> I'm waiting for someone to do a great big coffee table
> book covering most of the various marques made during
> that era, and another book on the whole club and
> touring scene. It really was the golden age of the
> lightweight cycle, at least in the UK, with so many
> innovative designs, from Bates to Paris, Saxon to
> Thanet. Has anyone contemplated doing such a piece
> before the last original owners and builders of such
> cycles have long since departed. Hilary Stone are you
> listening??????
Gosh, that would be nice! And nice just to have the CR List talking about British bikes, too. It's hard perhaps to pick a favourite British make as a foreigner since we miss the regional connections. But being married to a Briton and having a cottage in Colaton Raleigh, East Devon, nr. Sidmouth, I guess I ought to favour Southern or West Country makes!
But I remain a hopeless Raleigh man and since Sir Walter lived about 3 miles down the road from us, why not? It's pointless to argue the merits of British lightweights here, either you love 'em or you rather have a Masi. To me, British cycling "ethos" remains the pinnacle.. club rides, celluloid mudguards, Coloral water bottles, Reynolds tubing, Dunlop no. 2 sprints, Harden hubs and Conloy rims, polychromatic lilac paintwork... nothing more be said.
So my coffee table has a big bare spot for such a book.. but it's still going to collect dust when I have my 1948 Raleigh RRA sitting there ready to ride. Anyone who hasn't ridden an RRA, ah they are the ones deciding which was the best British marque of them all. A Raleigh from Lenton, Nottingham, England... bullseye!
Peter Kohler
Washington DC USA