Tag UK

Raleigh for the Masses: Evolution of a Bicycle Giant

Color lithograph poster of two riders on black Raleigh roadsters against yellow and orange fields, with the heron-head badge and the words Raleigh The All-Steel Bicycle

Raleigh went from a twelve-person workshop on a Nottingham back street to the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world, and from there to a brand owned by a Dutch group under lender control. This is the full arc: Sturmey-Archer and the three-speed empire, the export trade, the Moulton fight, the Chopper, the four-man Ilkeston workshop whose frames won the 1980 Tour de France, and the long unwinding that ended manufacturing in Nottingham.

Raleigh for the Masses: A Timeline of a Bicycle Giant’s Evolution

Raleigh logo (featured)

Among the most recognized bicycle brands in the world, the Raleigh Cycle Company traces its roots to a twelve-person workshop in Nottingham, England producing three bicycles a week. This timeline follows its rise to the largest bicycle plant on earth and its long path through hub gearing, the export trade, wartime munitions, the Chopper, BMX and the Tour-winning Ilkeston workshop, to the end of Nottingham manufacture and the brand's present ownership.

Bayliss-Wiley History: A Timeline of Key Corporate and Technical Events

Bayliss-Wiley logo (featured)

Bayliss-Wiley Co. Ltd. was a highly respected designer and manufacturer of bicycle components for nearly a full century, ahead of its time as inventor of the world's first cassette hub in 1938 and bespoke supplier to British cycling and automotive companies alike. This timeline traces its corporate lifecycle through motorcar production and changes of ownership to its 1969 fade into Renold Chains Ltd.

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