Wheelie bike
Encyclopedia
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
designed in the 1960s to resemble a chopper motorcycle
Chopper (motorcycle)
A chopper is a type of motorcycle that was either modified from an original motorcycle design or built from scratch to have a hand-crafted appearance. The main features of a chopper that make it stand out are its longer frame design accompanied by a stretch front end...
and characterized by ape hanger handlebars, a banana seat with sissy bar
Sissy bar
A sissy bar, also called a "sister bar" or "passenger backrest" is an addition to the rear of a motorcycle that allows the rider or passenger to recline against it while riding...
, and small (16 inch) wheels
Bicycle wheel
A bicycle wheel is a wheel, most commonly a wire wheel, designed for bicycle. A pair is often called a wheelset, especially in the context of ready built "off the shelf" performance-oriented wheels....
. Notable examples include the Schwinn Sting-Ray and Krate lines and the Raleigh Chopper
Raleigh Chopper
The Raleigh Chopper is a children's bicycle, a wheelie bike, manufactured and marketed in the 1970s by the Raleigh Bicycle Company of Nottingham, England. Its unique design became a true 70s cultural icon, and is fondly remembered by many who grew up in that period...
line. Other notable manufacturers and retailers that offered models include AMF, CCM, Columbia
Pope Manufacturing Company
Pope Manufacturing Company was founded by Albert Augustus Pope in Hartford, Connecticut. The company began with the introduction of the "Columbia High Wheeler" bicycle in 1878.-History:...
, Huffy, Iverson
Stelber Cycle Corp
Stelber Cycle Corp was a manufacturer bicycles located in New York City. It was granted a patent for a bicycle stabilizer in 1952. It offered cruiser bicycles in the 1950s and several models during the 1960s in the wheelie bike style designed by George Barris under the Iverson brand name. The...
, J. C. Penney
J. C. Penney
-External links:*...
, Malvern Star
Malvern Star
Malvern Star is a manufacturer of bicycles, located in Melbourne, Australia. It began in 1902, and went on to become a household name in Australia.-History:Malvern Star opened in a small shop at 58 Glenferrie Rd, in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern in 1902...
, Monark
Monark
Monark, also known as Cykelfabriken Monark AB and Monark AB, is a Swedish bicycle, moped and motorcycle manufacturer, established in Varberg, Sweden 1908 by the industrialist Birger Svensson....
, Murray
Murray (bicycles)
Murray was an American company whose assets are now owned by Briggs & Stratton and Dorel Industries. The corporate brand is a descendant of the Murray Ohio Manufacturing Company, which manufactured bicycles and lawn and garden equipment ....
, Ross
Ross (bicycles)
Ross was a U.S. built line of bikes between 1950 and 1989, somewhat rivaling Schwinn, up until the mid 1980s. They were manufactured in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and had corporate headquarters in Rockaway Beach, New York....
, and Sears.
History
In 1962, Schwinn's designer Al Fritz heard about a new youth trend centered in California for retrofitting bicycles with the accoutrements of motorcycles customized in the BobberBobber (motorcycle)
A bobber is a custom motorcycle that usually has had the front fender removed, the rear fender "bobbed" or made smaller, and all superfluous parts removed to make it lighter.- History :...
or Chopper
Chopper (motorcycle)
A chopper is a type of motorcycle that was either modified from an original motorcycle design or built from scratch to have a hand-crafted appearance. The main features of a chopper that make it stand out are its longer frame design accompanied by a stretch front end...
style. Inspired, he designed the first such mass-production bike for the youth market as Project J-38, and the result was introduced to the public as the Schwinn Sting-Ray in 1963. Sales were initially slow, but eventually took off. By 1965, several other American and foreign manufacturers were offering their own version of the Sting-Ray.
BMX bike
BMX bike
A BMX bike or BMX is the name of a popular bicycle used for both casual use and sport, and designed mainly for dirt and motocross cycling...
s began to supersede wheelie bikes in the 1970s, though Schwinn continued to offer them until 1982 and Raleigh until 1984. Original wheelie bikes are popular collectors' items
Bicycle collecting
As with many consumer products, early bicycles were purchased solely for their usefulness or fashionableness and discarded as they wore out or were replaced by newer models. Some items were thrown into storage and survived, but many others went to the scrapyard. Decades later, those with an...
now, and some manufacturers have reintroduced updated versions.
