Two weeks back I missed a deal on a Cyclops. Cyclops was to me, simply another small Canadian frame building company and I had only vaguely heard the name. I mentioned this to Jody Lee who owns Jester Cycles and is himself a frame builder and he told me what he knew about Cyclops. I thought I'd add a thread to show what happened to Cyclops.
Most Canadians (let alone Non-Canadians) know nothing about Cyclops.
Originally a man named Jocelyn Lovell owned Lovell Bicycles and he made about 100 frames. These frames had and still have a following in the Toronto area. Lovell was a well respected Canadian cyclist who appeared on our Olympic team and who won Golds at the Pan-Am and Commonwealth Games. Lovell sold out to man named Mike Mulholland who changed the name to Cyclops. In 1983 after selling his frame building business to Mulholland, Lovell was struck from the rear by a dump truck while out riding and became a quadriplegic. Lovell died in 2016.
Cyclops was (I believe) originally in Mississauga Ontario but then Mulholland moved to British Columbia. Later he moved back to Ontario and set up shop in an old barn on what Jody thought was "Dickinson" Road, Lowbanks. Lowbanks is a small community spread out along Lake Erie. Mulholland made about 1500 bikes prior to his death in 2005. Cyclops frame sets are still sought after. I believe Randyjawa owned one but am unsure if he found it at a dump....
I had worked in the Lowbanks area and hadn't heard of a "Dickinson" Road. I did know of a Dickhout Road, pronounced Dick Out (yes really!). I resolved to have a road trip (isn't that what bikes are for?). I thought people who knew of both Lovell and Cyclops would be interested in seeing where the company ended up.
I rode out and knowing the area as did I was able to locate the property at 204 Dickhout Road. There are not many properties that fit the description that I had. We had just had a storm with strong winds and heavy rain the night before.
That very night the barn roof had caved in due to the storm.
The frame shop was in a small room located behind the CAST container on the right side of the photo.
I didn't stop and ask if there were any old frame sets - say 63cm size still in there......
Ps as for Dickhout Road. Pics as they say or it didn't happen!
