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The meaning of La Quelda is unclear. The Tour de France bikes in
the mid 30's were identical, so the Tour would be a test of rider.
Sandy went to Le Tour to look at the bikes for ideas. All frames
were arc welded and cane coloured.
He returned to UK and developed a similar frameset. One source says
he wanted a name which sounded French and welded. Mrs H coined the
name La Quelda (meaningless) as it sounded French and also like
'L' Arc Welder' or Quill Welder.
| Bill Hurlow worked at Quill Lane in 1938, he says Bill Rann
designed La Quelda and that the name came from Quill and Welder.
He confirms that a TdF bike, cane coloured with only a L'auto
decal and the riders name 'Roth' on the top tube had been acquired
and lay in the Putney shop in 1938. It had one sprocket on each
side of the hub. This was Bruno Roth's 1935 or 1936 TdF bike.
It appears that Bruno's frame was 'the inspiration' for La Quelda. |
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Other products were named after Quill Lane too, the Quill pannier
carrier and the Quillite.
Bill Rann welded some La Queldas, and
then Ray Cook who worked there as a welder.
Before the war they
started to use imported Bronzagene filler rod, but they used 5/16
inch rods which were really too thick, so they got big fat welds
(Bill Hurlow).
1936
La Quelda Ad (Classic Rendezvous) Advertised as a "welded"
bicycle, it was initially steel welded.
"No Lugs, Any Angles". It was Reynolds tubed, but whether
1936 ones were HM or 531 is unclear as yet.
1936 spec had a Simplex Professional gear, two Bulla
brakes, Brooks saddle with Sprints and Tubs or High Pressures and
Guards, at £13-19-6d (bike).
| 1938 catalogue data |
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Jan 1938
Nimrod does a road test for "Cycling", La Quelda
had 41.5 inch wheelbase & a clip headset. (101K) |
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1 Feb 1939 A new range of 3 La Quelda
bicycles was advertised: La Quelda Club £9 17s 6d,
La Quelda Flyer £12 12s 6d, La Quelda Supreme
£16 17 6d or £17 17s with sprints, all steel
welded. The framesets only differ in their finish. Early La Quelda's
had Reynolds High Manganese tubing, rather than 531. Peter
Duncan recalls arc welded Reynolds 531 proved a tad snappy, this
perhaps explains the shift to filet brazed 531 after the war. All
Holdsworths pre WW2 had a clip headset except L'Internationale
launched in 1939.
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