Solid Bike
God yeah,
Weighed an absolute ton. Crossbar I think was made of a three inch diameter tube of lead.
Could barely lift the damn thing up the kerb.
I went from a Raleigh 18 to a Grifter.
Hehe
I think there was only Popeye and Geoff Capes that could pull a wheelie on a grifter
Had grip gears like a motorbike - add a peg holding cardboard in spokes to make it sound like one! Snapped the bottom tube frame on mine trying to do an unsuccessful jump off a ramp because of the weight 
Had a Tomahawk before that.
Broke my collar bone aged 10 going over a ramp made from a plank of wood propped up by bricks on a mate’s Grifter. Straight onto the front wheel and over the handlebars.
Went home and said I’d hurt myself and my Grandad bawled me out for getting grass stains and mud on my Tee shirt , to add insult to injury 
“no one wanted wings did they?”
Brilliant haha.
They’re only the band the Beatles could have been.
Oh I think there are many interpretations to Paul’s seemingly simple question
Linda this fckn vegi crap won’t take off 
I was with you on the Tomahawk to Grifter progression. Getting a silver Grifter with those grip gears was literally the best day of my life.
The thing is that the Grifter was on the arc that inevitably led to the bmx. The Chopper, however, was unique. And deadly. And punk.
I lusted after and got a black Grifter with red Tron like graphics😎. It managed to be heavy and weak. I bent several pairs of forks doing jumps.
BMXs arrived about 2minutes later and it was quickly redundant
Do you remember ’tracker’ bikes? Not a brand but a style. Like a racing bike but with straight handlebars. You had to make your own from parts.
In my village we had a traveller family who worked on the fairs. Their lad always had bikes and parts for sale… no questions asked!
From trackers it was onto bmx. I never bought a complete bike. Always built from parts and then traded amongst friends. New bars, new stem, new cranks etc. Became a skilled bmx mechanic in the end. Also used to spray paint everything ourselves. Bright pink, signal green, stove grey. The smell of spray paint (and later two stroke petrol) is a huge childhood memory.
Great days.
I don’t remember tracker bikes. Our spray paint efforts went straight on the wall. Me and my mate tagged as King Porn & Dr Jerkoff. But when we tagged the wall it was pishing with rain and went all streaky. Really awful.
I remember a shake and fingerpop warehouse party in kings cross (I think) and Norman Jay had loads of his choppers hung up in the roof…
I rest my case for the caché of the chopper!
I remember seeing him cruising through London on one a few years ago - what a don