Originally Posted by
Dawes-man
I'm trying to find out what exactly a 'road/path' machine in the 1940s and 1950s was to cyclists of that time. (I know a path machine was what they called track machines.)
Looking on the internet the most common 'present age' definition of the term is 'a bicycle with rear-facing track ends, eyelets and clearances for mudguards and fork crown, and sometimes rear stay bridge, drilled for mounting brakes.
Plus slacker angles and lower bottom bracket.
Originally Posted by
Dawes-man
Every photo of a 'road/path' machine I can find shows a frame with rear-facing track ends, too. However, the road/path frames offered by Hetchins in their catalogues back then had forward facing rear ends.
Can anyone here cast any light on this?
This is described by Hetchins as a 'Short distance time trial machine' - I just finished building it last Wednesday. Actually, it's not quite finished yet.
Most had rear-facing dropouts, making them eligible for racing on a dedicated track, but apparently not all.