1905 Sun Master Roadster

1905 Sun Master Model

Double Top Tube Heavy Duty Gents Roadster

26″ Frame

28″ Wheels

(Now sold)

Sun Cycle Fittings Co was one of many suppliers of cycle components in the early 1900s. A local bike shop could build their own frame and use Sun or other fittings to complete it. A local customer could order a bike from the shop and choose what components to have on it.

If you knew what you wanted, this was a good way to buy a bike, because you’d have it built to your personal specification, at a cheaper price, but still end up with a quality machine. As the company pointed out: ‘The specification and finish of this machine is equal to any ten guinea line.’

Ten guineas (£10 10/-) in 1905 is around £1400 in 2020. That was expensive for a new bicycle, though the top manufacturers charged this price and more: the price of a 1905 Sunbeam was 14 guineas, and an Imperial Triumph £13 10/- (or £15 10/- with a two-speed gear). So buying a machine that used quality components but in ‘knock-down’ form for local assembly represented a real saving: in this case, the bike cost only 5 guineas.

This particular example used Sun’s own frame, and is the oldest machine known to the Sun Register. I sold it in 2016.