This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2023) |
Phillips Cycles Ltd. was a British bicycle manufacturer based in Smethwick near Birmingham, England. Its history began early in the 20th century and ended in the 1980s by which time it had become part of Raleigh Industries, itself a part of the Tube Investments group. For a number of years, the company was the second-largest bicycle producer in Britain, after Raleigh. The company motto, which was carried on all its badges, was "Renowned the World Over". The "Phillips" brand is still used around the world, especially in China and the Far East, having been licensed by Raleigh. In India it was produced from Madras presently called Chennai.
The company produced millions of bicycles, many of which were exported, and also manufactured several mopeds. These mopeds included the 'Panda' and 'Gadabout' models. The earliest of these machines (circa 1958 to 1962) were all produced in the United Kingdom except for the German 'Rex' engines but later models (Panda Mk 3 and Gadabout) were licensed versions of the Mobylette moped made by Motobécane of France.
In 1956, Phillips unveiled the world's first titanium bicycle frame. [1] Unlike modern titanium components, pure titanium was used as opposed to alloys. [2]
The Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) was a major British industrial combine, a group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings; hand, power, and machine tools; coal cleaning and handling plants; sintered metals; and hard chrome process.
Moulton is an English bicycle manufacturer based in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. The company was founded in 1962 by Alex Moulton (1920–2012) who had designed the "Hydrolastic" and rubber cone suspension systems for the BMC Mini motorcar. Moulton bicycles are noted for unconventional frame design, small wheels, and front and rear suspension.
Puch is a manufacturing company located in Graz, Austria. The company was founded in 1899 by the industrialist Johann Puch and produced automobiles, bicycles, mopeds, and motorcycles. It was a subsidiary of the large Steyr-Daimler-Puch conglomerate.
Motobécane was a French manufacturer of bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, and other small vehicles, established in 1923. "Motobécane" is a compound of "moto", short for motorcycle; "bécane" is slang for "bike."
A motorized bicycle is a bicycle with an attached motor or engine and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedalling. Since it sometimes retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propulsion, the motorized bicycle is in technical terms a true bicycle, albeit a power-assisted one. Typically they are incapable of speeds above 52 km/h (32 mph), however in recent years larger motors have been built, allowing bikes to reach speeds of upwards of 72 km/h.
Norman Cycles was a British bicycle, autocycle, moped, and motorcycle manufacturer in Ashford, Kent, England.
The Phillips Panda was one of a number of mopeds produced by the Phillips Cycles company of England in the 1950s and early 1960s. The factory also produced the slightly more expensive Phillips Gadabout models.
The Phillips Gadabout was one of a number of mopeds produced in the early 1960s by Phillips Cycles of Birmingham, England. The Gadabout was the more expensive model, boasting two-speed manual transmission and telescopic front fork suspension. The Gadabout had a pressed-steel frame, not unlike the German NSU Quickly whereas the more basic Phillips Panda, had a tubular bicycle-style frame. After Phillips Cycles became part of the Raleigh Industries/Tube Investments group, the Gadabout became a French Mótobecane Mobylette badged as a Phillips.
Ariel Motorcycles was a British maker of bicycles and then motorcycles in Bournbrook, Birmingham. It was an innovator in British motorcycling, part of the Ariel marque. The company was sold to BSA in 1951 but the brand survived until 1967. Influential Ariel designers included Val Page and Edward Turner. The last motorcycle-type vehicle to carry the Ariel name was a short-lived three-wheel tilting moped in 1970.
Sparta B.V. is a Dutch bicycle manufacturer based in Apeldoorn that also produced motorcycles and Mopeds. It is the largest electrical bike manufacturer in Europe.
Batavus BV is a Dutch bicycle manufacturer, owned by the Accell Group European Cycle conglomerate. Batavus Intercycle Corporation was the leading manufacturer of bicycles and mopeds in the Netherlands during the 1970s. During its most productive years, the company’s 350,000 sq ft (33,000 m2). Heerenveen plant employed 700 to produce 70,000 Batavus mopeds and 250,000 bicycles a year. During this time, Batavus was exporting 55 percent of its production with the remainder going to the Netherlands, which had more than two million mopeds in 1977.
The Hercules Cycle and Motor Company Limited was a British bicycle manufacturer founded on 9 September 1910 in Aston in England.
The Raleigh Bicycle Company is a British bicycle manufacturer based in Nottingham, England and founded by Woodhead and Angois in 1885. Using Raleigh as their brand name, it is one of the oldest bicycle companies in the world. After being acquired by Frank Bowden in December 1888, it became The Raleigh Cycle Company, which was registered as a limited liability company in January 1889. By 1913, it was the largest bicycle manufacturing company in the world. From 1921 to 1935, Raleigh also produced motorcycles and three-wheel cars, leading to the formation of Reliant Motors. Raleigh bicycle is now a division of the Dutch corporation Accell.
Triumph Cycle Co. Ltd., based in Nottingham, England, was a bicycle manufacturing company.
Dunelt Motorcycles was a British motorcycle and bicycle manufacturer. Based in Sheffield, the business was founded by two steel makers and engineers, Dunford and Elliott of Sheffield in 1919. Their first motorcycle was an innovative supercharged 499 cc two-stroke single. The company specialised in good quality sidecars from 1926 and a Dunelt motorcycle was first to cross the desert from Cairo to Siwa and back in 1924. Dunelt also enjoyed racing success and won the Double Twelve Hour World Record at Brooklands with a Model K in 1928. Dunelt moved into commercial three-wheeled cars but these were not a success. A Dunelt moped was exhibited at the Earls Court show in 1956 but the company diversified into other areas of engineering in 1957.
The Sun Cycle & Fittings Co. Ltd. was an English manufacturer of motorcycles, mopeds and bicycles. The company was based in Aston, Birmingham.
Panasonic Cycle Technology Co., Ltd., formerly Nashonaru Jitensha Kōgyō, is a producer of bicycles and cycling accessories. The "Panasonic" brand was used by Matsushita for bicycles long before Matsushita changed its name to Panasonic. Konosuke Matsushita grew up with a family who owned a bicycle shop and always had a love and passion toward bicycles. He later on founded the Panasonic bicycle line. Panasonic bicycles were very well built, and produced in steel, aluminum and titanium. Some of the road models were used in the Tour de France.
The Aberdale Cycle Company was founded in 1919. The company concentrated on high volume, popular bicycles. In the mid-1930s, the company moved to a modern factory in London; they also acquired the Bown Manufacturing Company around the same time. Bown brought experience of building motorcycles and with rising demand for motorised transport after 1945, the company began producing mopeds and light-weight motorcycles at their London plant and in Wales. In 1958, Aberdale were acquired by the British Cycle Corporation, while the Aberdale management went on to found Trusty Manufacturing Co Ltd.
Carlton Cycles was a bicycle manufacturer based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England.