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A wee bit of Irish cycling history

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Coalfield

Finally riding a big boys bike
I will keep it brief. Have lost some of my prior research so will take info only from a few paragraphs written by his son.

A Mr George Harding of Cork had a sense of adventure. In 1939 he co-founded the Irish Youth Hosteling Association and later became the president. During WWII he worked for a time at Norman Cycles (Kent, UK), then opened a bike shop in Cork in the summer of '45. In '51 was an asst manager at the inaugural Tour of Britain. Opened a second shop in Dublin.

George built some frames - of the sturdy touring variety. I do not know how many Harding frames were produced by George or in his Irish location(s). But it would seem that at some point traveling and racing became a bigger draw than manufacturing and Holdsworth produced all that I am aware of, but may not have been the sole supplier.

George had a relative that opened a bike shop in S. California, Los Angeles, near ULCA = Charlie Harding (i have heard they were brothers or uncle/nephew). My bike is likely from that location and is a 1982 Harding (Holdsworth) Special. George Harding died in 1988, his son continued the business for many years.

I know nothing of this frame's history, only that I got the frameset from a Colorado shop that had purchased a 'lot' of bare frames.

thanks for reading - Coalfield Harding -

pics in a few minutes. ooops - haven't managed the posting of multiple pics methodology. patience please.
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It has been fitted to run on the road and in the dirt
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purchased me first "tenspeed" at Harding's Westwood Cyclery on Westwood Boulevard in 1965

a white Peugeot U08 it were

he had some Campag equipped Carlton machines up in the loft which were on sale for $165

could not imagine a bicycle costing that much...

my U08 was $80

had a part time job at which i earned $1.65/hr

one of those Carltons would have been 100 hours of gross earnings...

Holdsworthy built Hardings come up for sale occasionally in California yet today

thanks for beginning this thread ;)


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forgot to mention in above posting -

as the years went on the shop became a valued resource for enthusiasts with an interest in vintage lightweights

Charlie had a repository of vintage fittings which restorers found most helpful in their efforts to complete projects

during the nineteen eighties was in touch with one collector based in Santa Cruz who made visits to Harding's to search out bits for his active restoration efforts

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the building in which the shop was located was one story with fairly high ceilings

the high ceiling allowed for two tiers of display bicycles held upright with plenty of free space

at the rear of the store was the workshop and stockroom
a high ceiling was not required here so a lower one was constructed creating a kind of loft or mezzanine space above the workshop

it was here that the bits of yesteryear were stabled

regular customers who built up a positive working relationship with Charlie were permitted to browse this area

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have no knowledge of shop operations following Charlie's passing

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today the neighbourhood is mostly Persian with many of the storefronts showing signage in Farsi

in the greater Los Angeles area there is a tendency for each immigrant group to congregate in one town or neighbourhood and for Iranians it is Westwood

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