After Yahoo zapped my group "Roll Britannia", the best place to chat about
English three-speed roadsters is the OldRoads.com English Roadster Discussion site which has been around for a decade now. Invaluable.
http://oldroads.com/
Now, more on topic here, whilst Triumph was purchased by Raleigh in 1954 t o replace Robin Hood as the UK market economy line of bikes, Triumph branded
machines were widely distributed in the USA starting about 1966. The Len ton Sports was branded as a Triumph Torrington in 1956; this was the only Reynolds main frame cycle in the Triumph line under Raleigh aegis.
But it must be mentioned that as an independent, Triumph made some outstanding full Reynolds machines including the Jack of Clubs which would
grace any collection here. It was not a strictly budget line as an independent, far from it. Indeed, I believe the budget brand within the Triumph family of cycles was Three Spires. Again, all vanished icons of Coventry cycle making.
Today, the most humble black Triumph 3-speed can fetch extraordinary price s on eBay due its assumed (and bogus) connection with Triumph sports cars an d motorcycles. For years, the basic Triumph sold for $69, a good $20 cheap er than a Raleigh when twenty bucks was something.
When I was a lad, Triumphs were well down on the pecking order among we "English Racer" kids (who shunned boys who rode Schwinns.. gross!) and
lumped with the Robin Hoods and Dunelts but way better than those yucky AM F branded Hercs. Cool kids had Raleighs and Rudges and dads with deep pockets. Me, I made do with a used '62 carmine red Raleigh Sports.
Peter Kohler Washington DC USA
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