Pashley Cycles - The 1960s and A Production Move

The 1960s and A Production Move

The 1960s was a pivotal era for Pashley. Rath's son, Dick, took control of the company on his father's retirement. Dick had recently moved to Stratford-upon-Avon, and took the bold decision to move the company from Aston to brand new premises on Masons Road, Stratford. At one time, Pashley had three factories all in the Masons road area. Production Manager John Kirby began working for the company in 1968 and remains with Pashley to this day.

With the advent of small wheel bicycles, pioneered by Alex Moulton in 1962, Dick Pashley developed a simple 'shopping' tricycle, now known as the Pashley Picador. Many thousands of these have been sold since, users benefiting from the stability and low step-through frame. Its all welded construction was very unusual for the cycle industry at the time, and many years passed before other manufacturers adopted it. A similar two-wheeled shopping bicycle, the Piccolo, was also manufactured.

As traditional roadster bicycles began being removed from the ranges of other British manufacturers, Pashley decided to focus on classic roadsters. Some companies sold rebadged Pashley Roadsters in the 1980s and 1990s. These were built to the original 1920s design. For many years, versions of these saw service in large numbers under the patronage of UNICEF. Pashley still make a traditional roadster bicycle and it is still in demand in UK and export markets.