In a message dated 7/17/04 11:34:53 PM, classicrendezvous-request@bikelist.org writes:
<< 1934--On this side of the pond we built a hole bicycle factory on welded frames.Huffman went back in bicycle production in 1934 with their "aircrafted welded" frame bikes.O you say Balloon bikes with heavy water pipe frames,if you check the catalogs Huffman also offered several Light/weight models in Co-mo tubing(late 30s -36 is the oldest I've found).Does what we do have any barring on what happens "Over There"?
sam lingo pleasanton tx >>
Oh Yes Sam,
I thought Huffy stated after World War II, 1947 or so. I have no data but the 1930s production dates suprise me. Horace was old enough I suppose but he would have been a very young man to start a bicycle business like this just after the depression butt maybe you know. Perhaps he was a lightweight builder that went big time during the boom economy following the WAR.
Few people know, but the LAW geezers (I'm one) remember Horace Huffman as a passionate cyclist. He sported a gorgeous Rene Herse in chrome(Demontable?) with red Huffy decals on the cover of an 1970's LAW Bulletin magazine I recall. Larry Black remembers him I bet. I believe he was traveling with the Huff and Puffers of the International Bicycle Touring Society and they often visited Herse's Shop. I have what is reported to be his son's bike (Frank, was there a son named Frank), a made to measure (?) campy equipped 1965 or so Frejus in the shop. The money must have been in cheap bikes for him but he imported huffy labeled Raleigh 3 speed roadsters in the 1960s (50's too perhaps) to round out his offerings. Before Schwinn established their dealer network Huffys were often found in bike shops and the Independent Bicycle Dealer distribution was not quite so elite in the old days. Huffy was likely the largest purchaser of the "F" frame Huffy small wheel shopper/commutter bikes in the 1960s with an order of 50,000 units. These were fully equipped 4 speed Sturmey equipped with a pale gray finish and distinctive none matching white front and rear white platform racks. Full suspension and small wheels were standard of course as with any Moulton. Alex Moulton often visited Huffman when he visited stateside and were good friends. It's a shame even though the Huffy name shall be ever associated with cheap bikes the factory moved out of country.
On the welded thing. I was often told that all bronze brazing as we know it here (USA) is called welding in Britain. This has not been borne out with my conversations with British builders I currently deal with but that was stated in several books profiling British builders I read in the 1970s. So this little language anomaly might just add to the confusion.
A while back I was touring the Smithsonian and came across the WW1 aircraft exhibit. It seem that after a few years at war the Germans were having trouble getting enough of the proper wood to build their lovely Folkers as the daily dogfights were causing severe enough maintenance problems that only complete re placement could remedy. Folker discovered that lightweight (racing?) bicycle builders could join very thin cromoly tubing to make a very lightweight airframe t replace the scarce wood they needed. I worked so well they needed more skilled bicycle builders. I suppose some were at the front and the skill needed was not easily transferred (I'm suprised) but they needed more construction. The German plane makers then discovered that non skilled workers could easily join low grade thick and heavy steel tubing to produce the air frame where they went into full bore production. The results of this heavier airframe was not good according to the exhibit. I don't remember if the planes crashed a lot, or had poor performance compared to wooden or lightweight steel air frames but I seem to remember some adjective like disaster being used. I suppose lightweight bicycle builders of the late 19th century were participating in the private space program of their day and have proprietary techniques and materials. Their were an overwhelming series of Bicycle Related patents issued during the late 1800s that accounted in some years to over 80% of all patents issued
In 20-30 years the skills that the builders on this list have developed over a life time may be lost for good as the average bicycle frame and wheels might come from a homemade carbon fiber vacueform machine that is purchased at TOYS R US.
Yours in Cycling,
Gilbert Anderson
North Road Bicycle Company
519 W. North St.
Raleigh, NC 27603
USA
Toll Free Ph: 800\u2022321\u20225511
Local Ph: 919\u2022828\u20228999
E-mail: cyclestore@aol.com