Mick's definition nails my early 50's Viking on the head. Eyeballing the
angles, it looks to be 73 parallel, maybe 72 on the seat. Drilled for front
(round blades) and rear, with track end slots about 2 1/4" long. The rear
triangle is very beefy with the points of the wrap-arounds almost kissing
each other. The lady I bought it from said the original owner had it
"custom" built at Viking (did production companies do that?). She said he
used it for racing, touring, and going to work, pretty standard for then. I
can see the advantage of long trackends for multiple purposes. Set up with
700x28's I can just squeeze a set of mudguards on it, and that's only with
the rear wheel all the way back. I've often wondered if he had it set up
with 26x1 1/4's instead of 27's. Depending on my mood, I'll run it straight
fixed, ASC, or FM. Anyway it goes, it's a dream ride and my most favoritist.
Craig Montgomery in Tucson
>
> "Dear Dan,
> Path is the old fashioned Victorian/ Edwardian cycling term for track.
> So a path bike is purely for the track. High bottom bracket no
> clearances and no drillings for brakes. A Road-Path is a bike with
> track ends that is dual purpose for both road and track racing, angles
> not quite as steep and bottom bracket lower than a pure path (track
> bike). Normally has the front fork crown drilled for a brake. Can also
> be built with mudguard clearances and mudguard eyes. 27" or sprints can
> be fitted. Another term for Road-Path is Road-Track.
> Makers like Selbach and others used to call this type of bike a D.P.
> prewar. Which stood for dual purpose.
> Rotrax the maker coined their name by using the word play road/track.
> This would be my understanding of the various terminology only hope
> this helps and does not cloud the issue too much.
> Best wishes Mick."
>
> This certainly clears things a bit for me. All I know for sure is that
> I'm hooked on them.
>
> Dan Artley
> Parkton, Maryland