Charlie Bergna’s “Hill Cycle”
Charlie Bergna's Urago "Hill Cycle"
This is Charlie Begna’s 1940s era Urago track bike.
Sometimes history isn’t pretty, as this bike proves. Rough lugs. An ugly saddle. Road bars on a track bike. A brake bridge that has been hastily added to the bike, so it could be used on the road. The components and design are tough and well used, but not very elegant. For example, the aluminum-clad wooden welt meister rims were strong and fairly light, but don’t show off the beauty of the wood or a shiny refined extrusion of the metal.
Hill Cycle made it possible to use a brake for road rides
Repaired and repainted by Jerry Casale at Hill Cycle in Philadelphia, this bike is historically significant not by what it is, but by who owned it and who worked on it. Charlie, the rider, and Jerry, the shop owner, helped to keep bike racing alive in this country during some otherwise dark decades for the sport.
Charlie was the national champion in 1937, and had a professional career that spanned the war and into the late 1940s. Charlie won numerous six-day races, including the Winnepeg Six in 1948 and Cleveland in 1949. After his cycling career had finished, Charlie was one of Raleigh bicycle’s first two traveling sales representatives. His vast sales territory included the entire eastern half of the United States.
Harold Gulbranson, Ray Mazelli, and Danny Morris at a Hill Cycle event
Charlie, shaving so he looked good for the fans
Jerry’s family started Hill Cycle in Philly in 1929. Through trips to Europe and in consultation with professionals, Hill Cycle became the premier shop in the area, full of the latest top quality products that no one else had. They staged early races such as the Keystone Open, and were instrumental in starting the Philadelphia International Championship (once known as CoreStates, the U.S. pro championship), one of the biggest races in the country.