G3CWI
Veteran
- Location
- Macclesfield
Dawes Ranger. Early Mountain Bike. Dreadful.
Grifters weighed a ton and weren't too nimble, but I loved my two, I imagined that they felt something like an off road motorbike would feel. And I pretended that's exactly what it was. With its big tractor tyres it was a forerunner of the MTB, and despite the weight I could get it airborne off home made ramps. Joy.
...
...It was crap and got replaced by a 10-speed racer....
Grifters weighed a ton and weren't too nimble, but I loved my two, I imagined that they felt something like an off road motorbike would feel. And I pretended that's exactly what it was. With its big tractor tyres it was a forerunner of the MTB, and despite the weight I could get it airborne off home made ramps. Joy.
My worst bike was a cheap (about 80 pounds equivalent) MTB bought in Germany in 1991, the wheels went out of true quickly and it started to rust within weeks. I abandoned it in a bike shed after a year and left it to rot.
I've enjoyed all my other bikes, I've had Raleigh Grifters and Burners (BMX), a tiny no name road bike, a Peugeot racer (all in my youth) then Claud Butler town bikes, a mid 90s Giant Peloton road bike, a reconditioned 1950s skip find, all sorts. All great fun.
A question in passing, what year did "racers" become "road bikes"? I don't remember the transition between the terms, or when it occurred.
Probably about the time "bikes" became "hybrids". I blame mountain bikes. So I'd guess during the 80s I'd guess.A question in passing, what year did "racers" become "road bikes"? I don't remember the transition between the terms, or when it occurred.