Folding Bikes - Thoroughly Modern: the Bicycle - BBC4

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cyclistjohn
05-13-07, 04:06 AM
19.30 tonight (13 May '07) UK digital TV channel.

"How Edwardian technology improved the bicycle"

No idea if any folder content, but may be of interest?

It may be accessible via the BBC web services........

EvilV
05-13-07, 01:49 PM
You can still buy some of these ancient bikes John.

http://www.cyclesofyesteryear.com/index.html

I watched the programme and remember riding an ancient bike with rod brakes and a sprung saddle. It must have been from about 1920 I'd guess.

Thanks for the warning. It was worth seeing.
cyclistjohn
05-13-07, 02:42 PM
You can still buy some of these ancient bikes John.

http://www.cyclesofyesteryear.com/index.html

I watched the programme and remember riding an ancient bike with rod brakes and a sprung saddle. It must have been from about 1920 I'd guess.

Thanks for the warning. It was worth seeing.

Thanks for the interesting link EvilV, I didn't realise you could still buy some! I've just got one link somewhere for I think a Czech firm that makes Penny Farthings.

I've only caught snippets of the show, so I'll watch it all later.

I'm intrigued by the group getting all the attire of the time made up & taking part in group rides: it looks fun :-)

Good to see Pashley still going strong. I imagine having a broad market helps.

Glad you enjoyed it :-)

EvilV
05-14-07, 01:18 AM
Yeah I thought the re-enactment club looked like a good laugh.

There's a chap not far from here that rides a penny farthing in traffic. I've seen him riding up Gosforth High Street amidst busses and city traffic. To be absolutely straight, I think it's a sort of three quarter prenny farthing, but it's pretty tall. I've seen him twice in the flesh and once on TV. He rides it with complete confidence - or seems to - I can't say how he feels up there, but he looks happy enough.

When I was a student living in Twickenham around 1972, I borrowed an ancient black bike from my elderly, rather rich landlady. It had rod brakes, a big sprung seat, and a decidedly odd geometry. I used to ride it to visit my girlfriend in Putney through Twickenham and Richmond Park, about five miles. It was ok once you got used to it. I bet it was built around 1920 - that's just a guess, but it was a bit like this one:

http://www.cyclesofyesteryear.com/cycleshop/l%20classic.jpg