Daniel Rudge
Daniel Rudge (
1840-
June 261880) was a British engineer who built high-end
bicycles and velocipedes. Rudge invented the adjustable
ball bearing bicycle hub (British Patent No 526) in
1878. The French racing
cyclist Charles Terront, renowed for winning the first
PBP (now a tour, but in
1891 a full-fledged race), used Rudge's axles with much success thereby bringing world attention to Rudge. In the years before John Dunlop invented the pneumatic
tire, Rudge addressed the rough ride by producing a four-bladed, spring-suspended fork in
1887.
After Rudge's death, the company was merged with The Tangent & Coventry Tricycle Company to form D. Rudge & Co. which in 1894 became Rudge Whitworth Cycles.
By 1911, the Rudge Whitworth Cycle Company was also manufacturing motorcycles.
After the company fell on hard times in the Great Depression, the music company EMI bought the Rudge name. EMI produced bicycles under the Rudge name from 1935 until 1943 when they sold the name to Raleigh.
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