Thanks, Mark, I had lost the URL. The article says the bike "appeared" in mid 1974, but also says a sponsored club got them in early 1974 and the summary at the end says they were manufactued from December 1973 to December 1976, as I recalled. I guess it took about 6 months to make enough to begin shipping to retail shops. Sounds like Speedwell, in 1972, was on the market earlier. BTW, this article says the Titan was made with Commercially Pure titanium, which I think contradicts "The Hi-Tech Bicycle". I believe the latter says that the Speedwell was CP Ti, but the Teledyne was a titanium alloy.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
-----Original Message----- From: Mark Bulgier [mailto:mark@bulgier.net] Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 11:44 AM To: 'Moos, Jerry'; 'Hilary Stone'; Classic Rendezvous Subject: RE: [CR]Teledyne questions and appeal
I have the scans of the retrospective article in Bicycle Guide that someone posted on the Internet; sadly I don't remember whom I got them from. The article is written by John Derven; it's from the Dec.'89 issue.
It says Teledyne production began in mid-'74, and that Speedwell and "West Germany's Flema" were already in production. No indication of which of those two was first.
Interestingly, the main guy behind development of the Teledyne had Albert Eisentraut make a prototype Ti frame in '71, which they touted as the world's first, but Derven says Phillips Co. had displayed one at the '56 London Cycle Show! The '71 Eisentraut was ridden though, and there's no evidence that the Phillips was rideable.
I put the scans I have up at http://bulgier.net/
Mark Bulgier
Seattle, Wa USA