Cycle racing in Victorian times, and into the first decade of the 20th century, was as popular a sport as football is now. Leading figures campaigned in cycle races around the world, and were the celebrities of the era.
From 1886 onwards, with the introduction of the chain-driven ‘safety bicycle’, cycle manufacturers strived to make lighter and stronger bicycles. The constant improvements in tube technology meant that bicycles evolved year by year to achieve that aim. The state-of-the-art machines used by their racing teams were the pinnacle of their workmanship and, in the era before petrol engines supplanted them, the fastest on the road.
This Facebook group celebrates those bicycles and their riders. Please share your photos of early road racers, path racers, track racers, racing tandems and tricycles. And let’s smell the dust and cheer with the crowd as our favourite turns the corner for the last time to edge ahead and speed towards the finishing post..
