iving a talk in 2017 about WW2 bicycles at our daughter Delphy’s primary school. She is now doing her GCSE’s and will leave school next month. I’m not sure which memory evokes more nostalgia – her class riding the BSA Parabikes around the playground, or being thin enough to wear my old flying jacket You …
BSA AIRBORNE FOLDING PARATROOPER BICYCLE v POSTWAR CHILDREN’S VERSIONS Read More »
LE CUISTAX. Postcard from Knokke-Heist, West Flanders, Belgium, 1950s. On the right is a ‘cuistax’. A holiday on the Belgian coast was considered incomplete until the family had rented a cuistax (go-cart) and had a spin along the beach. They were supposedly invented by Belgian cycle maker Flandria in the 1930s when they had the …
I was riding the Resilient yesterday along the coastal path and I did something embarrassing. I like to get interesting angles when I photograph bicycles, so I was lying in the road in front of the bike photographing upwards when a woman came running up to help me because she thought I’d had a stroke. …
The Lea Francis was the most expensive diamond frame bicycle in the world. Superb build quality is a given; the bonus is the fine details, each of them a Lea-Francis patented innovation, and all can be found on the bicycle featured here. My favourites are: 1. The front brake whose linkage passes through the steering …
“According to Mr Harold Cox, MP, the Automobile Association Scout depicted in our illustration, whose arrival has spoilt the trap set by the stop-watched and notebooked constable, is the active accomplice of those who openly boast of breaking the laws of their country…” In March 1905 Mr. Walter Gibbons wrote to Autocar magazine proposing the …
“Baffling the Bluebottle” was a constant challenge for riders in the early years of cycling, as police contended with this new, faster form of individual transportation mixing with horse wagons and carriages as well as unwary pedestrians. Note the penalty for stealing a tricycle – 21 Days Hard Labour. Visit our Facebook page by clicking …
Between 1945 and 1952 a six-day Road Race was run between Brighton and Glasgow. George Kessock won the 558 mile Tour of Britain for Paris Cycles in 1947. If you fancy recreating the epic ride, here’s a 1950 Paris Tour de France for sale at The Museum (£1250 + worldwide shipping) Click here to see …
The handlebar grips on the 1910 Lea Francis are similar to those on a Golden Sunbeam – they unscrew for fitting an oiler and puncture kit. It was missing its oiler and the only one I had available fits into the seat post, so I fitted it there, as on a Royal Sunbeam. Click on …
Patent No 14231/08 The aluminium pedal design, with sixteen rubber studded treads, was patented by Lea Francis in 1908 and known as the ‘Leaf’ pedal. Not only did the name relate to LEA Francis, it is also in the shape of a leaf. These pedals were the most exclusive available at the time, and were …
