Maybe the three speed, known as a cocoa tin, reached its zenith in 1956 when Ray Booty (The Boot) riding a Raleigh RRA set the "straight out" 100 mile record at 3hrs 28 min 40 sec using a SA three speed fixed hub gear. Incidentally I recently read that pre-war RRA's came with a radial spoked front wheel. Ray, The Boot was my first hero, Green, Brighton, Sussex