I thought this was a fantastic “how it’s made” video from post-war Britain.
Couple of highlights for me: (“Spoilers”, watch video first)
- OH&S? What? A delightful lack of regard for safety in many many places;
- Worker dipping hot bike frames into some kind of cleaning bath, vapour enveloping him… Facemask, or protective clothing? Nope.
- All manner of spinning, pressing, other moving parts… no guards anywhere, just try not to lose a finger/eye/arm.
- Worker dipping bike frames into an enamel paint bath all day, with his bare hands.
- Amazing machinery… The gadget that cuts the teeth into the main gear? (nom nom nom) Or any of the forging/pressing stuff? Wow.
- The bottom bracket of each bike is formed from a single circular piece of steel, pressed into a cylinder, then gradually into the very complex final shape.
- No Bowden cables back then, if you look carefully during the assembly steps these bikes actually use a Rod Brake system, and presumably something similar for the gear changer.
- Very similar to today’s bikes. I’m sure you could take any person from the video, put them on a 2012 carbon-fibre fancy-bike, and they’d have no trouble riding it around. Compare to today’s fancy cars, and even working out what to do with the key. ^_^