My '02-cent's worth?
A "branded bike" is different rom a successful racer's bike with that "br and" name on it. Usually. In sheer numbers (especially boom era) >99.99% of the time.
No way that eBay bike (which started the discussion) was built in the UK, a nd no way it was built in '67. Again, my opinion only, but THAT bike mayb e Bertin, Bertone, but not Brit!
As an aside, is Greg making Anquetil "transfers" yet?
Dale Phelps
Montagna lunga Colorado USA
From: Hugh Thornton <hughwthornton@yahoo.co.uk> Subject: Re: [CR] Anquetil branded bikes - UK Manufacturer To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org, "Johnsons" <thejohnsons2@ntlworld.com> Date: Monday, January 26, 2009, 10:43 AM
Some, if not all, UK-built Anquetil bikes were built in the Carlton factory at Worksop, so I was told by someone who had discussed his "Anquetil" with Gerald O'Donovan. I had also heard this from another source, but I d o not have definitive proof that this was so. Back then, there must h ave been some financial incentive (import duty perhaps) to manufacture fram es and bikes in the UK rather than abroad, because Merckx did the same thin g with Falcon building bikes under his name.
Really there was no connection with the these men other than the use of the ir names and, presumably, some approval of the product in return for royalt y payments. In both cases the top UK-built bikes were quite acceptabl e, but some of the lower models were rubbish. Quite a number of succe ssful racers cashed in with their branded bikes, but mostly the manufacturi ng was outsourced. Reg Harris probably wished he had gone the outsour cing route, judging from the headaches he had setting up his factory and it s rather early demise. Eddy Merckx is probably the most successful of these racers-turned-bike-brands, having both outsourced and opened hi s own factory
Hugh Thornton
Cheshire, England
From: Johnsons <thejohnsons2@ntlworld.com> Subject: [CR] Anquetil branded bikes - info ??? (1967 'Anquetil' on eBay) ( Bob Johnson) To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Saturday, 24 January, 2009, 8:53 PM
Hi The Anquetil bike is mine, and I have posted on Wooljersey a letter from Ro n Kitching Ltd dated 1993 that I was sent today saying these bikes were manufactured in the UK.
http://www.wooljersey.com/
Perhaps they were made by Bob Jackson who were situated some 15 miles away from Kitchings and Ron and Bob knew one another. In my description on ebay I initially said I believed they were made in France or Belgium because I was informed such by the bike's owner when I bought it some 8 or 9 years ago. I have now amended that statement.
-- Bob Johnson London UK
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