When an Olympic medalist made a comeback, a special bike was soon on it's way to him
1948 Olympic medalist Tommy Godwin was handed this bike when he started riding time trials at the age of 61
When, in 1982, Gerald O’Donovan, then head of Raleigh’s elite Specialist Bicycle Development Unit (SBDU), discovered that Tommy Godwin was riding time trials at the ripe old age of 61, he didn’t hesitate to build the veteran Olympian a bike suitable for a champion.
“As well as being a remarkable engineer with a natural gift for marketing, Gerald was one of the most generous people I have ever known,” explains current owner, Dave Marsh, of the Universal Cycle Centre, Rotherham.
Godwin was a cycling icon for decades. He won two bronze medals at Herne Hill during the London 1948 Olympics, managed the British team at the Tokyo 1964 Olympics, and was, at 91, an official ambassador and torch bearer for the London 2012 Olympics. Marsh first met him trackside after winning the Masters category of the 1997 National Championship points race at Manchester Velodrome.
“Tommy presented me with my medal,” Marsh fondly recalls. “Little did I suspect that I’d be buying this bike from him four years later at a Kidderminster cycle jumble.”
Owner of the Universal Cycle Centre in Rotherham, Dave Marsh has spent his whole life working in the cycling industry and owns one of the biggest collections of classic and limited edition bikes in the country. He also restores old frames for other collectors, returning them to their original state.
Godwin was having a clear-out that included his TI Raleigh Team Bike. “We did a meticulous restoration,” remembers Marsh, “including a respray by talented ex-SBDU frame painter Phil ‘Skill’ Insley, who first painted it back in ’82. Even the decals are original.”
The frame is built entirely from heat-treated Reynolds 753 tubing, a stronger, thinner-walled version of 531. The rest of the build is almost entirely ‘no expense spared’ Campagnolo Super Record. The training wheels shown feature 28/32 spoke Mavic Mach 2 CD grey anodised rims shod with durable Vittoria Rally tubulars, but Marsh also owns the original TT-ready 28/28 spoke Arc-en-Ciel rims that Godwin paired with fast silk tubulars.
The Saba stem evokes ’80s nostalgia. It’s a Cinelli, but pantographed by Italo Berigliano, whose London-based company Saba imported lust-worthy bike components from Italy. The bars are also Cinelli, a 42cm width model 64.
