This Carlton International remains in mint condition because, aside from a few brief test outings, it hasn’t been ridden since it left the brand’s Worksop factory fifty years ago. Instead, it has served as a two-wheeled sculpture, a poignant reminder, in these times of identikit carbon frames, of how the steel bike aesthetic, as well as the craftsmanship that spawned it, peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s.
>> The enduring appeal of handbuilt bikes and why we still fall in love with them
