Carlton Cycles was founded in 1898, in the Nottinghamshire village of Carlton-in-Lind rick by Fred Han stock. It is little known in India and other eastern countries. Claud Butler, Schwinn, Scott, Raleigh are all brilliant brands in their own rights and are names that every bicycle enthusiast will know and swear by.
Ask that same enthusiast about ‘Carlton’ and this will elicit a blank stare of incomprehension.
Strange though it may seem, Carlton Cycles played a very large part in the success of the latter company -Raleigh. Carlton was so good at what it did best, that other manufacturers such as Raleigh, Huffy, Sun, PhilliPs – in all around 20 marques had their high-end hand-built frames made by them.
In ‘l934, the company moved to larger premises at Bridge Street, Workshop. Ironically, in I 960, Carlton Cycles became a subsidiary of TI Raleigh and built all of Raleigh’s hand-made frames at the Carlton factory at Worksop until the elimination of the brand in I 981, after 83 years of production. lt was Raleigh’s decision to kill off Carlton Cycles, as the success of Carlton was diluting the Raleigh brand. World champion Reg Harris won numerous professional championships and Olympic medals riding a Carlton Jewel, which was an exquisitely crafted, top-of-the-l i ne bicycle from Carlton.
The bicycle pictured here is the restored Carlton’ Continental’, circa 1954-55. The ‘CC’ monogram indicates that it’s a pre-l 956 model, as after that year the company changed its logo.
In its original trim, the frame is made of Reynolds 53,l steel and the tee is made from forged Hiduminium. The ‘Dunlop light weight’ rims have the British orthodox combination of 32 front and 40 rear spokes. It was only in 1967 that the company decided to change to 36-hole rims. The hubs are exquisite ‘Continental Deluxe’ ones with two Villiers sprockets, for free/fix wheel interchangeability. Dedication to quality and attention to detail provided the foundation of Carlton’s own success, just as Carlton’s reputation provided the foundation of Raleigh’s contemporary success in the bicycling market. Carlton Cycles was a marque that deserved better than it got, because it always delivered – ‘FIRST IN DESIGN, FIRST OVER THE LINE.
From September 2011 Auto India Magazine