Raleigh: The Great British Bicycle Company

[Canuk]

There are a lot of threads featuring foreign icons of cycle production, but very little about Raleigh and it's 140 year history. From the first safety bicycles to the glued together Titanium.

Having just acquired this 1932 X Type, I'm fascinated not only by their global reach, (at one point they were exporting Raleighs to 54 countries simultaneously) but their input into innovation, cycling sport , fashion and ultimately the design of bicycles we ride in 2025.

 

[Canuk]

A 1930 X Type

 

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CTC on a Raleigh advert 1890

 

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Raleigh 1890 'M Pattern'

 

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This model was a state-of-the-art machine when it was introduced. Its open diamond frame design took over from the cross frame safety design that had revolutionised cycling for the previous four years.

But what stood out most at the time was the possibility of “changing gear” – though that did not mean flicking a lever connected by cable to the hub (that was not invented until 1895; instead it required you to unbolt the chainwheel and change it for one of a different size. We take detachable chainwheels for granted now, but this was the first ever practical design from Raleigh.

 

[Canuk]

How Raleigh came into being

The original company name was Woodhead, Angois & Ellis, changing to Raleigh Cycle Co around 1890.

Richard Morriss Woodhead registered a British patent for a ‘Brake for Cycles’ on 3rd December 1890. Frank Bowden is not recorded as a witness at the bottom of the patent. However, on Woodhead’s subsequent patent – ‘Mud guard for velocipedes’ – whose British patent is declared as 20th June 1891, you can see Frank Bowden recorded as a witness. This does not necessarily reflect the date he joined the company, but it illustrates his serious involvement by June 1891.

 

[Canuk]

1890 Woodhead, Angois & Ellis ‘Raleigh’ Road racer, 30 inch wheels. Interchangeable gearing.

 

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My own humble Raleigh Scirocco 1984

 

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1918 Raleigh X Frame Tandem

 

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A nice 30,000 bicycles sold! Boast!