Sources and method
How every fact on this site is found, checked and shown.
Where the facts come from
Each model page is built from a list of evidence: a catalogue entry, a historian's account, a museum record, a maker's own history or a press article. Every entry names its source, and the sources are listed and linked at the foot of each page.
Confidence
A · Seen in a catalogue. The model is named in one of the maker's own catalogues, read from a transcription, the printed page or an archive's scanned text.
B · From historians, makers and press. A historian, archive, museum, the maker or the cycling press records it. We say who in the text, for example 'according to Tony Hadland'.
Unconfirmed mentions. A line resting on an uncited encyclopedia entry, a single forum post or one enthusiast's say-so never gets a model page of its own, and is never used for dates or components. Where a published model also has such mentions, we list them separately under 'Unconfirmed mentions' so readers can help confirm them.
What the years mean
Years show when a model appears in a confirmed source, not when it was made. 'In confirmed sources: 1938–1958' means the earliest and latest catalogue or historian evidence we've found, not the production run.
Known components
Component lists are taken only from confirmed (A and B) sources and shown exactly as the source gives them, with the year and source next to each part. Sizes, angles, colours and prices stay in the evidence tables. A part listed for one year or version may not apply to every bike.
When sources disagree
We show both versions and say who said what, until a catalogue settles it.
Our wording, not theirs
Descriptions are written in our own words. Specifications such as tubing, gears and part names are facts, so we give them as the source lists them. We don't reproduce catalogue prose, scans or other sites' photos, and we link to every source rather than copying it.
Mistakes
If you spot one, see Report a correction.