Turning heads on the Raleigh Grifter

Submitted by Jason Cobb

There was something quite majestic about waking up to find a Raleigh Grifter greeting me on Christmas Day morning, 1977. For a seven year-old who had only just graduated out of stabilisers, this was a beast of a bike to master.

Being a Nottingham boy and it just seemed right that my life long love affair with cycling should start with a Raleigh. The factory in the city was still booming, and the Grifter and its related family of bikes were the flagship fleet for Raleigh in the late ’70s.

Along with the bike, I also unwrapped an Adidas tracksuit and a Nottingham Forest - League Champions ‘76 - ‘77 scarf. It was a pivotal moment in my own life history, and one which still defines both me, and my hometown to this day. Raleigh and Forest have both sadly seen better days; I still wear Adidas into my *shhh* 40’s.

The bike itself was simply brilliant for me as I nervously navigated into my teen years. The Grifter was great as the forerunner of BMX’s in the UK. It wasn’t quite a pulling machine for a very young chap, but it certainly did turn heads as I bumped it up and down village curbs.

And then as the teenage years kicked in, so did the BMX craze. I went from being the coolest kid in the village to the one-man bicycle museum. I ditched cycling for a short period and became a Bus Stop Johnny. It would be a couple of decades later when I returned to cycling, and once again became liberated by the love of a bicycle.

I’ve regressed slightly in the bicycle timeline. Mid ’60s Moulton’s are my current passion. But it will forever be that Raleigh Grifter which first gave me the freedom of turning the pedals and seeing where your dreams might take you.

What is your first bike memory? Email us words and/or pictures to bikes@creative-coop.com or over here » we have started Flickr group where you can upload your own photos and add a caption.

Chapeau!