Features
The seating position nearly over the rear tire facilitated performing wheelieWheelie
In vehicle acrobatics, a wheelie is a vehicle maneuver in which the front wheel or wheels come off the ground due to extreme torque being applied to the rear wheel or wheels. Wheelies are usually associated with bicycles and motorcycles, but can be done with other vehicles such as cars, especially...
s. Styling cues were also taken from muscle car
Muscle car
Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobiles. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as "any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." Usually, a large V8 engine is fitted in a...
s, and features included different sized wheels, with the smaller in the front, and square-profiled tires
Bicycle tire
A bicycle tire is a tire that fits on the wheel of a bicycle, unicycle, tricycle, quadracycle, bicycle trailer, or trailer bike. They may also be used on wheelchairs and handcycles, especially for racing...
. Small, chromed fenders, a style borrowed from bobber motorcycles
Bobber (motorcycle)
A bobber is a custom motorcycle that usually has had the front fender removed, the rear fender "bobbed" or made smaller, and all superfluous parts removed to make it lighter.- History :...
, were also popular.
Handlebars
Besides the original ape hanger handlesbars, several models sported ram horn style handlebars that contained loops. Huffy even introduced a model, called The Wheel, with a steering wheel in place of handlebars.
Gears
Two-speed rear hubs
Hub gear
A hub gear, internal-gear hub, or just gear hub is a gear ratio changing system commonly used on bicycles that is implemented with planetary or epicyclic gears. The gears and lubricants are sealed within the hub-shell of the bicycle's rear wheel, as opposed to derailleur gears, where the gears and...
, that the rider shifted by back pedalling, were common, but some featured external rear derailleurs with 3 or 5 gear ratios and automotive-like gear shifters
Shifter (bicycle part)
A bicycle shifter or gear control or gear levers is a component used to control the gearing mechanisms and select the desired gear ratio. Typically, they operate either a derailleur mechanism or an internal hub gear mechanism. In either case, the control is operated by moving a cable that connects...
mounted on the top tube.
Brakes
Coaster brakes and rim brakes were common. The 1968 Schwinn Krate models had a front drum brake. The 1972 Schwinn Pea Picker included a rear disc brake.
Forks
The 1968 Schwinn Krate models included a spring suspension front fork
Bicycle fork
A bicycle fork is the portion of a bicycle that holds the front wheel and allows the rider to steer and balance the bicycle. A fork consists of two fork ends which hold the front wheel axle, two blades which join at a fork crown, and a steerer or steering tube to which the handlebars attach ...
. At least one model, the Murray Kingkat, came from the factory with long forks resembling a chopper motorcycle
Chopper (motorcycle)
A chopper is a type of motorcycle that was either modified from an original motorcycle design or built from scratch to have a hand-crafted appearance. The main features of a chopper that make it stand out are its longer frame design accompanied by a stretch front end...
.
Seating
Besides making wheelies easier, the banana seats facilitated carrying passengers.
Several manufacturers made tandem
Tandem bicycle
The tandem bicycle or twin is a form of bicycle designed to be ridden by more than one person. The term tandem refers to the seating arrangement , not the number of riders. A bike with two riders side-by-side is called a sociable.-History:Patents related to tandem bicycles date from the late 19th...
versions, including Schwinn, Raleigh, and Rollfast.
Impact
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 of non-bicycle manufacturers that developed and sold add-on products, such as the Wham-OWham-O
Wham-O Inc. is a toy company currently located in California, USA. They are known for marketing many popular toys in the past 50 years, including the Hula Hoop, the Frisbee, Slip 'N Slide, Super Ball, Trac-Ball, Silly String, Hacky Sack and the Boogie board....
wheelie bar.
Though initially a US fad, wheelie bikes also became popular in the UK, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. Australia had its own Malvern Star Dragster, and Brazil had its own Monark Tigrão.
Names
Part of the appeal of these bikes was their colorful and evocative names. Besides the Schwinn Sting-Ray and Raleigh Chopper, examples include:
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