A couple of weeks ago someone posted a link to a site with an article about Teledyne. I don't have the URL handy now, but I did read the atricle, and I seem to remember that it said Teledyne commercial production started in December 1973 and ended in December 1976. If that is correct, and if Speedwell started production in 1972, then I guess Speedwell takes the honors, unless Flema is considered a production bike, which your article says it was not. I rather suspect all three bikes may have originated as the article described for Teledyne, as a spinoff of the aerospace industry, which had made titanium tubing available at feasible, if not exactly cheap, prices. I don't recall if you gave the Speedwell dimensions in your article, but it looks in the photos as if it may use the same tube diameters as a conventional steel frame, which would avoid my current problem of using zip ties on my Titan for want of the special brake cable clips for the 1 1/8 inch top tube. If the Speedwell used conventional OD's, however, it's no wonder it had a soft and "flexy" ride. Even with oversize tubes, my Titan rides softer than a steel bike, and it feels less stable on dirt or gravel roads, though maybe this is just because it reacts differently than I am accustomed to. One wonders if the Speedwell handling was unstable in the rain and if this contributed to Luis Ocana's famous crash while pursuing Merckx on that rainy mountain descent in the Tour the France.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
-----Original Message----- From: Hilary Stone [mailto:Hilary.Stone@Tesco.net] Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 5:24 AM To: Jerry & Liz Moos; Classic Rendezvous Subject: Re: [CR]Teledyne questions and appeal
I am afraid that my Design Classics was slightly rewritten by C+'s production editor. I spotted one of the mistakes he made Flema frames were not made in England but I think Belgium or certainly continental Europe. And sceondly that I did not originally write that Teledyne frames never made production. The first mistake will be corrected in the next issue of C+ but the second I did not spot until the discussion on CR. As to which company was first with a production titanium I always understood that Teldynes were not in production until around 1974. I am pretty certain on the evidence offered that Speedwell were definitely made in reasonable numbers from early 1972. However I would be interested to hear more from CR members with details of Speedwell frames they own ( will pass this info on to the Veteran-Cycle Club's Speedwell Marque Enthusiast) and on when Teledynes first started in production. Speedwell frames generally did not suffer from frame breakages but were very soft which was the main cause of riders' complaints about them. Somebody mentioned Speedwell brochures I have a couple but must admit I do not have the time at present to scan and PDF them as they are quite a few sheets involved. Hilary Stone
Jerry Moos wrote:
> I've recently completed rebuilding a Teledyne Titan I bought through the
> referral of a list member in January. I once again appeal to anyone who
> has a set of oversize (28.6mm I think) cable clips for sale, as the rear
> brake cable housing is presently secured by zip ties. Also, does anyone
> know when Blackburn began making alloy water bottle cages, i.e. would a
> Blackburn alloy cage be correct on a Teledyne, which ceased production
> about 1976? Also, were SunTour Ultra-6 FWs available in 1976, or only
> in the early 80's as I seem to recall? BTW, I enjoyed Hilary's article
> on the Speedwell titanium in this month's C+, but I thought he rather
> casually brushed aside Teledyne's claim to be the first production
> titanium frame, saying they "never made it into the shops". Perhaps not
> in UK, but they definitely were available in some shops in US, where
> Speedwell were not. Based on Hilary's article, I'd say the first
> production titanium frames were produced more or less simultaneously by
> Speedwell and Teledyne.