Cycling 21 April, 1955
Transatlantic trade wars, time trialling and adverts galore
Cycling in the 1950s seemed to largely consist of adverts. The cover for this issue is a fairly unengaging one for Hercules of Birmingham, featuring a list of riders who rode its bikes. The previous week was a cover advert for BSA and the week before that the Triumph Torrington.
This was a time when the British cycling industry was flourishing, making bikes for the UK market and beyond – so much so that H.H. England’s editorial was on trade and tariffs. Not with Europe, but with America. President Eisenhower was to decide whether or not the US should impose a quota, tariff or both on the import of bikes.
American manufacturers were encouraging people to shower their representatives with letters and leaflets calling for their industry to be protected, while the British industry was getting organised too, writing to congress and extolling the advantages of opening up trade.
There was very little racing in this week’s issue despite the date, just a page of pics and results from Ian Steel’s victory in London-battle-and-back along with four more pages of time trialling reports and results.
A brief news story announced plans for the Tour of Britain to finish on the Isle of Man. No mention was made of the transfer or how that would happen, but then no one was entirely sure at this point who was organising the 14-day race. Both the BLRC and the NCU had announced their intention to organise it.
Proving that buyer’s guides are nothing new, there is a two-page listing of British shops, with over 200 entries. All are listed by town, with often just the owner’s name, rather than an obvious shop name. Telephone numbers are listed too, and were clearly a lot easier to remember back then. Allin Cycles in Croydon could be reached on 1620.