I'm not sure that the words 'veteran' and 'vintage' mean much out of context. The Vintage Sports Car Club coined their particualr usage to assert that the years from 1918 to 1930 were particularly good vintages. And so they were compared to most of the cars of the thirties. Veterans were pre-Emancipation cars and the years between one V and the other were and are known as Edwardians.
For British users of elderly rifles, the vintage years were the twenty or so up to 1891 when most of the innovative designs were created. They use the word Classic to mean 1891 to 1919 and veteran for the period from then to the end of WW2. Confusing, isn't it?
If you had to use the word 'vintage' of a bicycle, what would it mean? The twenty years before WW1 perhaps when the general outline of design was settled? Or the lightweights of the late twenties to..... when would you make a cut-off date? Is a Selbach more vintage than a Golden Sunbeam just because CR members ride lightweights?
I'm happy with the KoF idea. The word 'vintage' has been debased by morons who use it for anything over ten years old whatever the quality. Between ourselves, we could perhaps use it to denote any bicycle that is utile, handsome and made with pride. Even then, the word is rather pointless. My pre-war Chater-Lea is only vintage in the sense that a Morris Oxford or a Chrysler 75 is, while my Oscar Egg if I ever finish it will be as vintage as a Frazer Nash.
Stuart Tallack in West Sussex which to satisfy the rules I will explain is in England and not very far from Ray Green.
<In a message dated 09/07/2006 18:58:18 GMT Standard Time, classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org writes:
Sam says:- I just noticed on Ebay U.K. there is only one bicycle idem listed using the word Veteran,and over 400 using the work Vintage.Ya'll been Americanized. The the UK motoring world Veteran and Vintage cover different periods. A veteran car was built up to December 1918 and a vintage car was built between 1919 and 1930. I suspect that, originally at least, the same system was used for old bikes. Ray Green, Brighton, England>