However, many of the more extreme "chopper" bikes are not street-legal. At least in my town, handlebars that ride higher than the shoulders of the rider are not permitted. Of course, I have never seen that be enforced.

The thing about fads is... they don't last. Soon all of these "chopper" bikes will be cluttering up landfills.

Bullshit! Sexy bikes like this one inspire other people to ride. Besides, choppers aren't a fad at all. Check out www.bikerodnkustom.com if you want to see dedicated chopper fanatics tweaking out their latest creations. The reason more people don't ride bikes in this country is because there is no sex appeal in the way bikes are marketed. We need to sell the sex appeal of the bicycle in addition to convenience and excercize. Bikes give you great legs and ass, and they put you right on the streets of your community, where you can stop and talk to people you meet, make friends, get a date... Does a Prius do that?

Why is it that when someone puts a beautiful bike out there, you always have two people saying it's illegal and two more saying it's too heavy and another one saying it's a fad. Lighten up people!

If people want to ride around, presumably short distances slowly, on heavy, ergonomically-awkward bikes that they think look cool, I'm not going to try to stop them. People certainly rarely buy cars based on technical merit or practicality.

I prefer a Tour Easy long-wheelbase recumbent. Chopper looks in a high-performance machine suitable for the long distances in the USA. Great for a 130 km round-trip to the beach or a daily 15 km 40 minute commute. (Granted, it's also really expensive, as any high-end machine hand built in the USA is likely to be.) People do seem to like my Tour Easy's looks, or at least they are intrigued by it. Little kids love it.

Actually, old chopper bikes (they've been around for 30+ years) are prized items. Schwinn stingrays are now selling for three times their original price, and I know most buyers just wanna ride them.

My fave are the handmade 'low-rider' customs. One time when I was riding with Critical Mass, we passed a bike garage, and several guys on tricked-out lowriders joined us for a while. Everyone we passed was looking at them, not the 500 'hippies' on regular bikes. They've got so much more street cred.

AS a long time bike-moder. I have a few things to add. Fist, custom bikes are not neccessarily heavy, and a good maker will keep it as light as she can. The Custom bike movement has been around as long as bikes , there have always been people like myself who aren't satisfied that the manufaturers knew what was best when they made the product( and even if it is perfect, it isn't perfect to me until I have modified it to reflect MY personality- which ain't exactly corperate...). illegality as far as I am concerned is even better. I like breaking laws that are silly. Custom stuff may go through periods where a particular style is fadish, and that WILL go south eventually, however some things are beyond "fads" hot rods were considered fads, chopped motorcycles, skateboards, hula hoops, frisbees, but all still have dedicated followings and for the core members these fads still develope and evolve, even if under the radar of the general public. the big bike manufacturers might not be making choppers in 5 years but plenty of garage built bikes will still be on the streets in ten years and in thirty someone will be paying big bucks for them. AS for slow,short distane worthy, and awkward, sure some may be- but I ride 25-75 miles a week on a highly modded cruiser/chopper, and I would NOT do it if the bike was unneccessarily heavy, uncomfortable or awkward. the better frames ( like the one I made) split the difference between the seating position of a standard hybrid/mountain bike and a recumbent( and are often called "semi-recumbent")and are much more comfortable to ride than a road bike ofr those of us that are a bit older, and are also easier to ride than some recumbents in that it is a very natural position to ride in( the "lazy boy" reference is apt!). I like having the ability to shift at a full stop, for red lights( nexus 7 hub...) and being able to easily put my feet down at a stop. There are plenty of things to criticize about custom bikes as there are with anything, but there cannot be anything wrong with trying to make cycling "cool" and snooty roadies and "extreme" mountain bikers arent' really "cool" in the classic sense. so a bunch of guys all over the world putting a lot of time and effort into what amounts to a big PR campaign that "takes it to the streets" isn't something to sneez at.

AS a long time bike-moder. I have a few things to add. Fist, custom bikes are not neccessarily heavy, and a good maker will keep it as light as she can. The Custom bike movement has been around as long as bikes , there have always been people like myself who aren't satisfied that the manufaturers knew what was best when they made the product( and even if it is perfect, it isn't perfect to me until I have modified it to reflect MY personality- which ain't exactly corperate...). illegality as far as I am concerned is even better. I like breaking laws that are silly. Custom stuff may go through periods where a particular style is fadish, and that WILL go south eventually, however some things are beyond "fads" hot rods were considered fads, chopped motorcycles, skateboards, hula hoops, frisbees, but all still have dedicated followings and for the core members these fads still develope and evolve, even if under the radar of the general public. the big bike manufacturers might not be making choppers in 5 years but plenty of garage built bikes will still be on the streets in ten years and in thirty someone will be paying big bucks for them. AS for slow,short distane worthy, and awkward, sure some may be- but I ride 25-75 miles a week on a highly modded cruiser/chopper, and I would NOT do it if the bike was unneccessarily heavy, uncomfortable or awkward. the better frames ( like the one I made) split the difference between the seating position of a standard hybrid/mountain bike and a recumbent( and are often called "semi-recumbent")and are much more comfortable to ride than a road bike ofr those of us that are a bit older, and are also easier to ride than some recumbents in that it is a very natural position to ride in( the "lazy boy" reference is apt!). I like having the ability to shift at a full stop, for red lights( nexus 7 hub...) and being able to easily put my feet down at a stop. There are plenty of things to criticize about custom bikes as there are with anything, but there cannot be anything wrong with trying to make cycling "cool" and snooty roadies and "extreme" mountain bikers arent' really "cool" in the classic sense. so a bunch of guys all over the world putting a lot of time and effort into what amounts to a big PR campaign that "takes it to the streets" isn't something to sneez at.

I agree that people seriously need to lighten up. All these people who are like, "That type of bike sucks" and "This type is the only one to have," are missing the point. A BIKE is the bike to have - get more people on them - who cares what they look like? Get the streets safer for bikers!

I have a huge, heavy cruiser. I ride short distances on it of maybe 6-8 miles one way. But guess what, I don't need any more than that! I live downtown and eat at locally-owned restaurants, visit locally-owned coffee shops, bars, and art galleries. I simply will ride a bike to those places instead of walk, and in the process, I'll invite other people with me. BIcycling somewhere makes it feel like more of an event, so people want to participate. Then you get more people bike riding, going to local businesses, you build a community. You are safer in a group because car drivers see you.

And for the person who's concerned about landfilling: Old bikes don't get thrown in dumpsters, they get sold and resold on Craigslist, given to neighbors, thrown in the back yards of people like me, so that when friends say "I can't go, I don't have a bike," we can say, "I have plenty you can borrow!"