Hey Dean,
Thanks for filling some of the blanks regarding Carleton Cycles. A couple of my Saturday ride mates thought that Carleton's frame builder was a fellow named Derek Bailey - does that ring any bells?
A couple of weeks ago we were talking to the new owner of Super Champion Bike Shop here in town, who also owns a Talbot. He visited the current Carleton & had a long chat with one of the brothers (?) who still has some bike gear set up down the basement, even had some old decals which he happily parted with. I've been trying to find time to get down there for a visit; I'll let you know what I find when I finally make it.
Cheers,
Steve Holmes
Vancouver, BC
On Feb 5, 2011, at 8:34 AM, Dean Kernan wrote:
> Stephen wrote
>
>> "Right now, I ride the only bike I have - a 1981 Talbot. In 1981 I had
> Carleton Cycles here in Vancouver BC make up a frameset with Reynolds 531
> and a Campy Nuovo Record gruppo, Brooks saddle, clinchers (sew-ups sounded
> like a lot of trouble back then) on Rigida rims. A very nice bike that I
> rode for a few summers & then for some unremembered reason (lots of those
> going around these days...), I just put it away and let it collect dust &
> cobwebs until 2 summers ago, when I dragged it out, cleaned it up, & fell in
> love with it again....
> ....if there are any other Talbot owners out there, I'd love to hear from
> you."
>
> I have to chime in on this one--Carleton Cycles were the sponsored both my
> brother and me, along with several other friends in our racing days in the
> early '70s in Vancouver & I believe the sponsored team stayed together into
> the early '80s.
>
> The shop was run by three brothers who took over the bicycle business from
> their grandfather, and the Talbot frames were named after him. Rick--the
> oldest of the brothers--was a machinist by trade and during the boom days of
> the seventies (like a number of small progressive shops), he acquired the
> equipment and materials for frame-making and produced a small number of
> frames. The brothers were also car nuts, & so they could (and did) build a
> decent spray booth and were doing good quality finishing with Imron--which
> is how my Falcon acquired its non-stock Ferarri red paint job when they
> performed tube surgery on it after a number of bad crashes had taken their
> toll.
>
> The business was later converted to a mountain search and rescue/safety
> equipment operation that grew out of Ken Green's side of the business--the
> outdoor store--that was more profitable (but much less fun) than the bike
> business.
>
> Somewhere in my mother's house are the set of Prugnat lugs that they gave me
> to start cleaning up before I was to return with my treasures for lessons in
> brazing to build my own frame, and at least one of my racing buddies (who
> had more discipline than I) did finish his own Talbot-badged frame.
>
> Enjoy your Talbot--I wish I had finished mine!
>
> Dean Kernan
> Pomona, New York