On your Bike

[CitroJim]

Lovely!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Requires a bit of reading, but I'm guessing, unless Gibbo knows using his knowledge of the Midlands Bicycle and MororBicycle manufacture, that no one reading this from the FCF faithful, will know anything about this...Stick your hand up if you do.

link here

Of course, we all grew up knowing as a trusty British marque. But the company was actually set up by two Germans, originally in Coventry...

makers name removed

Neil

[CitroJim]

Coventry was very much the home and centre of British bicycle manufacturing and indeed the birthplace of the 'safety bicycle', thus setting the template for all mainstream bikes for well over a century...

Invented by Rover no less...

One of the main early makers was previously a maker of sewing machines...

Raleigh, as a mainstream cycle maker, chose not to be based in Coventry...

I have a fascinating book listing every Coventry cycle maker and their history from year dot to the present. It's a very thick tome!

So, where does my much-loved tri-bike hail from? You can see the DNA of the original Rover 'Safety' even in this bike...

Shouldn't be too hard...

I've only just recommissioned this bike from its winter storage; definitely not a bike to ride in bad weather...

[Gibbo2286]

I didn't know about the German Triumph but did know this:
BMW became an automobile manufacturer in 1928 when it purchased Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, which built Austin Sevens at that time under licence (under the Dixi marque). The first car sold as a BMW was a rebadged Dixi called the BMW 3/15.

[NewcastleFalcon]

One of the main early makers was previously a maker of sewing machines...
I have a fascinating book listing every Coventry cycle maker and their history from year dot to the present. It's a very thick tome!

...no one reading this from the FCF faithful, will know anything about this...Stick your hand up if you do.

Was that a tentative sticking up of your hand Jim ...did you know about the German origins of Triumph cycles. There is also sewing machine connention with the Triumph Cycle Company founder.

https://oldbike.wordpress.com/1910-triu ... d-history/

Siegfried Bettmann was a German immigrant from Nuremberg who started work in England with the White Sewing Machine Company as a translator helping to sell sewing machines. Siegfried was very aware of the public enthusiasm for bicycles, so in 1884 he founded the company “S. Bettmann & Co”, to sell bicycles made by the Birmingham firm, William Andrews, but labelled under his own name. In 1886 Siegfried changed the name of his company to the “Triumph Cycle Company Limited”, as he considered the trade name Triumph to be a positive and exciting name that was readily understood in a number of languages. His business flourished.

Neil

[CitroJim]

Wow! That's incredible Neil I love what is learned from these threads...

I never knew all that about Triumph... The sewing machine maker I was thinking of was the Coventry Machinists Co. and one of the main bicycle pioneers, James Starley...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Starley

I remember my dad telling of the Dixi Eric... Never realised it was made by BMW under licence and I don't think dad did either...

[NewcastleFalcon]

So, where does my much-loved tri-bike hail from? You can see the DNA of the original Rover 'Safety' even in this bike...



Shouldn't be too hard...

I've only just recommissioned this bike from its winter storage; definitely not a bike to ride in bad weather...

Some way from Coventry....Land of the rising Sun originally but could have been made anywhere but probably China!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuji_Bikes

Neil

[CitroJim]

Spot-on Neil Mine's built in China...

[NewcastleFalcon]

Wow! That's incredible Neil I love what is learned from these threads...

The Fuji Cycles website is what most websites are, very scanty on history, designed to excite interest in their products and sell stuff which unsurprisingly is what they are meant to do.

I did like the simple message on the front page
Learn More

Neil

PS nice background on the avatar change...always like a signal box! As of now mine is from the prototype Brush Falcon!

[CitroJim]

You can see the signal box I'm standing in front of in my blog Neil

Ahh, wondered where your Falcon was from, now I know!

[NewcastleFalcon]

I never knew all that about Triumph... The sewing machine maker I was thinking of was the Coventry Machinists Co. and one of the main bicycle pioneers, James Starley...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Starley

There is probably too much, but the onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk is absolutely stacked with information and images. Starley and the Rover Safety bicycle are covered on this page here, not too wordy and some "won't come across them anywhere else" images.

https://onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk/1888- ... our&tid=59

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

You can see the signal box I'm standing in front of in my blog Neil

Ahh, wondered where your Falcon was from, now I know!

It is culled from a video where the prototype is just entering an engine shed with the nameplate being in the sunlight and the left side being in shadow (with appropriate Falcon image manipulation image and colour enhancement).

Neil

[CitroJim]

There is probably too much, but the onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk is absolutely stacked with information and images. Starley and the Rover Safety bicycle are covered on this page here, not too wordy and some "won't come across them anywhere else" images.

https://onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk/1888- ... our&tid=59

Just spent far too much time engrossed in that site Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

This probably can be described as a "contraption". Its a elliptical bike deigned to be "ridden" in a running style with low impact on hip/knee/ankle joints. It comes in 3 models, a 3-gear model for flat terrain, and 8 gear model and top of the range n 11 gear model with more carbon fibre elements in the construction and hence a jump in price

As of now the website lists the 3C at £2,299 8C at £2,849 11R at £4,099

https://www.elliptigo.co.uk/bike-family ... ical-bikes

Seen down at the Drift. Hats off to the rider though for getting out and about, weather a touch inclement today, although quite warm for January.

Neil

[CitroJim]

I've ridden one of those Quite an experience!