One of the subjects sometimes discussed by enthusiasts of vintage bicycles, and particularly three speed bikes, is exactly when the "golden age" of the English three speed took place in the United States. Collectors of such bicycles in the U.S. today seem to focus on the period from 1946 through 1959 as the "golden age". This short article argues that the "golden age" of the English three speed in the United States in broader memory took place between 1960 and the road bike boom of the early '70s, contrary to the viewpoint of most collectors today.
First, let's address the geography. In Britain, we can trace the popular three speed bike back to the early days of internal gears around 1900. In contrast, in the United States, relatively few three speeds were imported prior to the 1930s. A British enthusiast might think of the "golden age" as being antique three speed bikes from before WWII, whereas even a 1950s bike would be an antique in the United States.
Most collectors of three speed bikes in the United States regard the apex of quality as taking place some time between 1935 and 1960. Opinions differ, but generally the period 1946 through 1959 is cited most frequently as the "golden age", based on quality and the variety of English three speed bikes offered in the U.S. I tend to agree with that assessment, if we're looking at just quality-of-product.
I'd like to offer another perspective, one that could be called the "popular viewpoint". In other words, how the general public remembers the English three speed in the U.S. rather than the relatively niche group of collectors who have these bikes today. This broader view holds that the "golden age" of the English three speed in the United States took place between 1960 and the 10-speed boom of the early '70s.
During the 1950s, "balloon tire" single speed long-popular in the U.S. went into a steep decline. That style of bike was gradually replaced by "middleweight" bicycles, some of which had hand brakes and three speed hubs, introducing many riders to elements of English three speed bikes. Eventually, these bicycles were supplanted by the small wheel "muscle bikes" and the English three speed bikes in the early and mid 1960s. For many people in high school, college/university, and graduate school settings in the 1960s and early 1970s, the English three speed bike was the go-to vehicle.
The people I've spoken to over the years point to the period between 1960 and the 10-speed "bike boom" of the early 1970s as being the popular "golden age" of the three speed in the U.S. These riders, generally born between 1940 and 1960, relied heavily on English three speeds to get to school, commute to class, pick up groceries, deliver newspapers, etc. It is also interesting that this period do not coincide with what collectors today think of as the "golden age" of English bikes in the U.S. In fact, collectors sometimes deride the bikes made after the early 1960s as increasingly more cheaply made than earlier bikes.
The quantity of English three speeds imported into the U.S. is much closer to the popular memory than with the collectors and experts today. The vast majority of English three speeds imported into the U.S. came into the country from 1960 through 1975. There was strong demand for these bikes after the decline of the balloon tire bikes, but before the 10-speed road bike boom of the early '70s.
The anecdotes I have heard (samples below) over the years are consistent with popular memory as well:
"In the 1960s, no one wanted fat tire bikes anymore. Those were heavy and not cool. Everyone wanted either a Sting Ray or an English three speed."
"I replaced my Sears bike (a middleweight) with an English bike (a three speed Dunelt)."
"In the 1960s, it was de rigeur to have a three speed."
"I bought a Raleigh three speed with my allowance (this was in the early 1960s), put on a basket and delivered newspapers with that bike."
"I remember three of the kids on my block had three speeds in the 1960s."
[Several people I have spoken to over the years recall getting British three speed bikes as presents from family members in the 1960s. Their stories are all similar]
Given that three speed bike use in the U.S. appears to have been strongest from 1960 through the road bike boom of the early 70s, there is a certain collector snobbishness at work. In the popular mind, and especially among the large "baby boom" generation, the English three speed in the U.S. will be remembered as an icon of the years between 1960 and the early 70s, alongside the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, James Bond, and the Rolling Stones. Popular memory overall and what a narrow set of collectors have in mind often aren't the same thing.
ReplyDeleteBesGreat post! I get a little annoyed with the whole "any British three-speed made after 1960 will simply disintegrate underneath you while riding" trope expressed in some areas (the Bike Forums "For the love of British three speeds" thread that we both frequent is an obvious offender.) I get the impression that many (not all) of these folks care little about actually riding the bikes. They're more collector types, so of course they'd gravitate towards 50's bikes: While they may be better, they're definitely RARER here in the US, so each one is more special than a "whatever" Raleigh Sports from 1972.
But adult riders in the US during the 50's were rare. There may have been some college types near schools that owned British three speeds, but the majority of Americans, adult or child, were riding balloon-tire bikes by the like of Schwinn. Once people started to ride bikes for exercise, around the time when Paul Dudley White, heart surgeon and advisor to President Eisenhower post his heart attack, suggested them as a good way to stay healthy. When folks got on their balloon-tired bikes again, they realized how much work they were, and went to look for easier options. That's when British three speeds became a thing for many Americans. And Raleigh et al were eager to import their "lightweight" bikes to American shores.
Of course, the culture around three speeds here in the States never approached the heights it did in Britian from after World War I to the 1960's. But these 60's and 70's British three speeds are still available in good numbers, and with a little work and some fresh parts can be as great a bike as the day it came off the assembly line in Nottingham. For those of us who want to "ride" our three speeds vs. trying to find the rarest specimens, these 60's and 70's bikes are great.
Best,
Shawn
https://societyofthreespeeds.wordpress.com/
Thanks. There's a lot of good information in your comment. I love old, unusual three speeds as much as any collector, but sometimes we lose focus on what took place in the wider population - perhaps a case of seeing the trees and not the proverbial forest.
DeleteWhat spurred me to write this little article was that a neighbor recently gifted me (a very kind act) a 1968 Raleigh Sports. He told me the story of how he got it as a gift from his wife, rode it in grad school, rode it with his son after he had started a family, etc. Thinking about what he told me, it sounded like many people born between 1940 and 1955 I have talked to about old bikes over the years. Their stories brought together a number of common points, and they all centered on three speed bikes as a key mode of transportation in the 1960s through the early 70s. For the wider population in the US, the English three speeds were king in the 1960s the way the balloon tire cruisers had been the 1930s-40s.
One of the things I would find interesting is a collection of stories about people using these three speed bikes when new (or relatively new) between 1955 and 1980 - how people acquired the bikes, how they used them, the benefit they got, whether they kept them, etc. We have so much information now about the bikes themselves (specifications, equipment changes, etc.), but what we don't want to lose are the personal stories about what people were actually doing with them.