Raleigh 3-Speed Loop Frame

Even as children became the primary bicycle users, adults continued to ride throughout the 20th century. This 1934 Loop Frame bicycle illustrates the changes in the bicycle market that kept its appeal to cyclists of all ages. The drop frame was usually called a ladies’ bicycle, as the design accommodated riders wearing skirts or dresses. By the 1930s, these bicycles were also being used by men making deliveries or doing other jobs where the loop frame made it easier to mount the cycle. By this time, changes in societal norms meant that it was also more acceptable for women to be seen in public in pants, so women could choose to ride a more traditional diamond frame bicycle.

The Raleigh Bicycle Company began as a local bicycle workshop on Raleigh Street in Nottingham, England during the safety bicycle craze of the 1880s. It grew from three men producing three bikes a week in 1885 to 10,000 workers making 2 million bikes a year after World War II.