Trackers

GrahamJohnWallace · Dec 10, 2024

Due to the popularity of young people modifying their bikes for riding off-road there must be footage somewhere. But one problem in tracking it down was that the activity, and the bikes had many different names depending on where the activity took place.

I am aware of another film of a 'tracker' style bike taking part in a cyclo-cross race, so there must have been a degree of crossover between the two activities.

The children's TV or BBC/ITV news coverage of the day must have reported on this topic. The best we can hope is that some of this material has survived and that somebody, realising the importance as social history, will one day make it available to others.

Iwasgoodonce · Dec 10, 2024

Wow. Just gone through the thread. Turns out I unknowingly had one. In fact, the same model as in a much earlier reply. I’m sure I spotted a Vindec Trekker. It has big chrome fork braces, a very heavy frame a Sturmey Archer 3 speed hub. It weighed so much that often when I fell off it I ended up in orbit around it rather than on the floor. I’m sure light bent around it.

Lots of happy memories of riding it in Dartington woods. In South Devon.

Rikoned · Dec 10, 2024

The Scouting event was the first National Scout cyclo cross meeting
https://cms.scouts.org.uk/media/12901/fs295306-milestones-of-scouting.pdf

Perhaps the Scouts were quite inclusive about "cyclo-cross". Are you a Scout + Do you have a bike?

For contrast here's a picture of the National Schoolboys' Cyclo-cross Championship
at the same venue (Gilwell Park), one month after the Scouting event - December 1968
programme

National Schoolboys cyclocross dec 1968.webp

https://www.gettyimages.ie/detail/n...yclo-cross-news-photo/574056493?adppopup=true

More Scout cyclo-cross
Barnet 1976

https://www.barnetscouts.com/gallery/22nd-finchley/25-1976-cyclo-cross

Very low quality photo but shows inclusive handlebar rules!

Iwasgoodonce · Dec 11, 2024

The spectators don’t look too concerned in that first photo!

Unless he is howling, “ Noooooooo!”

Wyndbrook · Dec 11, 2024

My tracking days were the mid to late 60's, although not aware of the name at the time, we were all 'scrambling'.
Usually Friday evenings, a typical lap was a loop around the primary school playground, including some steps, across the road into a local farm and Into a small hilly wood, back around a manure heap past the milking parlour and back into the minimal traffic road for another lap.
Not really any special bikes, we all used whatever we had, my friend Colin had a pair of old motocycle scrambler bars and a rear snobby, and that was it. I sometimes used to practice at home on a wreck with no tyres, just rode on the rims around the garden.
Sixteen was always the end for our racing endeavours.
Schoolboy scrambling had not quite commenced, but hit that magic birthday and a provisional licence quickly meant the open road on an upto 250cc bike.

Rikoned · Jan 23, 2025

South African dikwiel tracker bicycle?

As seen on eBay
Based around a dik wiel (dekevili) - fat wheel - roadster.

with a heavy duty box fork crown and (54-571) 26 X 2 x 1 3/4” tyres

The frame at least appears to be South African made.

With wide tyres and a strong frame/fork – a great starting point for a tracker build.

I believe most dekwiel were produced as single speed so the 3 speed sturmey rear hub with brake was probably another mod.

Note the interesting front rod brake to cable modification.

The bars appear to be moped or early BMX style bars
The tyres look like a current Duro model.

This picture appears to show dikwiel bikes in 1966 Raleigh South Africa factory in Spring,

https://www.facebook.com/springshistory/posts/1966

Does anyone know anything about South African trackers / bogwheelers*?

Nabeaquam · Jan 23, 2025

Rikoned said:
South African dikwiel tracker bicycle?

As seen on eBay
Based around a dik wiel (dekevili) - fat wheel - roadster.

with a heavy duty box fork crown and (54-571) 26 X 2 x 1 3/4” tyres

View attachment 920181
The frame at least appears to be South African made.
View attachment 920182
With wide tyres and a strong frame/fork – a great starting point for a tracker build.
View attachment 920183
I believe most dekwiel were produced as single speed so the 3 speed sturmey rear hub with brake was probably another mod.
View attachment 920184
Note the interesting front rod brake to cable modification.
View attachment 920185
The bars appear to be moped or early BMX style bars
The tyres look like a current Duro model.
View attachment 920186

This picture appears to show dikwiel bikes in 1966 Raleigh South Africa factory in Spring,

View attachment 920189

https://www.facebook.com/springshistory/posts/1966

Does anyone know anything about South African trackers / bogwheelers*?

Nice

Rikoned · Jan 23, 2025

...cont.

dikwiel roadster from the internet

Dunlop made oversize tyres that were fitted to most UK made ballooner roadsters.

Dunlop oversize tyre VCC lib Chris Noble.webp

details of a similar raleigh heavy duty fork crown

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174829206189

The eBay seller mentions the Raleigh bomber .
This higher quality dikwiel frame could easily predate the Bomber– South Africa made its own Bomber bicyles in the 1980’s.

Note the South Africa under the headbage.

gumtree

Rikoned · Jan 23, 2025

*Where does Bogwheeler come from?

As far as I can work out bogwheeler was a colloquial term for a trials motor cycle – natural to use the same name for bicycles emulating trials motor cycles.

With suggestions (from internet forums!) it comes from adding ‘bog’ lead to increase the weight of a trials bike flywheel.

(There was a lead mine in Bog, Shropshire – was bog lead a common term?)
https://shropshiregeology.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The_Bog_lead_mine.pdf

Is this more likely than coming from peat bogs?

A number of motor cycle clubs - at least one in the UK and several in the USA have bogwheeler in their name. There is also a bogwheeler motorsport club in Zimbabwe set up as a trials club in 1956.

Cotton produced a trials bike called the Bogwheeler.

And you can find examples of bogwheeler being used in place of trials bike in the motor cycle press in the 1960s/70s.

Did other groups exist beside the Darlington bogwheelers?

Rikoned · 2025-03-02T11:29:49+0000

Webb spring fork - Hardtail trackers

Front Forks – I used a set of Webb girder forks that were originally produced for use on motorised cycles (cycles with a clip-on motor). These forks were similar in some respects to the old style Harley Davidson fork with the girder arrangement and large spring at the top. There was a fair amount of damping but they were a heavy item. These forks were popular with most of the “Dirt Trackers”, being available from a dealer in Birkenhead who had bought a load in a surplus sale.
Tony Hadland blog

1960 Tracker hardtail - made by Alan Houghton ,Staffordshire with
Webb spring fork and BSA winged wheel frame (1952-5)

He stripped out the back wheel with its heavy motor and he took away the fuel tank. He kept the hub brakes (not featured in the photos) because he thought they were cool and he fitted four-speed Sturmey Archer gears. The finishing touches were some well-treaded tyres, a set of “racing” handlebars and a fancy, new chequered paint job. It weighed a huge amount, but there it was, he had invented the hardtail.