Ron Kitching was a keen cyclist, a keener businessman and keenest of all he was a professional Yorkshireman who made Geoff Boycott look like a dilettante southerner, or perhaps worse, a person from Lancashire - although he may not have chosen to use the word ‘person’.

Ron Kitching first opened a bicycle shop in Harrogate, Yorkshire in 1938. In 1948 he published his first catalogue, called ‘The Rider’s Agent’. By 1953 he had formed a separate, new, wholesale business, also based in Harrogate, and found a new business model - importing European cycle components and clothing. He later switched his focus to importing Japanese components.

For many years Ron Kitching employed the incomparable Beryl Burton in his wholesale business and sponsored her for much of her career. Throughout his life he was an active, intelligent and outspoken participant in the British racing scene.

Like Holdsworth, he structured his wholesaling business around a distinctive annual catalogue, which he decided to call ‘Everything Cycling’. His catalogues frequently featured a graphic illustrating how Harrogate was clearly the very epicentre of the United Kingdom. More...

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Documents sorted by date:

Ron Kitching Everything Cycling

1. Date: 1984
   

2. Derailleur  brands: Cyclo, MAVIC, Roto, Stronglight, SunTour and Zeus
   

3. Derailleurs: too numerous to mention - see individual pages