The rise and fall of Britain's bike capital - The West Midlands story!

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Before supercars and smartphones, the West Midlands engineered the machine that changed everyday life. From Coventry’s sewing-machine shops to Birmingham’s megafactories, this is the fast, modern story of how a region designed the Rover Safety Bicycle, lit the roads with Lucas lamps, cushioned rides with Brooks saddles, and pushed performance with Reynolds 531 steel—before consolidation and imports silenced the lines.

Image credits:
IMAGE CREDITS

Karen Roe (Bury St Edmunds, UK) — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
...some guy — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
See page for author — Public domain — via Wikimedia Commons
Science Museum — CC BY-SA 3.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
Acabashi — CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
www.mgaylard.co.uk and thanks for looking — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons

Triumph Tiger 100 (museum bike) — London Motorcycle Museum (Greenford, London) — CC BY 3.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons

"Dunlop – Werbung" (1925, Germany) — Unknown author — Public domain — via Wikimedia Commons
Cycles Clément; Pneu Dunlop (1898 poster) — Jean de Paleologue (Pal) — Public domain — via Wikimedia Commons / Library of Congress

SG2012 — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
Henry William Brewer — Public domain — via Wikimedia Commons

B.S.A. Bicycle advert (Coventry Transport Museum) — Photo: Flowizm — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
BSA Military Folding Bicycle (display) — Filename: “BSA Military Folding Bicycle Coventry Transport Museum.jpg” — Photo: Flowizm — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
BSA Stayer head tube / headbadge — Filename: “BSA Stayer head tube Coventry Transport Museum.jpg” — Photo: Flowizm — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons

Hercules head badge — Grye — CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
“Final touches put to bicycles at Hercules bicycle factory, Birmingham, 1931.” — National Media Museum (Flickr Commons) — No known copyright restrictions — via Wikimedia Commons

Phillips cycles trademark (lion emblem) — Birmingham Museums Trust — Public Domain Mark 1.0 — via Wikimedia Commons
Anonymous / Unknown author — Public domain — via Wikimedia Commons

1995 Dawes Galaxy (side profile) — Rowan McLaughlin — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons

1954 New Hudson “Meriden de Luxe Tourist” (roadster bicycle) — Jackm404 — CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
New Hudson 211 cc two-stroke (1921) — Yesterdays Antique Motorcycles en Classic Motorcycle Archive — CC BY-SA 3.0 — http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... — via Wikimedia Commons

“The Wheel and Cycling Trade Review” (1890s, trade press scan incl. “KING OF THE ROAD LAMPS”) — Public domain — via Wikimedia Commons
Lucas “King of the Road” horn — Andrew Bone (exfordy) — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
Mark Morgan (from Trinidad) — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons

Brooks B17 Titanium — Photo: OhWeh — CC BY-SA 2.5 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
A Brooks Genuine Leather Saddle — Photo: Jeeheon — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
Moto_Club4AG (Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/moto_cl...) — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons

Coventry Transport Museum (exterior) — Jim Linwood (London) — CC BY 2.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons
Coventry Transport Museum — bicycle gallery (interior) — Wiki LIC — CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons

First pneumatic bicycle tyre (National Museum of Scotland) — Geni — CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... — via Wikimedia Commons

00:00 - Start
00:28 - Coventry
00:50 - About James Starley
01:02 - The birth of the Rover company
01:28 - Humber Cycles
01:45 - Singer cycles
02:06 - Premier cycles
02:18 - Triumph
02:35 - Dunlop pneumatic tyres
02:55 - Coventry Eagle
03:14 - Birmingham
03:35 - B.S.A
03:57 - Harcules
04:18 - Phillips
04:38 - Dawes
04:52 - New Hudson
05:05 - Lucas
05:19 - Perry & Co.
05:36 - Brooks saddles
05:56 - Reynolds Technology
06:22 - 1920s and 30s
06:44 - 1940s and 50s
07:25 - 1960s and 70s
07:52 - 1980s and 90s
07:58 - West Midlands cycle industry today