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Here are two photos showing the 700C front wheel of a Cleland Landseer showing the Qwikspokes at the hub. Note that the front wheel had been built using a 1 cross pattern on the roller-brake side and radial spokes on the other side. In all 20 spokes have been used. Given the 700C/622mm rim and...

Thanks for that Dan, I have been hoping that Bruce Gordon would produce a fatter version of their original Rock 'n Road. Now we'll just have to wait until they arrive in the UK at a more reasonable price! 48mm should be a great fit for the Cleland Aventura and English Range-rider

Just to mention, to mark the 40th anniversary of the UK MTB competition and the first Wendover Bash, I will be leading a weekend of rides in the Chiltern Hills near Wendover in June. The plan is to base this at a campsite near to Wendover on June the 22nd &...

Hi Dan, Will do! I will ask Geoff and see if he remembers what the graphic to either side of 'BY' was based on? Would it also be possible if you to also run off a set of decals for my Metro-Trekker version of this bike? I can supply photos and dimensions for the 'Metro-Trekker' lettering...

Good luck, I wish you well. I can measure the approximate dimensions/angles of the spoke head that Geoff's machine produces if that would be helpful? Here is an inexpensive arbour press, that if fitted with a custom made jig could probably be used to create the bends in the end of a pre-cut...

Geoff was in when I phoned today. He said that the prototype of the "Kwik-Spoke" machine was fabricated from scratch by a company in the Scottish Borders after he discussed the idea with them. They made two prototypes, one that Geoff still has whilst the other one went to someone in Germany...

Thanks for posting the above Flickr link. This will prove useful when I phone Geoff. The caption with photo 10 says " You can confidently build Kwikspoked wheels that will last for years. I have one set that has been going strong for 61 years." So this is probably an old technique. Even so...

Hi Timberpeg, I will ask him and see if he can supply some photos or drawings of his machine. For anyone wondering what a Geoff Apps "quick spoke tool" is, it is a machine Geoff has developed that can make a spoke of a required length from a longer spoke. It means that the wheel builders who...

Geoff can be difficult to contact these days and doesn't want his email address shared. But if you message me here I will forward it onto Geoff and mention it to him when we next talk.

Hi Peter, have you heard back from Dan yet? I spoke to Geoff about the decals but unfortunately he only designed the 'Made By English Telford' decal and doesn't have any other artwork. He did say that he thought that the 'Elephant' logo was based on a drawing by Jeremy Torr's daughter, but...

I hope they have kept the moulds for the 650Bx54mm Studded Hakkapeliitta tyre and decide to reintroduce it. This would be perfect for modern mountain bikers who ride in in snowy/icy conditions. Maybe also a 700C version of this tyre for the 29er's?

The Marin Mountain Bike Hall of Fame entry for JFS agrees with you. It has a picture of his 1953 bike and the only reference to the bike in the text says: "Let’s start in 1953. That year, John Finley Scott made the world’s first known mountain bike. It had multiple gears and knobby tires. He...

In product development the same ideas can develop independently at different times and places. Sometimes these ideas get picked up, adopted widely and go viral. Other times as with JFS's 1953 bike, they go unnoticed, maybe because they are two far ahead of their time, and maybe for they don't...

The received historical wisdom is that balloon tire 'post-boy bikes,' modified for downhill racing, was the starting point that led to mountain bikes and mountain biking starting in the US. In this context, the 1953 John Finley Scott 'Varsity' bike has been considered as an early example of the...

I'm glad you posted it because I hadn't seen that 1981 brochure with the JF-S 1953 "Varsity" bike reference before. The brochure shows that Tom Ritchey knew about John Finley-Scott's 1953 Varsity bike in 1981. The questions this raises are: *Did Tom know about this bike before he saw Breezer...

I started this thread because Tom Ritchey appeared to be attempting to re-write mountain bike history by claiming that a 650b wheeled rough-stuff frame he built for John Finley-Scott circa 1977 was the first mountain bike he built. This contradicted the received wisdom that the first mountain...

I don't think so. The Small Dole event topic is about the start or UK mountain bike race events as is the report on the Bicycle Action 'Eastway' event. The Rob Van der Plas book review gives an insight into the arrival of mountain bikes on UK shores that made such events possible. 2024 marks...

Jeremy Torr says that my Metro-Trekker is original spec. It was his response to the phenomenal sales of the Muddy Fox Courier model at that time. The Courier was marketed as a mountain bike for city use but the demand for such a bike probably wasn't as high in Telford as it was in the big...

Hi Peter, Dan may be busy at the moment but it is worth waiting for him to respond. If you look carefully at the Metro-Trekker chainset you will notice that it is actually a half-step triple where the middle ring is slightly smaller than the outer. This is an arrangement that is more often seen...

Here are some photos of the decals used on my Metro Trekker: I have also sent these to Geoff Apps because the 'FRAME BY ENGLISH TELFORD' caption was originally designed by Geoff and a blue and red version was used on the Cleland Aventuras. I have the original transfer sheets for these...