On the “golden age” of British three speeds

Society Of Three Speeds

One of my favorite three speed blogs to follow is The Bike Shed. Now based in the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut just north of where I called home a couple decades ago, The Bike Shed fixes up old three speeds, both British and American.

Just a few days ago, they posted a piece with a tantalizing tagline: What Was the “Golden Age” of English Three Speeds, Anyway? They argue that while the quality of British three speeds peaked in the 1950’s, the “golden age” for them here in the States was definitely the 1960’s.

The people I’ve spoken to over the years point to the period between 1960 and the 10-speed “bike boom” of the early 1970s as being the popular “golden age” of the three speed in the U.S. These riders, generally born between 1940 and 1960, relied heavily on English three speeds to get to school, commute to…

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