Timelines

Timelines

One chronology of classic lightweight cycling, marque by marque. Follow the spine from the first steel foundries to the modern peloton, then open any maker for its full year-by-year story.

29 timelines1824 to present22 Bicycle Makers, 7 Component Makers

1824

Component makerBayliss-WileyBayliss-Wiley Co. Ltd. was a highly respected designer and manufacturer of bicycle components for nearly a full century, ahead of its time…1824 – 196919 eventsView timeline

1851

Component makerIdéaleThe history of Idéale is a century-long narrative of industrial perseverance and technical mastery that transformed a modest Parisian stamping workshop into…1851 – 201732 eventsView timeline

1866

Component makerBrooks EnglandFounded in 1866 in Birmingham, England to make horse harnesses and leather goods, Brooks pivoted to bicycle saddles in the winter of…1866 – 201637 eventsView timeline

1867

Bicycle makerJo RoutensJoseph “Jo” Routens ranked among the greatest makers of randonneur, cyclotouring and cyclosportif bicycles in cycling history, distinct from contemporaries René Herse…1867 – 201413 eventsView timeline

1871

Component makerLefolLong before it became a byword for the durable, elegant aluminum fenders that seem never to die or go out of style,…1871 – 196115 eventsView timeline

1882

Bicycle makerFrancePeugeotFrom a 19th-century steel foundry to ten Tour de France victories.1882 – present43 eventsView timeline

1885

Bicycle makerItalyBianchiThe world's oldest bicycle maker, born in a Milan workshop in 1885.1885 – present46 eventsView timeline

1886

Bicycle makerRaleigh for the MassesAmong the most recognized bicycle brands in the world, the Raleigh Cycle Company traces its roots to a twelve-person workshop in Nottingham,…1886 – 201426 eventsView timeline

1887

Bicycle makerTerrotFrom its 1887 beginnings as a modest textile workshop built by Charles Terrot in rural Dijon, France, the Terrot enterprise grew into…1887 – 197022 eventsView timeline

1889

Bicycle makerFranceAutomotoAn early force in Saint-Étienne, the cradle of French cycling.1889 – 196227 eventsView timeline

1889

Component makerFranceMavicA century of wheels, rims and race-winning innovation out of Lyon.1889 – present48 eventsView timeline

1894

Bicycle makerLegnanoLegnano secured its place in the great tradition of Italian cycling, forged by racing greats Alfredo Binda, Gino Bartali and Fausto Coppi…1894 – 201327 eventsView timeline

1896

Bicycle makerCaminadeNearly a century before swoopy modern wonderbikes claimed aluminum frames and quick-disassembly travel bikes as innovations, Pierre Caminade had already built them.…1896 – 195123 eventsView timeline

1896

Bicycle makerCarlton CyclesCarlton Cycles, founded in Carlton, England in 1896, built wide-tired roadsters before a mid-1930s pivot toward racing and club machines gave rise…1896 – 198221 eventsView timeline

1902

Bicycle makerAndré MauryAndré Maury built his reputation in the shadow of better-known Parisian constructeurs like Alex Singer and René Herse, working first from the…1902 – 195618 eventsView timeline

1903

Component makerStronglightStronglight is one of the enduring names of French cycling componentry, though its own history folds together two separate companies that only…1903 – 200010 eventsView timeline

1905

Bicycle makerAlex SingerCycles Alex Singer began as one man’s answer to bad roads and long distances, a tiny Paris-area atelier built on the conviction…1905 – 200611 eventsView timeline

1909

Bicycle makerDuraluminDuralumin is not a bicycle marque in the usual sense. It is the trade name of an age-hardened aluminum alloy, developed in…1909 – 199210 eventsView timeline

1914

Bicycle makerHoldsworthBorn from postwar scarcity, Holdsworth grew from a home-based cycling-apparel venture into one of the great names in British lightweight bicycles, a…1914 – 198220 eventsView timeline

1919

Bicycle makerFranceMercierA century of racing, the Méca Dural frame and dramatic revivals.1919 – present36 eventsView timeline

1919

Bicycle makerMasiSince the dawn of competitive bicycle racing, Italian frame builders have produced some of the world’s most painstakingly crafted machines, and of…1919 – 198825 eventsView timeline

1925

Bicycle makerBridgestoneBridgestone is best known worldwide as a tire giant, yet its bicycle story runs from tabi sandals in the 1920s to a…1925 – 201817 eventsView timeline

1925

Bicycle makerGitaneGitane took its name from founder Marcel Bruneliere's own nickname, given to him by his wife for his constant continent-spanning dealmaking, and…1925 – 200017 eventsView timeline

1930

Bicycle makerHobbs of BarbicanHobbs of Barbican built its reputation on Albert Hobbs’ conviction that “a cycle is as good as its frame,” and the timeline…1930 – 195210 eventsView timeline

1934

Bicycle makerDe RosaA De Rosa frame begins and ends with a single conviction: that steel, and later titanium, aluminum and carbon, can always be…1934 – 201917 eventsView timeline

1934

Bicycle makerHetchinsBicycle companies faced a historical deletion around the time World War II hit, as the prevalence of automobiles and weight of war…1934 – 199613 eventsView timeline

1943

Bicycle makerCinelliVery few names carry the same quiet authority in a modern bike shop as Cinelli. Born from the restless mind of a…1943 – 200321 eventsView timeline

1945

Bicycle makerColnagoA broken leg ended Ernesto Colnago's brief competitive cycling career in 1951, but it did not end his passion for the sport.…1945 – 201828 eventsView timeline

1946

Component makerFranceMAFACThe brake specialist behind the legendary Racer center-pull.1946 – 198530 eventsView timeline

More marques and components join the spine as new timelines are published.