Starting Line: 1941-1970

Welcome friends to years 1941-1970 of Starting Line.

1949: Fausto Coppi won the Tour of Italy and France.

1949: In England, the index-shifting Hercules Herailleur (not a typo) is introduced.

1950's: Popularity of professional road cycling is ever growing.

1950's: Tullio Campagnolo introduces cable operated, parallelogram derailleur.

1958: First women's World Championship is held.

1963: Schwinn introduces the Sting Ray bicycle which helps launch the BMX craze.

1964: From Japan, the Suntour Grand Prix is marketed as the first slant parallelogram derailleur.

1969: Suntour introduces the 5 speed click index shifter.

1970's: BMX, MTB, and Triathlon are conceived.

1941-1970: Return to Starting Line Home