English Cycles and Jeremy Torr

[GrahamJohnWallace]

Re: Jeremy Torr & English Cycles

Jeremy also made bicycles, or at least frames, for Greg Oxenholme of Bike UK. Greg was much less discreet about Jeremy's rather charming cavalier attitude to things like dimensions, angles, brazings etc. Jeremy, with whom I had some great times, was not the world's best frame builder, but he was one of the VERY few who would build me a frame with ... wait for it ... a sloping top tube!

Would any of these be Range Rider style bikes or frames?

I would like to know how many Range Riders Jeremy made in total. It would appear that he carried on making them long after Cleland Cycles ceased production in 1984/5.

Also, how many with cantilevers and how many with hub brakes.

With this information, I could roughly work out the total number of Cleland style bikes made.

 

[justbackdated]

Interesting Bike Magic thread Steve.
Read rumours somewhere[MBUK I think] that Max Glaskin and Jeremy Torr would be together at some event here in the near future?
Who knows?

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

It's about time this thread had a photo!

It's about time this thread had a photo!

Jeremy Torr taking part in the Wendover Bash Hillclimb, 17th June 1984.

His bike is an English Cycles' - Range-Rider, and is based on the Geoff Apps' - Range-Rider design.

:shock: The main difference between the Range-Rider and the Aventura model is that the handle-bars are lower and wider than the Aventura which had a rear rack built into the frame. :shock:

The English Cycles' Range-Riders had a standard 70mm bottom Bracket and so the chainstays needed to be curved, (Clelands were 90mm with straight stays). They mostly used drum brakes, like this one, though some were fitted with cantilever brakes in order to reduce weight. They also lacked the mud-guards, bash-plates and chain-cases/guards of the Cleland Cycles' machines. :!:

English Cycles made Geoff Apps' style bikes between 1982 and 1988 ish?

Cleland Cycles made its Aventura machines between 1982 and 84.

 

[Err]

But riser bars, they're not retro, shurely shome mistake!

 

[Andy R]

But riser bars, they're not retro, shurely shome mistake!

Renthal trials bars....

 

[Err]

Skinny looking buggers. Bars and rider.

 

[Andy R]

Skinny looking buggers. Bars and rider.

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

But riser bars, they're not retro, shurely shome mistake!

No mistake... :!:

If not retro they must be pre-retro. In some ways these bikes are almost pre-historic, as little about then was documented at the time.

The Cleland school of bikes, pre 1984, used lots of motorbike, moped, road bike and BMX parts. As Mountain bike parts were yet to become available.

Joe Breeze on the subject of Cleland Cycles...
"I think Geoff Apps and his Cleland bikes have evolutionary linkage. Not to Marin, but he had (has?) a following in the UK. His line might even precede the Marin lineage."

In reality the two lineages ran separately until about 1981 when Geoff read about what was happenning in the States and made contact. The English movement was later to be swamped by the import of cheaper US derived bikes and today the tradition is only continued by a small group of enthusiasts who appreciate the unique character of these bikes.

Check out this link for the history of Cleland Cycles and the beginnings of of Mountain Biking in Britain.

http://www.james-walters.net/cleland/cl ... story.html

 

[explosif_fan]

But riser bars, they're not retro, shurely shome mistake!

Renthal trials bars....

Wassell trials bars I think

 

[GrahamJohnWallace]

Skinny looking buggers. Bars and rider.

It's all to do with not carrying around excess weight