Glossary

650B

The code used to denote the size of wheel/rim used on Cleland bikes. It is one of the designations created by the ETRTO (European Tyre and Rims Traders Organisation) to standardise tyres and rims. 650 is nominal for 26″, so you have 650A (26″ X 1 3/8” and 590mm), 650B (26″ X 1 1/2” and 584mm), 650C (26″ X 1 3/4” and 571mm) and 650D (26″ X 2” and 559mm). The same designations apply to other sizes; e.g. 700, which is nominally 28″, 600, nominally 24″, 550, 500 and so on. From this you can work out that 700C is 28″ X 1 3/4“, it is also 622mm. The 650B size was once very common on European bikes. Nokia made heavy-duty tyres that fitted many of these sizes, but not 650D, which is the common mountain bike size and which was very rare in Europe. Back in the 1970s, availability was a serious problem, and not much better in the 1980s. Modern Clelands use 700C (622mm) rims. A further development is to experiment with a 70-635 tyre which fits a 700B rim.

Bash plate

A substantial aluminium plate in place of the largest chainring acting as a protector for the chainset (and your trousers if you’re going down the shops).

Digital shifting

This is where a front derailleur mechanism is dispensed-with, in favour of a finger (or foot) shift. Cleland bicycles have hub gears and EggRings; this combination means that chainring shifts are less critical than with a conventional mountain bike transmission set-up because you have the full range of the gears available from one chainring. With a hub gear, it is easy to make the shift while pedalling backwards. Calling it ‘digital shifting’ is just a bit of fun; some people take it to mean something really technical, and therefore ‘good’.

English Cycles

Based in Telford in Shropshire, and run by frame builder Jeremy Torr, English Cycles made the frames for the Aventura models. Jeremy also sold his own version of the Range Rider.

EggRings

EggRings are oval (more accurately: ellipsoid) chainrings. They offer a number of advantages, particularly when riding off-road. They are made by Chris Bell, of HighPath Engineering. There have been a number of discussions about them; here’s one: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47932&highlight=eggrings

… and here’s another:http://cycleseven.org/prototype-bicycle#more-4345

Fat Tyre Five

The first ever UK mountain bike race meet series. Geoff’s Wendover Bash was the second one of the events.

HighPath Engineering

David Wrath-Sharman understood and appreciated the principles around which Cleland bikes are designed. His bikes were sold under the HighPath name. Each bike was hand-made and finely crafted, incorporating improvements over the last. It is hoped that more information about them can be incorporated here, in the meantime, there is an article about David on the excellent fix-wheel off-road website 63xc.com.

Making Tracks

Possibly the first dedicated off–road magazine in the UK; it was published from 1986 until 1988. Geoff was a co–founder & regular contributor to the magazine.

Nadgery

Tricky sections of trails that require trials riding skills to successfully negotiate. Now synonymous with ‘Technical Singletrack’ but with fewer syllables.

Nokia

Now known as Nokian, this Finnish tyre manufacturer made the Hakkapeliitta tyres that were fitted to Cleland Aventuras. These were excellent for off-road use, & available with or without tungsten studs, intended for winter use, but helpful in all slippery conditions, especially the wet chalk found in the Chiltern Hills. They were available in 600B, 650A, 650B, 700C and 700B, but production of the Hakkapeliitta was discontinued in 1993/4. There is a modern version with this designation, but it is not as appropriate as the original.

Skate-plate

A plate fixed under the bottom bracket of a Cleland bicycle and extending rearwards beyond the tyre. This plate facilitates a skating action when crossing logs and branches obstructing your progress, and is shaped to prevent them from going up between the chainset and the tyre. It also serves to prevent mud from the rear tyre from being deposited onto the chain and thus being transmitted all around the transmission system.

The Wendover Bash

Originally the second in the Fat Tyre Five series, and organised by Geoff Apps. He continued to organise the event annually for several years until 1988. After the first event, which had short-circuit racing, the event became principally (and uniquely) an observed trials event, with other challenges, such as downhill, and hill climb.

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