Kurt Sperry wrote:
> What's up with so many English bikes not fitting front derailleurs?
>
>
>> A "Red Feather" Dawes on UK eBay.
>>
>> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/
>>
>> or http://tinyurl.com/
>>
This particular Dawes is from the 1960s. I remember in the 1950s that front derailleurs were a rarity on English lightweights, especially entry level machines. They were reserved for out and out racing bikes used in stage races. Back then it was quite an achievement to manage to buy a lightweight bike, let alone outfit it with all the bells and whistles. Don't go by what you saw in the bike boom years in America. Also, back then the majority of English racing was time trials, which were usually over flat, straight roads and 5 gears were plenty. -- John Betmanis Woodstock, Ontario Canada