Sheldon wrote
"I believe dropouts were only invented in the 1940s, or maybe '30s, before then all bikes had rear-opening fork ends."
I feel distinctly nervous about disageeing with Sheldon, but is he right? If you are suggesting that they were rare in the thirties, Sheldon, I would suggest otherwise. There were plenty of forward facing dropouts in the thirties; I am looking at some now on an Oscar Egg and catalogues show Super Champion, Simplex and Cyclo derailleurs in them. I am pretty sure that they appeared first (?) in the twenties. I fully expect to get my knuckles rapped for my presumption. As a lover of final quotations, I hope you find mine apposite.
Stuart Tallack in Great Britain
``I think it a shame when the worthy Homer nods; but in so long a work it is allowable if drowsiness comes on.'' Horace
And for elderly Britons, I would add, "What did Horace say, Winnie?" Harry Hemsley