Chopper will appeal to people’s hearts and minds. “Electric bikes are the single biggest benefit to a lot of the challenges the UK faces at the moment, in terms of congestion charges, and net zero and sustainability targets that have come in,” he says. In turn, Raleigh’s electric bikes provide practical solutions to facilitate this move to more frequent cycling, and Kidger suggests they could help people take kids to school, replace a second car and help with wider issues. Kidger says this is where releasing heritage models joins up with the more modern side of Raleigh’s business: electric bikes.īy pulling on the hearts and minds of people in evoking the heritage of the brand through bikes such as the Chopper, Kidger hopes Raleigh will convince people to cycle more. Kidger says the Raleigh Chopper created a “movement” in the 1970s, with the bike encapsulating a sense of joy, freedom and fun.ĭesigning a new Chopper, which so closely resembles Choppers of old, is a way for Raleigh to help people rediscover what Kidger calls the “contagious joy of cycling”. Lee Kidger says Raleigh wants people to rediscover the “contagious joy of cycling”.
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