Late 1940’s Bates B.A.R.
1940’s Bates Best All Rounder
This is the Bates Best All Rounder, a bike that could do it all.
Bates was one of the most highly regarded bike brands in mid-century England. Started in 1926 and famous in their time for their riders’ racing victories, today they are better known for some of the weird and unique features found on their bikes.
This particular Bates incorporates the bulging “Cantiflex” frame tubing and curvy “Diadrant” fork. These features seem like gimmicks, but were in fact actual improvements. Like the frame shapes on modern carbon fiber bikes, the unusual Bates tubing gave the lightweight steel frame some nice rigidity. The curvy fork absorbed road shock and made the front end more compliant. These designs first showed up on sub-20 pound bikes back in 1935, putting the Bates company on the cutting edge of modern bicycle technology.
“Diadrant” fork with fender and light mounts
Horace Bates of London
Single speed durability in the geared era
The little knobs on the seat stays and the fork are mounting points for fenders and a headlight. These little items made for an extremely versatile bike, and they are features that bike companies rarely get right even today. Little port holes on the head tube, hubs and bottom bracket shell allowed bearing lubrication without disassembly. A stopwatch holder on the handlebar meant that all of the latest training data was within easy view.
The bat bike. The lugs featured bat wing shapes
Hiduminium means High Duty Aluminum
That’s a stopwatch holder on the handlebar
By the way, there were two London bike builders named Bates. Horace Bates and EG (Eddie) Bates were brothers and they initially produced Bates Brothers bicycles. The brothers went their separate ways after World War II with the original company continuing as Horace Bates (who built this bike), while Eddie Bates became known as EG Bates Cycles.