Does anyone know if the B17 Imperial was designed for the US market, or at least is being introduced first in the American market?
While many of the usual suspects in the US are now selling the Imperial, I note that none of UK based shops with websites I checked, SJS, Evans, SPA Cycles, and Edinburgh Bicycle CoOp are yet offering the Imperial. I knew that several US members of the list were involved in testing prototypes of the Imperial, but I had assumed it was being tested in UK as well and that it would be introduced in UK at the same time as the US, if not a bit sooner. I'm guessing, although I could be wrong, that the biggest market for the pricey Ti models may have been in America, but the Imperial, to Brooks credit, is only a few dollars more than the steel railed B17 Champion Special. So if the UK market has resisted the very high Ti model prices, that would not explain the delay in moving the Imperial into to usual sales channels in UK.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA