Bike Brands appearing on cycle clothing

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Growing up in 1970's England, the first bicycle brand I was aware of was of course Raleigh.  Aged 8, I was presented with a Nottingham-made Raleigh Grifter which was my first foray into off-road riding.  Fast forward a few years, mountain bikes came to the south coast of England largely thanks to a number of windsurfing shops that started selling the Californian dream of riding off road (when the wind was non-existent).

It was the late 1980's when I first started to become aware of road bike brands, thanks to visiting my local road bike emporium:  Ridge Racing.  Back then it was the iconic Italian marques of Bianchi, Gios, Olmo, Colnago, De Rosa, Pinarello, Tommasini  et al that seemed so exotic with their decades of history, racing heritage, quality and luxury - virtually always accompanied by Campagnolo groupsets.

It was not just the Italian bike brands that were prevalent in the peloton, Eddy Merckx was always popular with riders who preferred their angles a little more relaxed and wanted a bike that would last years - as were Gazelle.  The French brands of Time, Look, TVT and Gitane bike provided a number of different teams their bikes whilst the Spanish brand of Orbea supported the Euskadi/Euskaltel team for many years.

It was during the 1990s, the force of the MTB-led American brands like Cannondale, Trek, Specialized led to the globalisation of the bicycles that were used by professional riders in the professional peloton, a situation which is largely still the same now.  If you are interested in this sort of thing, the regularly updated "Who Makes What" article on the inrng.com website is well worth a visit!

Denti Bicycles
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Dolan

Eddy Merckx Cycles