Is anyone else as sad as me?

[minor_LEGEND]

Yeah, we used to get so many customers tell us their Raleigh needed fixing, when it would appear it was often a Universal, that Rayleigh association is in small print, quite how people latch on to the smallest text on the headbadge is eye opening. Universal are dreadful too.

 

[Tricky1977]

Universal Cycles opened a factory in Rayleigh, Essex, using the name because of its similarity to Raleigh, who were regarded as quality at the time.View attachment 861759
Suppliers of BSOs now owned by Sports Direct iirc

Not far from me
Didn’t everyone have a Universal at some point! A bit like Apollo they were everywhere back in the day

 

[jimo746]

Not far from me
Didn’t everyone have a Universal at some point! A bit like Apollo they were everywhere back in the day

You could even say they were "Universal" ,

 

[greencat]

Yeah, we used to get so many customers tell us their Raleigh needed fixing, when it would appear it was often a Universal, that Rayleigh association is in small print, quite how people latch on to the smallest text on the headbadge is eye opening. Universal are dreadful too.

When it is in their interests to do so, of course they will. Talking about your Raleigh bike had a certain cachet, your Universal one - not so much.

 

[Tricky1977]

Either this Apollo if your ma and da were cheap……or you were a baller rocking a pink-smoke Raleigh Mustang or Lime green lizard

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

I like the Apollo, ducks quickly

 

[novocaine]

townsend and falcon (not the good one) were at large round here, but they were "made" local and all the bikeshops had them in for parents with little interest or money.

 

[jimo746]

townsend and falcon (not the good one) were at large round here, but they were "made" local and all the bikeshops had them in for parents with little interest or money.

Is it true that to keep costs down they only produced one frame size?
It's just that every kid I knew had the seat slammed and their crown jewels perilously close to the "cross bar".
What a time to be alive!

 

[novocaine]

Is it true that to keep costs down they only produced one frame size?
It's just that every kid I knew had the seat slammed and their crown jewels perilously close to the "cross bar".
What a time to be alive!

3.
small, medium, large. there was about 4" between each size though, so no one had a small and if you looked like you were about to outgrow the medium you'd get a gate.

have you seen kids on 29" these days? :O

 

[Tricky1977]

townsend and falcon (not the good one) were at large round here, but they were "made" local and all the bikeshops had them in for parents with little interest or money.

Falcon too! Yes I had forgotten them