Proteus, the shop still exists on Rt 1 in College Park ,MD not far from here. One of the three original owners still owns the business I am told.Never a big shop, they are still in a small but interesting building just feet from the highway.(If here you will also want to visit the more well-known College Park Bikes owned by Mr. Black. It is just a few miles further South on Rt. I,barely past the University of MD. Now they really cater to vintage enthusiasts-parts,frames, you name it) Sadly Proteus does not still make their own line of custom bikes or frames. They have a few vintage custom bikes in there now, a Bob Jackson,a Proteus,a Raleigh folding model I think, and some others. In talking with one of the other listmembers I was told they used to also offer framebuilding classes and would sell tubes, castings, etc. This was once sort of a full service bike shop for the real enthusiast. They did painting too. I also fondly remember their Japanese Lotus bikes, which we discussed on the net recently -(even a list of models was presented). I liked the way they looked, the paint colors were unique and attractive. Primarily they deal in modern bikes these days, such as Iron Horse. Last couple of times I was in there I met a vintage enthusiast who had with him a Guerciotti, then a Bianchi.
The Proteus Bikes were very nice, well regarded at the time, I have been told. I don't know how well known they were nationally.I never owned one and am no expert and knew even less then..The lug work while neat, was usually not elaborate. Imron Paint was very well done. I think they made both touring, racing, and what was then called "sport-touring" (did this term die/) models. At the time a few locals that I knew still preferred ordering their custom Mercian touring frames from England, which, by way of comparison, were probably regarded as considerably better.The only other custom frame shop I visited at that time in our area was Alpine, in Rockville, MD.
Mark Cutrufelli in Laurel,MD
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-admin@bikelist.org]On Behalf Of Tom Hayes Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2002 7:56 AM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Proteus experience, anyone?
I have picked up a Proteus Design frameset, touring model, and am wondering whether any list members may have experience with these frames and the quality of that experience. I read the section in "The Custome Bicycle" on Proteus Design and found it interesting, but it did not provide any information of its quality (though that is the nature of the book, I think). Are these frames still made? Does Proteus Design still exist as a company?
Thank you.
Cheers.
Tom Hayes
Tom Hayes 18585 Munn Road Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44023 hayesbikes@nls.net hayes@jcu.edu
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