Hugh Thornton wrote:
While on the subject of Viking, does anyone know whether made-to-measure
Professional framesets were generally marketed? I always thought that the
Severn Valley was the pinnacle of the range, but when speaking to someone riding
what I thought was a Severn Valley, fully Campy Record equipped, he told me
that it was a custom made Professional. I have never seen any contemporary
Viking advertising offering a custom framebuilding service and so was wondering
whether they were only offered rather selectively.
Hugh Thornton
Cheshire, England
I cant answer your question about custom built Vikings, but I can
tell you
that post 1952 the Severn Valley was not top of the range. That honour
went
to the Tour of Britain model, based on the 51 Ian Steele winning bike.
One
was offered on ebay a few weeks ago by a UK seller, and to my surprise
did
not sell. It can still be seen at item number 200126536041. You can
also
see my 53 Tour of Britain frame at
http://www.wooljersey.com/
In the November 1955 price list the Tour of Britain model was £48/19/6, while what was known as the Clubmaster Severn Valley was £37/19/6. The Trackmaster, which is where this thread started, was £42/19/6.
Peter brown, Lincolnshire, England