A suspended bottom bracket cradled by the surrounding tubes, this Thanet Superlight demonstrates radical 1950s bike design
A clubman's bike designed, with a bit of flair, for long days out in the saddle
This Thanet Silverlight was delivered to P.S. Wells of Crawley on 9 December 1950, so perhaps Santa visited early that year. Indeed, the weather was suitably Arctic, with records showing it was the coldest December since 1890, with widespread heavy snow and persistent ice.
Holed up in these conditions, it’s unlikely that ‘P.S.’ would have cycled the popular 22-mile route to Brighton pier until the following spring, but I bet that, if he or she finally made the trip, they would have worn a permanent grin. It was a very desirable bike.
“The Silverlight was a ‘clubman's’ bike,” explains current owner Richard Hoddinott of vintage specialists Velo Pages. “I guess you could have raced on one, but it’s not really designed for it. Instead, I can imagine slinging a saddlebag on and heading out for a nice long run, you know, a Sunday jaunt.”
Richard Hoddinott of the Velo Pages is one of the foremast classic bike collectors in the UK. His collection includes predominantly French and British made bikes dating back to the early 1900s. Rather than restore the machines, he believes maintaining them in their current state is the best approach to collecting as the marks, damage and additions are all part of the bike's story.
The Silverlight’s frame design is famously radical. Inspired by the lightweight airframes of WWII-era aircraft, founder Les Cassel strived to improve on the traditional diamond-shaped frame by optimising its bracing. He adopted Hellenic seatstays and, most noticeably, a suspended bottom bracket. The BB shell is cradled by elongated chainstays, as well as the seat and down tubes that converge at a prominent point.
These 'improvements' were made in conjunction with the use of narrow-gauge Accles & Pollock Kromo chrome molybdenum tubing. The primary tubes are beautifully slim, a design choice enabled by one of chrome molybdenum's key benefits: its tubes are low-temperature silver brazed, a process that increases their strength. Despite this, on later bikes, the BB area was reinforced with additional lugs, which points to some early failures.
Despite Cassel’s innovations, the Silverlight was only made in small numbers between 1945 and 1958. Reviewed in this very magazine in 1948, it was priced at £46 12s 6d, which is only about £1,500 in today’s money – premium bikes were clearly much cheaper then!
