steelbikeguy

Flying Scot
Started by David Rattray and his sister in Glasgow, Scotland in 1900, they ran a shop for 55 years.
They sold frames by several English builders, and eventually started producing frames in their shop.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

GB Brakes
Gerry Burgess and their aluminum components had roots in the aviation industry of WW II. Models such as the Coureur sported features such as a cam operated quick release at the caliper and an adjuster built into the lever.




Steve in Peoria

52telecaster

Ty Steve, always wondered what gb stood for.

steelbikeguy

Glad to help!

So many of us grew up around Raleighs with that enigmatic "GB" forged into the stems, and I assume we all thought "Great Britain??". These articles on the history bring a new appreciation for those things we've been around for so long.

Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

George Longstaff Tricycle
While tadpole trikes have become a somewhat common sight, there was a time when upright trikes were similarly familiar if not common. Those of us who grew up reading Eugene Sloan's "Complete Book of Bicycling" recall his enthusiasm for trikes, especially in the winter. With the use of double rim brakes on the front wheel, and frequently driven just by the left rear wheel, they can be a challenge to learn to ride competently. George Longstaff was a prominent builder of these three-wheeled wonders!





and just to prove that they do exist in the wild, a few shots of a trike displayed by Samuel J. in Peoria a few years ago. IIRC, Chris Paisley was a somewhat local builder when this was built over 20 years ago....

a shot of the full trike:



a shot of the rear end, showing how the freewheel is mounted to the left axle.



a shot of the head tube and brakes, showing the use of cantilever brakes on the front of the fork and sidepull brakes on the rear of the fork.


Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Gimondis 1973 Bianchi
Felice Gimondi was the second rider to win the Tour de France, the Giro, and the Vuelta. In 1973, he became the second Bianchi rider to become the World Champion. With Columbus tubing and Campagnolo Super Record components, it is a bike that would be familiar to many of us.




Steve in Peoria

repechage

SLX tubing in 1973? Try a decade plus later.

where did that cheap front hub come from?
80's rear mech...
the rewrite of history. Oh dear.

bulgie 

Yeah that SLX claim made me snort! Not only the ahistoric claim that it existed in '73, but the "snappier ride" — what hogwash.

Not to mention claiming SR posts were fluted for light weight, or SR levers "drilled" (punched) for light weight: both are a little heavier than their non-drilled/fluted variants (Record Superleggero in the case of the post). At least the few instances I have weighed, not enough sample size to say anything definite. But they seem to have made the fluted/drilled SR parts a little thicker to compensate, but over-compensated.

Overall, a sub-standard article, though I still thank Steve for posting it.

Oh yeah what's with the Junior gearing? Looks like a 16t or so top gear.
Reminds me of the old "ship of Theseus" paradox — at what point have you changed so many parts that it's not Gimondi's race-winning bike anymore? (if there is indeed even one molecule remaining. I've seen bikes represented as an actual race-winning bike that were 100% wrong, a different bike altogether, so I'm skeptical until I see the proof.)

Mark B

bulgie 

Oh and on closer look, those aren't even SR brake levers, and not an SR post. Those are Record levers, and a Record (possibly Superleggera) post, that have been pantographed.

Claiming the two-bolt Campy post was "all new" in '73 is about 15 years late.

steelbikeguy

I do give Cycling Plus credit for this historical column, but this one appears to have fallen short of those written by Hilary Stone.
I'm going to have to start looking closer at the details in these articles from now on!

Steve in Peoria

bulgie 

No, don't change a thing. We learn from the good articles, but also the bad ones. For instance, we learn not to believe everything we read in a magazine!

repechage

Always a chance that Mr. Stone only contributed the copy.
blooming art directors... and graphic paste up artists even know less.
At least they did not flip the negative.

steelbikeguy

Granby taper tube
As a company started in the 1910's, they were trying out some novel frame details. One was the use of twin down tubes with a "D" cross-section. Chain stays with a square section is another. A more significant innovation was the use of taper tubes in the pursuit of a stiffer frame. It was a single taper, larger at one end and smaller at the other. A modern evaluation might suggest that there was little benefit. In a purely mechanical sense, that is likely true. From a marketing perspective... well, it must have had some value, as they were able to get royalties by licensing the idea. Certainly the idea of shaped tubing keeps showing up, despite some having relatively short lives, thus potentially demonstrating the lack of any true value (personally, this brings some of Colnago's innovations to mind). Maybe the biggest value is the ability to satisfy the customer's desire for novelty??



Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Harden hubs
In post-war England, the Harden hubs set a new level of sophistication with a forged aluminum shell and cartridge bearings. A grease fitting allowed injecting new grease, not unlike the more recent WTB (and later SunTour) GreaseGuard components.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Harry Quinn
Harry Quinn got into the bike business somewhere around 1900. It was only in 1903 that he produced a bike with aluminum rims, a total weight of 24 1/2 pounds, and a sloping top tube that made it resemble a funky time trial bike of the 1980's!




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Holdsworth Whirlwind:
With some disdain for the non-technical origins of the Holdsworth business, they did go on to produce fine frames with impressive levels of handwork and ornateness. They employed a number of framebuilders who went on to become quite well known and respected, such as Bill Hurlow and Charlie Roberts (of Roberts Cycles).
A side note: many of us recall that Cannondale got their start with bike bags. I've still got a saddle bag for a spare tubular tire that was made by Cannondale in this era. They seem to have done well enough since moving on to building bikes. No fancy lugs, though.



Steve in Peoria (a fan of fancy lugs)

Aardwolf

There was a Whirlwind frame (post 53) on Ebay recently for lots of money: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-S...-/195111626586
Looks amazing

steelbikeguy

that is impressive!
Is 800 pounds a lot for a frame like this? Seems like the paint alone would have cost 600.

Steve in Peoria

Aardwolf

Fair point, I'm not saying it isn't worth it.
I just couldn't justify buying it myself

I'll have to find a junk one and paint it myself.

steelbikeguy

One thing I love about some of the British manufacturers is the extravagant paint schemes! With the lug lining and the box striping, I assume it must take quite a while just for that. Add in the time to mask the lugs for the contrasting head tube and any panels, and the effort goes up quite a bit. I suspect that when you do a lot of this, you develop efficient methods that someone doing a respray doesn't have.

With a bike as lovely as this one, I'm not sure I could justify riding it for fear of messing up the paint. I hope it finds a buyer who will give it a good home.

Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Imperial Rover Lady's c1906
a close look at the details of this classic (and classy) lady's safety bike from Rover. The front rod brake and rear coaster brake keep things simpler and cleaner than full rod brakes. Being a women's model means that cords were used to keep the skirt out of the chain and rear wheel. The steering lock aided in making the bike stable when parked. The use of aluminum rims intrigued me, as I didn't know that they were available at this time, although the article acknowledges that they might not be original.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Ivel Bicycles
Another British bike manufacturer that got started long ago! Ivel Cycle Works was started by Dan Albone in the 1880's. The first bikes were the high wheel "ordinary", but the change to safety bikes occurred not long afterwards. Per Mr. Stone, Mr. Albone was one of the early innovators to modifiy the fork rake to improve the bike's stability. Mr. Albone's work also included innovations in step-through frames and in tandem design.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Jack Taylor Cycles
The Taylor bothers got into the bike business in 1935 and went on to produce some of the best known British bikes. Jack, Ken, and Norman built and painted their frames. They were known for their "bronze welded" (a.k.a. fillet brazed) frames, as well as their tandems and touring bikes.
It's not mentioned in the article, but I think of Jack Taylor as being known for the use of box lining, which is a type of pin striping in the form of boxes (or rectangles) on the frame tubes.




but wait! There's more!

a few shots of a white Jack Taylor touring bike belonging to BF member jjhabbs:








and a couple of Jack Taylor bikes displayed at Classic Rendezvous gatherings..





Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Lambert and Viscount Aerospace Road Bikes
Who wouldn't love a lightweight bike with all of the high tech features and at a relatively low price?? That was the promise of the Lambert and Viscount branded bikes. Unfortunately, things were not quite as wonderful as promised...




The magazine advertisements from that era were certainly seductive!
This is a single page ad from 1977....




and a two page ad from 1975....





Steve in Peoria

52telecaster

I've got a viscount frame I was trying to get the stem out of. One of the fork dropouts broke off as I was twisting the bars while holding the wheel with my legs. Not exactly confidence inspiring.