Raleigh Bicycle Company the mid-1960s, TI–Raleigh owned Brooks (one of the oldest saddle makers in the world), Sturmey-Archer (pioneer of 3-speed hubs), and Reynolds (maker of 531 tubing). Carlton, which had been unable to make inroads in the USA market after a failed rebranding deal with Huffy, found success in the late 1960s by recasting itself as "Raleigh-Carlton", a Raleigh-logo'd bike with some Carlton badging, and using the US dealer network to import and distribute bikes. The Raleigh Chopper was designed by Nottingham native Alan Oakley, though this has been disputed by Cambridge designer Tom Karen. The Chopper was patented in the UK
Kona Bicycle Company Kona Bicycle Company Kona Bikes is a bicycle company based in the Pacific Northwest. The company was founded in 1988 by Dan Gerhard and Jacob Heilbron in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Still owned by Gerhard and Heilbron, their world headquarters are located in Ferndale, Washington, with Canadian distribution offices in Vancouver, and European distribution offices in Geneva, Switzerland. Gerhard and Heilbron worked initially with Mountain Bike Hall of Fame rider Joe Murray to create a range of custom steel hardtails. Kona was the first brand to produce a complete range of sloping top tube design mountain bike frames. Paul Brodie