Originally Posted by chasm54

Why would you assume they werent building bikes during the war? Petrol (gas) was virtually unobainable by ordinary people because it was requisitioned for the war effort. Bikes were used in the military, but more importantly, it was essential for the wartime economy that people should be able to get around, get to work etc. Everybody cycled, it was absolutely inescapable. I've no doubt that their production was compromised because lots of employees were siphoned off to do other things, but there would be no reason at all for them to stop making bikes.


EDIT

I've checked this out. Some of their facilities were converted to produce munitions, mainly cartridge cases. However, they did indeed continue making bikes throughout the war, including developing folding bikes for use in commando raids! Cool!