Interesting and Unusual Bikes You've Seen

[clarion]

First tine out on my Carlton in ages, and we spotted this parked up against a pub in the town:





It's a Carlton of a similar vintage to mine or a bit earlier (late 70s, I'd guess) with the distinctive wrapround seatstay and slightly fancier lugs than mine.  It bears a Brooks which appeared to have been laced at some time.

[mrcharly-YHT]

some sort of Cannondale with a mono fork.

A Dawes Elite. Didn't even know there was such a thing.

[Adrian]

It's a Carlton of a similar vintage to mine or a bit earlier (late 70s, I'd guess) with the distinctive wrapround seatstay and slightly fancier lugs than mine. 

That looks like an early 70's Carlton Corsa to me. My one was orange in colour rather than the purple.

[clarion]

Could be early 70s.  My Carlton is one of the last (and we think a Corsa), and, though there are similarities, you can see a deeper fork curve in the purple one.  Remarkably similar to the one that got me back into cycling back in the 80s.

[citoyen]

For Clarion: this was parked outside the office this morning - a Carlton Corsair...



Its owner even likes his brakes in the same funny position as you (though unlike you he has them the right way round ).

Might still be there if you want to pop over and ogle. 

d.

[clarion]

His bars are even higher than mine!

I have to have the tops flat and the hoods as a continuation, which doesn't work so well with my current levers, but they are Carlton branded hoods, so how could I change them?

Good spot, Smudgers

[NickM]

Speaking of Carltons, I noticed a rather sad example on Ken High St. The fork has had a nasty knock.



I can't help but think it might have been a result of this...



I find brake levers work much more effectively when they are connected to the brakes.

[clarion]

I find brake levers work much more effectively when they are connected to the brakes.

Can't see your pics, but that's a Top Tip!

[NickM]

Fixed it.

[citoyen]

Invisible mudguards. Nice! 

d.

[clarion]

I'm not much of an expert, but I don't think the forks are meant to be that shape.

[Wobbly John]

I'm not much of an expert, but I don't think the forks are meant to be that shape.

Rebadge it as a Bates & get it on ebay. 

[clarion]

I did think that too

[ian]

I think I can probably just about see why the front brake is disconnected. That's forethought for you.

[robbo6]

... It bears a Brooks which appeared to have been laced at some time.

Probabably a B5, like the B17 but low-quality leather, so they came pre-punched for tying.

[greenmeansgo]

A red Trice 20" wheels, rear Avid disc, front Sturmey Archer hubs, M+, big front reflector, little Knog-style LEDs on the back, computer left on the bike, mirror....locked up on the University Of Manchester campus this morning - anyone on here?

[fruitcake]

Just stumbled upon a picture of this tadpole trike with a child seat at the front.  Looks like fun for rider and passenger.

Zigo Leader Carrier Biycle System

[Gus]

There was a bike in the racks at work yesterday that had two top tubes, one below the other. It was a diamond frame and the tube underneath the "main" top tube was narrower with a slight curve. It wasn't a modern bike. I did take a closer look and made a note of the name that was embossed on the frame, but promptly forgot it 

Any ideas? 

I may be imaging it, but  I thought there was a German make (whose name escapes me) that makes a feature of the dual top tube.

This have being bugging me some time, because I knew what manufactur it was, but I couldn't remember the name.
But suddenly I remembered it was most likely a Corratec Superbow

[itsbruce]

There's a bike with a double top-tube regularly locked up near Brixton tube.  Remembering this post in this thread, I took a pic.  And here it is:



Frame too faded and repainted to show a make.  Sticker on the fender said Eastman but that doesn't have to mean anything.

[DrMekon]

Just stumbled upon a picture of this tadpole trike with a child seat at the front.  Looks like fun for rider and passenger.

Zigo Leader Carrier Biycle System

They aren't bad. They do handle better than a Christiania, or rather the one-seater I tried did. The attach/detach thing looked like a pain in the arse, and likely to get messy if you actually use the bike. I see them around a fair bit in Cambridge, and I've never seen one in pram mode. IMO, unless the waterproof thing was vital, spending £20 on a buggydrager seems a more sensible prospect. If you do want waterproofness, the Christiania, or the Bakfiets.nl Cargotrike seemed significantly more hardy. The Zigo looks like a trailer turned into a trike - and likely to weather poorly in comparison with a dedicated trike.

My missus' mummybike with a Steco Buggy Mee (the thing holding the buggy up)


There's a bakfiets in Cambridge with one of these on the back that I sometime see. Whenever I do, the rider is caning it.

[Clandy]

Saw an interesting 'bent trike on the seafront today:

[itsbruce]

Cycling home on Friday, as I went south down Bina Gardens, I met a mature gent on a Pederson coming the other way.  First time I've ever seen one up close.

[TimO]

I cycled in behind an odd bike today.  The guy on it looked like a Courier (or reasonably plausibly dressed Fakenger).  Initially I thought it was fixed, because it lacked a rear brake, but then he freewheeled.

The wheels were white plastic five spoked things, and this I think was the reason for no rear brake.  The rear wheel wobbled rather horribly side to side (not unusual with plastic wheels), and it would have been hard to have fitted a brake which didn't rub.  The frame looked recently painted, but only seemed to have fittings for a caliper brake, which made me think it was possibly not of a recent vintage.

It had quite big tyres, which was unusual, and wouldn't have helped fitting a caliper brake, although there seemed to be one on the front wheel.  The tyres didn't seem to slow him down, he was doing 20mph+ along Queenstown Road, and at his cadence, it must have been geared 70"-ish, certainly not the lower gearing that Singlespeeds tend to be set to compared to most Fixedwheels.

[Cudzoziemiec]

There's a bike with a double top-tube regularly locked up near Brixton tube.  Remembering this post in this thread, I took a pic.  And here it is:



Frame too faded and repainted to show a make.  Sticker on the fender said Eastman but that doesn't have to mean anything.

That frame looks like bikes I've seen in India. The make would be something like Atlas or Safari, and it would be marketed as a super-strong model suitable for carrying heavy loads.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Saturday morning, a middle-aged woman on a red trike that had clearly been homemade from a kid's bike by adding a rear axle and additional wheel, along with two vertical "beams" for some reason I couldn't work out. Use was made of the space between the wheels for a supermarket shopping basket.