Tuesday 13 February 2018

The Glory of Raleigh

It is quite a fad, I think, but I think it is easy to see why people get seduced by the old style beauty of steel bicycles; their simple slim uncluttered frames, and the way their paint glitters more than it ever can on an aluminium or carbon frame.

Whenever I see a Raleigh bicycle of this nature, it always makes me feel proud - probably the greatest thing Nottingham ever produced. There was a fantastic documentary on BBC4 about the history of the company and its Nottingham factory, and the skilled tradesmen who worked there. I love the heron logo. I love that these bicycles once ruled the world from this county.

So, it gives me great joy to see old Raleigh bicycles at work. Even if leaving a steel bike out in the rain is a bit of a heartbreaker.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 13.02.18





Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

3 comments:

  1. The Weaver of Grass13 February 2018 at 13:25

    My son is an off road cycler but he has an old cycle he rode when he lived in London.
    He has just had it done up like new - it is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. John "By Stargoose And Hanglands"14 February 2018 at 00:53

    My most faithful bicycle was a Raleigh, bought second-hand and ridden for 30 years.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Simon Douglas Thompson14 February 2018 at 09:25

    Thanks for stopping by - you can get some nice steelies quite cheap, but you need the mechanical ability to sort them out, which I don't have.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)