Morning all,
Many thanks for the emails and enquiries will get back to you when I can. Regarding British time trialing prior to 1969 the fixed wheel reigned by that I mean the majority rode fixed. Gears were used by some of the riders. Fixed wheel gearing was known as low (62" to 66") medium gear (72") and high (82" to 84") the full blown racing mans gear.
The theory was that 100rpm. on a 66" gear with touring equipment guards, saddlebag, lights used on training rides would feel roughly the same as the bike stripped for racing mode with a lot higher gear. Same as Emil Zatopek or our Gordon Pirie doing their running training in army boots. Must have been like running on air when they donned their running pumps!
Now the stars Dave Keeler with the Higginson twins were the first riders to beat the hour on a 72" fixed gear in competition. Dave Keeler was an incredible all-rounder he held competition record for the 25. An excellent 4000m pursuiter and held the Land's End John O' Groats RRA record.
Now we come to the real 25 star in my eyes Alf Engers. He first held competition record in 1959 when he was in the Barnet. Aged 19 he did 55-11 on a fixed gear and I think he was the last man to hold competition record on fixed gear. Back he came in 1968 a sensational return to competition at the age of 28. Now using gears and modern methods he soon lowered the record to 51-59. Again later that year he lowered his time to another new record of 51-0. He was riding for the Poly then.
Alf's record stood for nine years when Eddie Atkins took it down to 50-50. That same year at the age of 38 he finally achieved his ultimate goal of the 30mph 25 when he clocked 49-24 on the E.72. A star in my eyes.
Anyone interested in the early history of British time trialling shoud get hold of a copy of "Fifty Years of Road Riding by S.H.Moxham. There is a copy on ebay at the moment well worth purchasing this rare book.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/
Oil up! Frank Ellingford London UK