Originally Posted by highlyselassie
I'm not sure if this is relevant to path racers, but I've read that in 40's/50's England people used to turn up to races and strip all the unnecessary parts from their bicycles(mudguards, lights etc).
The reason for this was that back then only the rich and famous in England could afford more than one bike, let alone a motor vehicle to transport it to races. That also explains the need for fender eyes and brake drillings.