Rotrax

Style and substance from the Southampton-based framebuilders

- Simon Smythe

If ever there was a 'Ronseal' name for a bike brand does what it says on the tin-Rotrax is it. Bicycles for road and track.

I Rotrax was set up in Southampton in 1945, taking over a shop at 132 Shirley Road from Bill Harvell, who had won bronze in the team pursuit at the 1932 Olympics. Despite the functional name, Rotrax made elegant frames and gained a countrywide and later international reputation for high-quality craftsmanship.

A gracefully curving brake bridge instead of a straight tube was one of the marque's signature flourishes.