History of the bike
This bike was manufactured in 1967 in the United Bike Factory (Zjednoczone Zakłady Rowerowe) in Bydgoszcz, Poland. In the late sixties a series of bikes with 20-inch-wheels called ‘Karat’ were produced in Poland. They were the first folding bikes in our country.
The design of these bikes was copied from a British Bickerton and it had the same faults. ‘Karat’ could be folded by using one hinge with 2 screws (later 1 screw) for which one needed a special opening key.
In the seventies the producer changed the name of the factory to ‘ROMET Bike Factory’ and made a series of different folding bikes.
Polish ‘Karat’ had its export equivalent called ‘Universal’. Other bikes exported abroad also had the same name.
In an English town a granddaughter inherited her grandparents’ house. Among many other items in the pantry she found the bike, perfectly preserved. She decided to sell the bike in a garage sale. The new owner of the bike, after transporting it to Poland, decided to gather as much information about it as possible and then created this website.