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A very short history of English Cycles of Telford.
Because of the unusual geometry of the Cleland design Geoff Apps found it very difficult to find reliable framebuilders prepared to make frames for him. After using framebuilders as far apart as Amersham and Liverpool Apps eventually made contact with Jeremy Torr at English Cycles in Telford, Shropshire. Thus Torr became the framebuilder of the first off-road bikes produced in Europe.
Jeremy made his first prototype Cleland frame in 1982, it still exists, and then went on to build all the production Cleland Frames. He also built a version of his own that he called the Range-Rider after the name Geoff Apps used for the very first Cleland bikes. The English Cycles' Range-Rider differed from the Clelands in that they had standard 68mm, not 90mm, bottom bracket shells with bent chain-stays and Renthal "trials" handlebars. About one third of Range-Riders were fitted with cantilever brakes and not hub brakes like the Clelands. And while Cleland Aventuras were advertised and promoted in the cycling press and sold widely throughout the UK, The English Cycles' Range-Rider were not and probably sold mostly around Telford.
Torr also made experimental one-off bikes to his own design but usually with Cleland like geometry. He also built frames for London bike shop "Bike UK". These were marketed under their Eclipse brand.
Because of the unusual geometry of the Cleland design Geoff Apps found it very difficult to find reliable framebuilders prepared to make frames for him. After using framebuilders as far apart as Amersham and Liverpool Apps eventually made contact with Jeremy Torr at English Cycles in Telford, Shropshire. Thus Torr became the framebuilder of the first off-road bikes produced in Europe.
Jeremy made his first prototype Cleland frame in 1982, it still exists, and then went on to build all the production Cleland Frames. He also built a version of his own that he called the Range-Rider after the name Geoff Apps used for the very first Cleland bikes. The English Cycles' Range-Rider differed from the Clelands in that they had standard 68mm, not 90mm, bottom bracket shells with bent chain-stays and Renthal "trials" handlebars. About one third of Range-Riders were fitted with cantilever brakes and not hub brakes like the Clelands. And while Cleland Aventuras were advertised and promoted in the cycling press and sold widely throughout the UK, The English Cycles' Range-Rider were not and probably sold mostly around Telford.
Torr also made experimental one-off bikes to his own design but usually with Cleland like geometry. He also built frames for London bike shop "Bike UK". These were marketed under their Eclipse brand.
