"hybrid"

John Blake said:

Quoted message said:

or VTC (Velo Tout Chemin)

Bike fast horse or bike fast trousers?

"Bicycle for all paths" is how my (rusty) French translates it...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Michael MacClancy said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

1991. users.globalnet.co.ukraleigh.htmOpen ↗ "Therefore, Rix
proposed a machine that kept the good braking, wide-ratio gears and other MTB advantages but
with thinner frame tubes and tyres that were a compromise between the knobbly wide-section
mountain bike tyre and the lightly treaded narrow-section racing bike tyre. In effect, she
devised an improved sports light roadster with a more modern image."

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

praise to Mrs Rix for devising a very versatile and practical bike.

Quoted message said:

I'm sceptical about Mrs Rix's contribution to this. I have a bike that fits the above description
just about exactly. It's called an Emmelle Cougar and I bought it second hand in 1990. I did many
miles on it, primarily commuting from West Bridgford to Nottingham University in 1990 and 1991.
Perhaps Mrs Rix saw me?

Actually there's more reason for doubt in the article about the history of Raleigh:

| Raleigh thus effectively invented the hybrid and therefore had difficulty obtaining suitable
| tyres. Whereas today every Taiwanese tyre manufacturer makes hybrid tyres, the only supplier in
| 1990 was Vredestein in the Netherlands.

That's nonsense. They'd have found more choice had they looked as far as Germany, because 28'' bikes
with 622 tyres were still widely used there at the time. Schwalbe e.g. introduced their Marathon
tyres back in 1983.

And I found another historic gem. Unfortunately the text is in German but the pictures on the
following site are very interesting:

fahrradsammler.desportrad.htmlOpen ↗

The bicycles were called "Sportrad", i.e. sports bike. The last example from 1958 even has a gear
shift, straight handlebars and rim brakes.

And Diamant and other companies still built bikes like that in the 80s; I had one with three gears
and a friend had one with five gears.

So "Raleight invented the hybrid" at least overstates the facts. If anything, they introduced MTB
gears and levers to an old concept and sold it as something entirely new.

Andy