Raleigh activator...

[legrandefromage]

I have a Raleigh Cobra (aperently a rebadged mustang) and It's great, everything works and it shines well with it's chrome rims.

I actually want an activator to complete the Raleigh BSO double act but I need to wait 3 weeks till I've got my garage sorted. Shame as there was one for sale at the Stafford Classic bike show last weekend. :cry:

I re-read what I said about the Cobra and although a bit harsh for an introduction (many apologies - must have been a bad week) I stand by it.

But I do change my view of these to 'they are a basic mode of transport, no more should be expected of them than that'.

 

[Doug81]

Hahaha....!! Didn't expect a reaction like this....

I remember when they first came out... To me they were the FIRST mountain bikes I knew about,especially with the "front suspension"...!! A friend got one and took it to the park where we had a couple of little ramps cos we were all into BMX's.. We were expecting big things from this one.. The boy came up to the ramp but instead of going over it the bloody thing was so heavy it went right through the ramp...!!!! I remember thinking then, WOW...!! I MUST NEVER get one of those...!! !
Unfortunatly,the reason I was tempted with the is I reckon because they were the "first" ? Kinda big production mountain bike WILL they become a bit more wanted/desirable..??? Bit like the shitter I mean grifter/bomber and all.....????????? :?:

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

Just think how much original Choppers change hands for these days. They were quite frankly sheet and violently unstable, but no one remembers that. And the Bomber. They're not my cup of tea, but it would be sad if they all disappeared.

 

[Jussa]

I'll put my hand up and say I knew no different in them days, young, naive, skint, and impressionable these bikes 'BSO's' were cutting edge, different, looked great, suspension, oversized tyres, the closest I got to a mountain bike was stripping my Raleigh Arena racing bike down, putting cow horn handlebars on it and some chunky tread tyres. Now I can afford to fulfil my dreams, buy the bikes I wanted to have BITD, but it's taken me to the age of 40+ to get them.

Maybe what this comes down to is now we can afford to be critical, back then I never knew any different. Even now knowing what these bikes are like they still formed a great part of my childhood, and I don't mind being honest and admitting it, love them, hate them, its a personal opinion, we can all pass judgement after all similar discussions happen about some 'Boutique' bikes, not everyones cup o tea yet still passing hands for several hundred pounds, it really is a case of whatever takes your fancy.

'The Activator is Dead........Long live the Activator'

 

[Doug81]

That's my point.....!! Bombers were before my time but I remember seeing a lot of older guys on them and stuff and my grandad (who used to deal in 2nd hand bikes) had 2 brand new frames in the wrappers but god knows what happened to them....
Grifters....! Sh*t ugly,heavy as hell but TOTALLY indestructible.....!! Seen a guy near me trying to sell a real tatty looking one for £60...!!!
So,£20 for a old activator... Would it be a "future investment"....????? :roll:

 

[We_are_Stevo]

I started cycling to my Grammar School in 1974 when I was no longer eligible for a free pass on the School Bus; I used my Dad's old (pre-Holdsworth) McCleans racer with a standard bar in place of the drops. I used to fasten my briefcase over the crossbar.

When that broke I rode my Mum's equally old Triumph ladies bike, with my school stuff in the ubiquitous Haversac.

I would have loved an Activator if they had been available back then!

 

[Jussa]

That's my point.....!! Bombers were before my time but I remember seeing a lot of older guys on them and stuff and my grandad (who used to deal in 2nd hand bikes) had 2 brand new frames in the wrappers but god knows what happened to them....
Grifters....! Sh*t ugly,heavy as hell but TOTALLY indestructible.....!! Seen a guy near me trying to sell a real tatty looking one for £60...!!!
So,£20 for a old activator... Would it be a "future investment"....????? :roll:

Paid £15 for my Activator, had fun, caused a stir on the Forums, not quiet a 'Klein' but attracted a lot of attention, rode it, enjoyed it, then sadly put it up for sale due to slimming down the fleet, but made a few quid profit, and someone else left Activator in hand and a happy Retrobiker

 

[captaincosmic]

Sold hundreds of them back in the day
They were truly awful and my heart sank every time I had to lift a box down and build one up.
Jeez they were heavy, built out of scaffold pole and with a front fork which had so much lateral movement and stiction that the only way to 'activate' it was to ride it into a kerb.
They were a first bike for a lot of kid though and brought a lot of happiness
My first new bike was a Chopper ,it too was heavy....but it was cool with the other kids and when you are that age it's all that counts
On the plus side if you rode one on a National ride you would be guaranteed bike or spirit of the ride

 

[Rich Aitch]

My best mate from home had a lovely GT Tequesta when we were young. It got nicked when he was doing his paper round and because it was insured on their home policy the insurance company paid up but it was his Dad who decided what he was going to get next...
Jon got an Activator II because "It's a Raleigh" and "It's got full suspension so it's good value". To be fair it had a magnificent speckled metallic blue on midnight blue paint job, say what you will but Raleigh always did great paint jobs even on their low end bikes.
I was impressed but then I tried lifting it. I was a particularly weedy 13 year old and I don't actually think I could lift it, it just stayed glued to the tarmac. Thinking back this probably marked the start of us not going mountain biking anymore, instead we went insane distances on the road bitching about our "Tragic" parents [Almost as if they wouldn't be able to hear us if we went as far as possible], like you can when you're young and fuelled by chocolate.
Later on Jon fell off his Activator when he was doing his paper round and got a couple of broken arms. He told me that he had no idea what happened, the bike just tied itself in knots and through him off. If anybody asked at school I was under strict instructions to say that he'd told me that a little dog ran out into the road.
Thinking about this now I wonder if there was so much slackness in all it's bearings that it just twisted and twisted until there was enough momentum to launch him.

Years later I brought a 2nd hand Activator One as a ride to work bike. I got it as a trade it in at a rebuilding bikes community project thingy, giving them a Peugeot "Tim Gould" in exchange which I always regretted letting go.
My Activator had front suspension forks with nifty little rubber gaiters like a 1950's BSA Bantam to hide the fact that their were no dust seals. It bounced with a grinding action a few times and then they seized. I never did find out what was down the fork legs, silt I expect. It also had horrible Plastiche Cassano patterned grips that were like a really hard from-behind the sofa- wine gum. I rode it for years to work. Don't ever remember taking it off road. Eventually I gave it away to a girl from our Quaker meeting who'd moved to Connenley and didn't have a car.