Glasgow's Cycling Heritage

[Aulyin]

Excuses, Excuses. All I get is Excuses.

Thanks for taking an interest Dugald. Sorry, I didn't realise that you were waaaaay over there.
Enjoying going through your posts. I'm learning quite a lot about what we used to have over here.

Cheers, Aulyin

[Cyclo2000]

I always thought habble refered to a group of riders going along in a bunch, like a Scottish version of the French Peleton. Certainly that's how I've always heard it in use.
Whatever girlfreind
Here's the skinny on Reg
http://www.classicrendezvous.com./British_isles/Harris_Reg/R_Harris_main.htm

Vulcan was a brand name of Cogent & Wearwell and are reasonably obscure so I'm not surprised info hasn't appeared yet.
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/British_isles/Wearwell.htm
Further info on the Group here although Vulcan ain't mentioned till quite far doon.
http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/Transport/bicycles/Cogent.htm

[Dugald]

Enjoyed reading your post Cyclo. Great stuff about Harris. Although I had never heard of a frame bearing his name I had of course heard lots about Harris. I saw him at Ibrox Stadium in 1950 when he was part of a group of European track riders who were touring the major cities in the U.K. I enjoyed the afternoon thoroughly, but there weren't many spectators. Johnny McKenzie, Douglas, had beaten Harris in a race a couple of years before, but he didn't do it the day I was there. The excerpts from his autobiography shown on the site you posted are very interesting. Imagine him coming back in his fifties to win the British Sprint Championship again! Says in the article he won the World Sprint Championship too, but I don't recall this. The article didn't mention that he'd been badly wounded in a tank in North Africa and discharged as medically unfit... hard to imagine that too!

The third site you posted, the one about Cogent Bicycle building in Wolverhampton, is also very interesting. I guess this explains why this city became a centre for bicycle building well into the post-Cogent century. I'm thinking of Percy Stallard and the fine bikes he turned out. I wrote to him in 1949 looking for one of his bikes he advertised in the Cycling for £9-15/-, but I backed off at the last minute and had Niel McCulloch, Govan, build me one instead...for £13: £5 down, 10/- a week!

[Cyclo2000]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris531/2765948890/sizes/l/in/set-72157594423613504/

I can't seem to post images, but clicking on the link will take you there anyway.

[Josef]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris531/2765948890/sizes/l/in/set-72157594423613504/

I can't seem to post images, but clicking on the link will take you there anyway.

[Lucky Poet]

Cracker

I'd only seen images of Harris when he had his comeback. Looks like South of France pattern handlebars there, too. (That's what my auld man called them at least.)

[floweredpig]

The handlebars on the poster are track bars arent they?
Why did your dad call them south of france bars?
Did they sell pastis?

[Dugald]

Yes, that's a great picture of Reg Harris and I'm pretty sure it's the one on which the statue at the Manchester Velodrome is fashioned. Like you Floweredpig, I've never heard of South of France pattern handlebars as mentioned by Lucky Poet, and the bars in the picture were known, as you say, simply as "track bars". Track bars have a much deeper drop in the hooks of the bars, and if you take a look at Harris's back in the picture, it will be seen that he's crouched very low, and it takes big drops to get down that low. Track bars follow the style of track men from away back when for example, riders like Major Taylor rode very low on bars using a horizontally-adjustable handlebar extension. Six-day bike riders I'd guess, set the pattern for track styles.

[floweredpig]

Looking forward to watching Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Eurosport tommorow.Surely the best of the classics?

[Dexter St. Clair]

Flying Scot frame just finished on e bay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180347577649&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:GB:1123

[Lucky Poet]

Lovely lugs They don't make 'em like that, etc.

Re: South of France bends, looking at the Harris photo while sober, his aren't: the bends go too far forward of the stem. I just had a root around and they're attached to his old bike. I'll post photos when I get some daylight.

[floweredpig]

Flying Scot frame just finished on e bay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180347577649&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:GB:1123

That is fantastic lug work.You don't get that with carbon.

I don't care what Morrissey said,glue isn't glamorous.

[Dugald]

[quote="Dexter St. Clair"]Flying Scot frame just finished on e bay quote]

Now thems real track bars!

Yes, great lug-work there, haven't seen anything quite that good for a long time.

[Dexter St. Clair]

Another Flying Scot frame up on e bay. Might suit Sharon.

[Dugald]

I recall seeing pictures of a circus clown of normal stature riding a bike about the size of this one in your picture Dexter, and I often wondered where a bike of such minuscule dimensions could have been obtained... now I know!