Perhaps to a lesser extent these days, cycle manufacturers and especially the larger concerns use the word "Lightweight" in catalogues and adverts to describe anything other than the dreadnought utility models they supply . Unfortunately the word was often abused and was applied to almost anything from heavy gas pipe framed bikes to handbuilt specials built around high quality light steel tube and lugged frames.
Almost all of David Rattray's products fell in to the handbuilt category, and this magazine article, first published by the Cyclists Touring Club in their C.T.C. Gazette of September 1947 goes a long way to providing the definitive answer to the question - What is a lightweight ? and gives a brief description of post war British frame construction techniques that continued well into the mid 1980's.
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Article Courtesy of the CTC Gazette
