1902 Components Ltd Cushion X Frame

Components Ltd owned the Ariel & Fleet Cycle Companies (and, from 1912, Rover Cycle Co), as well as Warwick tyres, the Dunlop and Westwood patents & Crabbe brakes. In 1901 they added the Referee Cycle Co patent X frame design to their list of acquisitions, which allowed them to compete directly with Raleigh Cycle Co.

The Components Ltd X frame was sold as a frame only, or a frame with parts. This example has an 1896 style Components Ltd inch-pitch chainset with cotter pedal cranks. It’s a cushion frame, which means that it has a ‘shock absorber’ style of rear fork suspension, with a pivot at the bottom bracket. This suspension style was more common in the USA. It is mentioned in the 1904 Fleet catalogue, but it was not heavily promoted, so I assume it was only an option offered by Components Ltd for a few years. Probably the license fees paid to the US patent holder made the complete bicycle with cushion frame too expensive to compete with the Raleigh X frame on price.