Last British made frame in Tour de France? Other races?

ibbz · Oct 26, 2015

Which was the last British manufactured frame to race in Tour de France?

And are there any British built frames being used in any pro racing today?

Just curious as what have the Italians and French and Spanish got that we haven't ? Why is the cycling industry here as it is?

JSH · Oct 27, 2015

Re:

British built frames haven't really been winning at the top level since the move from steel to lighter alloys and carbon. For many years, Reynolds tubing was dominant and they claim something like 27 TdF wins.

I suspect that many of the top brands now only design their own frames and then they are manufactured in far eastern factories. It's all down to economies of scale.

Artisan steel frames are definitely gathering traction though. British frame builders are doing well.

mattr · Oct 27, 2015

Possibly something of the Mike Burrows era? In a TT obviously, but rebadged.

Or maybe Dimitris Katsanis/Metron (again in a TT), maybe under David Millar?

Other than that, even the British brands sponsoring current pro teams have their frames manufactured overseas.

Obviously the British Cycling track frames have been raced at a very high level, but they probably don't count.

JSH · Oct 27, 2015

Re:

I seem to remember Team Madison Genesis rolled out some team bikes built with Reynolds 953 a couple of years ago but I don't know how they performed.

ibbz · Oct 27, 2015

Re: Re:

JSH":28r56jlx said:
I seem to remember Team Madison Genesis rolled out some team bikes built with Reynolds 953 a couple of years ago but I don't know how they performed.

That's interesting.
I'd like to hear and know more!

And about carbon bikes, they Far East manufactured? The race ones?

What British manufacturers have teams? In Far East manufacturers bikes?

mattr · Oct 27, 2015

I forgot the Madison/Genesis team, yeah, the race bikes were domestic manufacture (953) but most (all?) of their production stuff is far eastern.

And the only teams I can think of off the top of my head are Raleigh/GAC, who get their frames made overseas/far east and JLT Condor who manufacture the frame in Italy.

Jonny69 · Oct 27, 2015

Re: Re:

JSH":29wn70qu said:
I seem to remember Team Madison Genesis rolled out some team bikes built with Reynolds 953 a couple of years ago but I don't know how they performed.

They were still using them in the crit races last year. There were certainly riders on them at the Croydon stage of the Pearl Izumi tour when I went last year.

JSH · Oct 27, 2015

Even the lightest steel is twice the weight of mid range carbon and you can sculpt CF into more aero shapes. I personally love 1" steel because it is evocative of an earlier time and I have 3 80's frames in 531 & Columbus SL - but my Supersix Evo don't half feel faster ;-)

JSH · Oct 27, 2015

Re: Re:

ibbz":33fzmr2u said:
JSH":33fzmr2u said:

I seem to remember Team Madison Genesis rolled out some team bikes built with Reynolds 953 a couple of years ago but I don't know how they performed.

Click to expand...

That's interesting.
I'd like to hear and know more!

And about carbon bikes, they Far East manufactured? The race ones?

What British manufacturers have teams? In Far East manufacturers bikes?

Taiwan seems to manufacture a lot of CF frames and remember reading that Giant and Merida were building for other brands too - I'm not sure but I think Specialized design themselves but they are made by one of the above (I read it somewhere)

Excel · Oct 27, 2015

......"Taiwan seems to manufacture a lot of CF frames and remember reading that Giant and Merida were building for other brands too - I'm not sure but I think Specialized design themselves but they are made by one of the above (I read it somewhere)"

Giant build for Scott & Trek plus entry level Bianchi's as well as a few others, Merida has a 30% stake in Specialized and build a lot of their frames (but not S-Works)

Last British made frame in Tour de France? Other races?

ibbz

JSH

mattr

Old School Grand Master

JSH

ibbz

mattr

Old School Grand Master

Jonny69

Senior Retro Guru

JSH

JSH

Excel

Retro Guru

Similar threads

Latest posts