Re: [CR]Teledyne questions and appeal

(Example: Framebuilders)

Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 10:23:58 +0100
Subject: Re: [CR]Teledyne questions and appeal
From: "Hilary Stone" <Hilary.Stone@Tesco.net>
To: "Jerry & Liz Moos" <moos@penn.com>, Classic Rendezvous <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>


I am afraid that my Design Classics was slightly rewritten by C+'s production editor. I spotted one of the mistakes he made Flema frames were not made in England but I think Belgium or certainly continental Europe. And sceondly that I did not originally write that Teledyne frames never made production. The first mistake will be corrected in the next issue of C+ but the second I did not spot until the discussion on CR. As to which company was first with a production titanium I always understood that Teldynes were not in production until around 1974. I am pretty certain on the evidence offered that Speedwell were definitely made in reasonable numbers from early 1972. However I would be interested to hear more from CR members with details of Speedwell frames they own ( will pass this info on to the Veteran-Cycle Club's Speedwell Marque Enthusiast) and on when Teledynes first started in production. Speedwell frames generally did not suffer from frame breakages but were very soft which was the main cause of riders' complaints about them. Somebody mentioned Speedwell brochures ­ I have a couple but must admit I do not have the time at present to scan and PDF them as they are quite a few sheets involved. Hilary Stone

Jerry Moos wrote:


> I've recently completed rebuilding a Teledyne Titan I bought through the
> referral of a list member in January. I once again appeal to anyone who
> has a set of oversize (28.6mm I think) cable clips for sale, as the rear
> brake cable housing is presently secured by zip ties. Also, does anyone
> know when Blackburn began making alloy water bottle cages, i.e. would a
> Blackburn alloy cage be correct on a Teledyne, which ceased production
> about 1976? Also, were SunTour Ultra-6 FWs available in 1976, or only
> in the early 80's as I seem to recall? BTW, I enjoyed Hilary's article
> on the Speedwell titanium in this month's C+, but I thought he rather
> casually brushed aside Teledyne's claim to be the first production
> titanium frame, saying they "never made it into the shops". Perhaps not
> in UK, but they definitely were available in some shops in US, where
> Speedwell were not. Based on Hilary's article, I'd say the first
> production titanium frames were produced more or less simultaneously by
> Speedwell and Teledyne.