Nearly two years later, the 11 April 1887 issue of the Nottingham Post contained a display advertisement for the Raleigh 'Safety' model under the new banner 'Woodhead, Angois, and Ellis.

Its patent changeable gear and other special features struck me as superior to all the others I had seen, and I purchased one upon which I toured extensively through France, Italy and England during 1887 and 1888.

He concluded that the company had a profitable future if it promoted its innovative features, increased its output, cut its overhead costs and tailored its products to the individual tastes and preferences of its customers.

[13] In November 1892, Raleigh signed a tenancy agreement for rooms in Butler's factory on the other side of Russell Street.

Bowden created a business which, by 1913, was the biggest bicycle manufacturing company in the world, occupying seven and a half acres in purpose-built premises completed in 1897 at Faraday Road, Lenton, Nottingham.

[19] There was a resurgence in domestic and export demand for pedal bicycles and by February 1932 Raleigh had acquired all the Humber Limited trade marks.

Dublin-made machines no longer had "Nottingham England" on the Heron or Triumph head badge, the panel being left blank instead.

In 1930, the company acquired the rights to the Ivy Karryall, a motor tricycle fitted with a cabin for cargo and a hood for the driver.

Chief designer T. L. Williams took the equipment and remaining parts and moved to Tamworth, where his company produced three-wheelers for 65 years.

After World War II, Raleigh became known for its lightweight sports roadster bicycles, often using Sturmey-Archer three and five-speed transmissions.

These cycles were considerably lighter and quicker than either the old heavy English utility roadster or the American "balloon-tire" cruiser bikes.

[22] Raleigh's sports roadster, or British racer bicycles were exported around the world, including the United States.

The new Raleigh shared several important features with the Moulton, including small wheels, an open frame and built-in luggage carrying capacity.

[24] Instead, Raleigh fitted the RSW with balloon tyres, which effectively smoothed the ride but at the cost of increased rolling resistance.

While bicycle production had steadily risen through the mid-1950s, the British market began to decline with the increasing affordability and popularity of the motor car.

TI–Raleigh then acquired Carlton Cycles in Worksop, England that same year, at the time one of the largest semi-custom lightweight makers in the UK.

One consequence of the vertically integrated approach was that Raleigh did not adopt ISO threading standards and dimensions until the 1980s for some of its range (premium models were standardised earlier).

Tyres were wider than usual for the time, with a chunky tread on the rear wheel, featuring red highlights on the sidewall.

It had the option of five-speed derailleur gears in the United States, but all UK bikes had the 3 speed hub, with the exception of a model introduced in 1973 and only available in a bizarre shade of pink.

Raleigh revisited the chopper design in recent times, with great success although the new version has had some changes to conform to modern safety laws.

In 1988, Derby opened a factory in Kent, Washington manufacturing two Raleigh lines, the bimetallic Technium road bike line, which used heat-treated aluminum main frame tubes, thermally bonded and heat-cured to internal steel lugs using a Boeing-developed proprietary epoxy – along with chromoly steel head tube and rear stays.

The high-end framesets offered for sale in Raleigh catalogues together with the frames built for Team riders were produced in Ilkeston by the Special Bicycle Development Unit (SBDU) from 1974 onward under the guidance of Gerald O'Donovan; production was moved to the Lightweight Facility in Nottingham, albeit on a much reduced workforce, on closure of the Ilkeston factory in 1986.

Lenark promised to build a new factory in Calverton but failed to pay the first instalment and the company entered liquidation.

In 2001, following continuing financial problems at Derby Cycle, there was a management buy-out of all the remaining Raleigh companies led by Alan Finden-Crofts.

[36] In April 2012, Raleigh UK, Canada and USA were acquired by a separate Dutch group Accell for £62m (US$100m), whose portfolio included the Lapierre and Ghost bicycle brands.

In 1980 Joop Zoetemelk won the Tour de France on a Raleigh during which time Admiral Sports produced the jersey.

In 1984, riding Raleigh-badged bicycles, Team USA scored several impressive victories at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The company also supplied bicycles to the French Système U team in the late 1980s where Laurent Fignon lost the 1989 Tour de France to Greg LeMond by 8 seconds.

A possible freewheel is suggested early in the film when Bacon dismounts while in motion and a distinct clicking sound is heard until the bike stops moving.

[43] A much expanded version of the text of this book, with full academic referencing, is held by the National Cycle Archive at Warwick University for the benefit of researchers.