Let's see: ".... rubbish ... great lumps of iron ... great chunks of steel ... another piece of junk ... suedo racer ... old horses ... and ... sadists!"
No, Barrie, I am ever so tired of you mincing words, hiding your real opinions. Tell us what you REALLY mean! Ha ha!
Thanks for the good laugh (and viewpoint of those days)
Dale
Isn't this great? An authentic diatribe, beautifully and passionately written.
Nothing quite so defines the British clubman as his innate snobbery and if you've not spent considerable time in England, most Americans simply cannot quite get their head around it. And all over a bicycle! It wasn't just brand, of course, but where your bespoke frame came from. No Home Counties clubman would be caught dead on a Quinn.. why that's something Scousers would ride. My wife's dad was a keen cyclist, born and bred in south London and he rode, of course, a Claud Butler. Nothing else. There were even clubs for Conservatives, Bolshies and Vegetarians. And this culture spread over the globe with the British Empire. If you want a brilliant review of it and how determined choice of cycle, component, kit and everything else, read this web posting about cycling in Durban, South Africa, in the 1940s-50:
http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/
And of course, no respecting English clubman would have anything to do with such "colonials"... even if they were just emulating their bettors.
Finally, tis true... we have a cottage in Colaton Raleigh, East Devon not far from the Dorset border and you couldn't plan a time trial of more than five miles around there that was remotely flat. Which is why I do my cycling at home in the USA and why I won't offend local club sensibilities as well! A poseur foreigner on a flash 1948 Raleigh Record Ace, bought as complete machine "off the peg"... bloody Yanks!
Peter Kohler (Esq.)
Washington DC USA