More Dayton Info

Inspired by Bernie’s Dayton I have done a bit more web searching and found some more Dayton Cycles London info, linked below.

• Dayton Cycles of London – a brief history
• Dayton Sales Catalogue
• Another sales catalogue for the patent Amalgam frame
• A Dayton in Thailand
• Images of a stripped Dayton Roadmaster amalgam frame

And just to cap it off, a Dayton ridden by Tom Saunders won the Tour of Britain in 1948.

PS A bit more trivia. Dayton Cycles of America comes from the same town (Dayton, Ohio) as the Wright Cycle Co, established by Willie and Orville Wright to finance their experiments with flight. There are some suggestions out there that the companies may have been related. But neither of these is in any way a relation to Dayton of London which was established a few years later by Chas Day.

Another Dayton Elite!

Well, an interesting development. A reader, Bernie, got in touch as he has another 1950’s Dayton Elite, even older than mine (early 50’s) but in rather better condition although missing some parts.

In the interests of posterity and putting what little seems to be published about the Dayton Elite bike onto the web, Bernie agreed for me to publish some pictures of his bike here.

So, without further ado, here is Bernie’s Dayton Elite:

Dayton Elite early 1950s

The frame is more traditionally constructed than mine, with butted Reynolds 531 tubing and elegant lugs. The decals are different from mine, simpler and more rounded, and there is no chromework where mine has (had) quite a lot on the forks and rear stays. The paint is in really good condition.

Dayton of London head badge

The head badge is identical to my later 1957 model, apparently cast lead or pewter. It’s in excellent condition, the D looks stylised, a bit like a shackle. I wonder what the original designer was trying to represent?

I think the purple colour is the same as mine, but in much better condition and evidently original.

Seat tube lug

Reynolds 531 transfer and nice brazing detail for the seat stays, located very neatly either side of the lug with quite a small contact patch. Slightly odd effect created by reversed seatpost.

Seat tube decal

Close up of the seat tube decal, very nice with the shape of the Y character rounded as in the head badge. This decal is missing from my bike, there is just a plain band as far as I can see but i’ll take another look when I get it out next (currently it’s buried behind 2 Bianchis, a Marin and a Rocky Mountain).

Dayton Elite - components

Various components removed from the Dayton. What looks like a Williams crank, some GB components etc. I am impressed by the quality of the paintwork given the age of the bike, and the decals are also in good condition. I think with nicely cleaned up components this bike will look great and rather characterful as it is. I hope I have convinced Bernie not to repaint it now. Anyone can have new paint, having the genuine original article is the rarity…