Classic track bike for an Olympian

TI Raleigh track bike — (Image credit: Future)

Trevor Bull was a cyclist worthy of a special bike. The Birmingham-born track rider competed in the Olympic Games in 1964, won a bronze at the 1966 Commonwealth Games, and finished his career as a four-time British track champion.

The last of those was in 1975, where he beat Reg Harris to capture the Individual Sprint Championship. It was a redemptive win of sorts, as Bull had lost to a 54-year-old Harris the previous year. Bull rode for the TI-Raleigh team for several years before finishing his racing career in 1979 with the Carlton-Weinmann squad, and this is the bike he rode to success while at Raleigh.

TI Raleigh classic bike — TB on the bottom bracket proves the bike's provenance

The frameset was built for Bull at Raleigh’s special development factory in Ilkeston, Derbyshire. Made using Reynolds 531 double butted tubing, it features both a Fischer track fork crown and Campagnolo dropouts.

The stylish ‘wrapover’ seat stay with its unique fluted fitting was the design work of Gerald O’Donovon, who was the director at Ilkeston. On the underside of the bottom bracket the initials ‘T.B’ denotes its owner.

Fork crown on Raleigh track bike — The fork crown looks a little industrial, but remains stylish

A frame of this quality needs components to match, and this is the case here. The chainset is a Japanese-made Sugino Super Mighty, with Bull using 165mm length crank arms. The bars are Cinelli’s iconic track model, 65, with a Cinelli 1/A stem to match. Bull’s saddle of choice was a Selle San Marco Concor Super, attached here to a two-bolt SR seat post.

Tied and soldered spokes were commonplace on track bikes for stronger wheels

At 6’2” and powerfully built, Bull required a strong set of wheels. The Mavic SSC sprint rims are laced to Campagnolo large flange Record Pista hubs, with the 36 spokes tied and soldered for extra strength and improved rigidity. The tyres are 23mm Vittoria Competition tubulars.

Luke Friend has worked as a writer, editor and copywriter for over twenty five years. Across books, magazines and websites, he's covered a broad range of topics for a range of clients including Major League Baseball, Golf Digest, the National Trust and the NHS. He has an MA in Professional Writing from Falmouth University and is a qualified bicycle mechanic. He has been a cycling enthusiast from an early age, partly due to watching the Tour de France on TV. He's a keen follower of bike racing to this day as well as a regular road and gravel rider.