Raleigh Bomber
The Raleigh Bomber was a bicycle aimed at the boys/youth market which first appeared in 1981.[1] Visually it resembled the Californian "clunker" bikes which were a homemade genre dating from the 1970s, primarily for use on the now legendary Repack downhill course.[2] The Bomber had wide balloon tyres, a low slung frame and a sprung saddle with wide "cowhorn" style handlebars. Transmission was a choice between a single speed or 3 speed Sturmey Archer gears. Later, a Super Bomber was introduced in addition to the standard models. The Bomber was a highly unusual bicycle for its time, as it featured 559mm wheels with wide tyres, virtually unheard of in the UK until they became standard equipment on the ATB or mountain bikes which swept Britain a few years later.
Status today
The Raleigh Bomber has now found respectable values on the second hand market and is gaining in popularity within the Raleigh Facebook community. It is generally regarded as an early incarnation of a mountain bike, and its short lifespan in the Raleigh range together with the huge sales of BMX bicycles during that time has left comparatively few Bombers surviving.