the only Bates I know of is an English (I thought) lightweight. I think their big thing was a fork with a dogleg like bend in the middel for the rake.
http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk...ers/bates.html
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk