steelbikeguy

Chater Lea
In the early 1900's, Chater Lea brought us the cup & cone bottom bracket that so many of us are familiar with.
Also... if you've seen chainrings with the letters "CL" built into them, the CL stands for Chater Lea.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Cinelli stems:
whether we are talking about their chromed tubular steel stems or their forged aluminum stems, Cinelli produced some of the most attractive and beloved stems of their era.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Colnago Master
The Colnago brand has a great race history and has not shyed away from innovative and/or gimmicky features, not to mention some outrageous paint schemes. There's no question that they are loved and lusted after by many!




Steve in Peoria

repechage

Too bad 43bikes.com is no longer live.
semi accessible via the wayback machine

steelbikeguy

what was at 43bikes.com?

Steve in Peoria

repechage

Might be able to find it with the web wayback machine.
Had Cinelli timeline, reference, and other stuff, a blog before blogs were a thing.

steelbikeguy

Columbia Chainless
Tired of cleaning your chain repeatedly? Worried about getting chain lube on your trouser legs? Looking for a gearing arrangement even simpler than those 1x systems? Maybe a nice shaft drive bike is in your future! ... or distant past?




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Constrictor Conloy rims
A tire manufacturer decides to start building rims too, and begins a successful and innovative line of products for a few decades to come.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Cyclo derailleur
At a time when racers were loath to use a derailleur, Cyclo introduced a reliable touring derailleur that was popular for decades.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Dave Lloyd Concept 90
Sloping top tubes began before Giant made them common. A look at Dave Lloyd's frames.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

F.W. Evans
Britain's first touring bike and the first to use derailleur gears for touring. One patented feature was the "Direct Lubrication System" with oil ports at the bottom bracket, head tube, and hubs.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Giant MCR
With design input from creative British inventor Mike Burrows, this early aero carbon bike meant that cutting edge aerodynamics was now available to everyone.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Giant TCR
Mike Burrows improved the aerodynamics and introduced sloping top tubes on modern bikes. For folks like me with "classic" aesthetics, it was a bit of a culture shock. Fortunately, some of the more unpleasant aspects of the appearance did not stay long.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Gillott
Started by A S Gillott in 1926, and under the management of Harry Carrington in the 40's, they became a lightweight specialist. Gillott was the home to some top framebuilders during the early part of their careers, including Jack Denny of Hetchins and Ron Cooper.




Steve in Peoria

52telecaster

Thankyou!

steelbikeguy

my pleasure! These articles have some unique info, and it would be a shame to not share them with others.
Of course, there is some concern about copyright issues, but unless Cycling Plus says that they plan to publish them in some volume, I don't get the impression that they are too concerned.

Steve in Peoria

52telecaster

I Really think you're doing the future a favor.

steelbikeguy

Higgins tricycle
Most of us start out on tricycles and transition to bicycles. Others find pleasure in returning to trikes and their curious characteristics and novelty. Here is a look at the trikes from Higgins.




Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Hirondelle retro-direct
The safety bicycle was a huge improvement over the Ordinary, but there was still the matter of variable gearing to be worked out. The inventors of the world expended a lot of energy on this problem, and all sorts of solutions were considered. The retro-direct configuration offered two speeds with minimal complexity; it didn't even have a shift lever! Who would have imagined a design that gave a second gear by back pedaling?!




Steve in Peoria

P!N20

Surprised someone hasn't tried to do a modern version of this.

steelbikeguy

to be honest, it brought back thoughts about the Bendix 2 speed "kickback" hubs. Never used one, but heard about them, and always thought it was a neat idea.

otoh, I wonder how light of a retro-direct you could make with modern parts, just as a novelty project??

Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

Hobbs Continental
Hobbs dates back to the early 1930's, and the Continental and Blue Riband ("ribbon") models were the top of their line.



Steve in Peoria

repechage

The Campagnolo sidepulls were the definitive racing brake for a long time.
they were the first high tolerance brake caliper.
the faces of the arms were spot faced, the washers were of good flatness.
the 13mm caliper lateral adjustment flats.
the brake could be adjusted while on the bike, via the cable adjuster wheel or the quick release. If a wheel went wonky a racer could mitigate the friction.
the tire guides were not perfect but were better than without.
the finish was top notch, the chrome plating was good.
the levers were of good finish and quality, good bushings. Not the best lever body shape, I actually preferred Mafac or Universal more.
my palms are too big and meaty.

the soon introduced rotella ( star washer really did keep the Caliper set )

lots of good ideas that came together at once.
they were Not Cheap.

way back we thought the Zeus center pulls might be the next big thing but they had terrible distribution.

the Shimano 7400 series calipers had an advantage with Teflon style spring retention points- they did not need lubrication, but that was 16 years later.

steelbikeguy

Campagnolo's position in the market was an amazing thing at that time!
The underlying designs weren't particularly innovative, but they were implemented in a very precise and reliable fashion, and largely without regard towards cost.
In fact, the high cost just made them more of a status symbol. The sidepull brakes were a great example of that.

The Schwinn Paramount was full Campy, except for the brakes. In my copy of the 1976 catalog, the standard brake was the Weinmann Carrera sidepull, which was a nice brake for the time. The Campy Record sidepulls are listed as an option, but the price isn't mentioned.

Here's the page for the Paramount road race model.....

high resolution version: https://live.staticflickr.com/4482/3...820915_k_d.jpg



My experience is somewhat limited, but I do have 3 bikes with the Campy Record sidepulls, and they are fine. The brake lever shape works fine for me, and I have no problems with braking. At the same time, I've got Weinmann centerpull brakes on my Raleigh International, and they brake at least as well as the Campy sidepulls. The lever shapes, and especially the hard rubber brake hoods, are just not comfortable. The nicest brakes that I have are Shimano Ultegra SLR single pivot sidepulls from 1989. Boy, they are much more comfortable than the Campy levers, and the required force is much less. The performance is much better than the Campy too. Some of this is due to the development of teflon lined cable housing and the use of ball bearings at the pivot and plastic where the springs contact the caliper arms, as well as a spring in the levers. These all combined to reduce the force required at the lever.

Still, the Campy Record sidepulls were a huge step up from the inexpensive competitors of the day. Their advertisements pointed out the many ways that the Campy brakes were superior, and these ads just made me lust after them even more.



note: the scan is courtesy of Robert Broderick

Steve in Peoria

P!N20

If you need to know, you can't afford it.