This Vade Mecum, type 10, 24-inch frame, with curly stays and track ends, was first sold 6 August 1955, price 16 pounds 16 shillings no pence. It has boreholes for brakes front and rear, indicating that it was made for the clubman who would have ridden it on steel-rimmed wheels, with brakes, on city or country roads to a track meet. Once there he would have dismounted the brakes and attached a second set of racing wheels, for example wooden-rimmed wheels for a grass track event. Special clips were available for carrying a spare set of such wheels, as on this superbly restored example.
Components include: Chater Lea crankset & pedals, Cinelli steel stem, hubs by Harden of Birmingham ("A pillar of industry"!), Brooks saddle.
Photos courtesy of Patrick Leverett.
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