Jack Lauterwasser
Jack Lauterwasser


To the youngsters of Bratton he was the tall kind old man who was always tinkering with bicycles in his garage in Bury Lane and was happy to fix their bikes. ‘I got a puncture’, ‘Can you mend a derailleur?’, ‘Bring it here’. Meanwhile, indoors, in a biscuit tin, lay two Olympic medals that Jack Lauterwasser won at the age of 24 for the same race in 1928 with the Great Britain team in Amsterdam. Initially they received bronze in the road racing, then a disqualification meant they were awarded silver (and were never asked to return the bronze). In that same year he broke both the Road Records Association 50 mile and 100 mile by 3 minutes and 18 minutes respectively, becoming the first rider to exceed 20 mph.

The following year he opened a cycle shop in London, producing bikes to individual specifications and invented both the ‘Lauterwasser’ handlebar and and his ‘Laughterweight’ 17.5lb light weight racing machine. Jack also worked at BSA during World War II on designing a folding cycle for parachutists. He moved to Bratton in 1965 and cycled the 9 miles to Bradford on Avon each day to take charge of special projects at Moulton Bicycles. It was there that he invented the innovative ‘Moulton’ small wheeled cycles. Jack had no interest in cycling history, but savoured every technical advance. Even in 1980 he was still devising his own unusual gearing system.

At 80 he still enjoyed a quick 80 mile spin and continued working until he was 90. Since first cycling as a delivery boy for a grocery store, then winning his first club 25 mile time trail at 13, cycling was Jack’s life. When he tragically broke his leg with a fall at home, aged 92, he was never able to get back in the saddle again until the day he died in 2003. For Jack the important thing was not the miles ridden but the miles enjoyed.




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Bratton History Association.

The Bratton History Association aims to provide all those curious about local history with an opportunity to meet, exchange ideas, and discover more about the history of Bratton and Wiltshire. Activities include monthly meetings, talks by professional historians, visits to places of interest to historians, and our own local history project.

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