Showing posts with label 1896. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1896. Show all posts

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Moscow & Washington - Cyclists & Infrastructure

Whatever else may be clear, Washington supports bicyclists more than Moscow - of course, Moscow's climate isn't particularly bicycle-friendly much of the year. (I do have plenty of people who don't think Washington's summer weather and humidity are very bike friendly either, but the problem isn't to be compared with riding in Moscow's snowy roads treated with huge quantities salt and chemicals.)

Nevertheless there is some advocacy in Moscow for cycling - for "bicycle culture" (velocul'tura) and seeking more cycling infrastructure, present on the Internet via this site and this site and a few others. (No, I don't know why the one Russian organization has a name, "Let's bike it" that is in English, not Russian.) The online map of cycling infrastructure in Moscow mostly references bicycle parking and rental, not bicycle lanes or trails, which are apparently pretty limited.

Recently the Moscow city transportation department and a number of informal and commercial organizations organized the third annual "Bike Parade" on June 29th in downtown Moscow, attracting thousands of riders for a 16 kilometer (around ten miles) ride on a closed course, much like Bike DC that the Washington Area Bicyclist Association used to organize as a fundraiser (although I guess they had some permit problems this past year). There was a fairly good video produced and available on YouTube of the 2014 Moscow "Veloparad." (I am not sure that having a car company, Opel, as a sponsor of a bicycle event would happen in most places other than Moscow ~)


Московский Велопарад 2014 - the 2014 Moscow bicycle parade

As I said above, I think of Washington as being ahead of Moscow in "velo-culture" but this past week a Washington Post columnist set things back somewhat by writing a column in which he suggested that DC area cyclists are "terrorists" and that perhaps a 500 dollar fine for hitting one with one's car isn't too high a price to pay (entitled "Bicyclist bullies try to rule the road in D.C."). Charming. (I only learned about this second hand; I don't pay for the online or paper Washington Post because it is so much worse than the newspaper I grew up with and giving them any of my mind might signify approval of their present editorial views and approach to journalism - also, it turned out to be quite easy to live without it.) The Washington Area Bicyclist Association has a response to the cyclist=terrorist column and others organized a lunch-time ride to the Washington Post to protest.


The 1986 Washington Times published regular full pages of news and information for cyclists, wanting their readership-imagine that!

Unfortunately since I don't subscribe to the Washington Post, I can't cancel my subscription in a huff. Oh well.

To circle back to cycling in Moscow, the comments at the end of the video (embedded above in this post) are what you would expect about how much the ride was enjoyed, but two of the comments say that the riders were sorry the ride was not longer, which I think is surprising since ten miles for something like this in a city like Moscow seems pretty good. (Oddly I could not find a map showing the route and only found in one place mention that the length of the ride was 16 km.) They were certainly lucky with the weather and it looked like great fun.



Sunday, June 22, 2014

How Bicycles Are Built (in 1896)

How Bicycles are Built. (article)
Author: Monroe Sonneschein
Publisher: [Chicago : : R. Sonneschein], June 1896.
Journal title: American Jewess : Vol 2 : Issue 9.; Page(s) 457-465.

This article provides a surprising type and amount of information compared to others I have seen from this period, particularly since it was intended as a tutorial for women readers assumed to know little about bicycles who would use this information to inform purchase of a bicycle. (While I think it is a interesting article, I'm not so sure that much of what is covered would be useful for a successful bicycle purchase, however.) I think it is worth looking at the entire article - here are some highlights:

HOW BICYCLES ARE BUILT. This article is written with a view of enlightening the purchaser of a wheel, who, as a rule, knows nothing about the construction and mechanical advantages of one bicycle over another.

Scientific men who have made bicycle-building their study all agree that the construction of a modern safety is one of the most delicate and intricate problems in mechanics, easily taking rank with locomotive or bridge-building. In most high-grade wheels there are about one hundred separate and distinct parts. Including duplicates, there are some seven hundred and fifty pieces in all. The puzzles and conundrums propounded by the wise men would seem easy of solution in comparison with the task of assembling the parts of a bicycle into one compact, rigid and smoothly-running machine. It is an undertaking requiring the highest degree of mechanical intelligence.

In a gun,"the factor of safety," as it is termed by engineers, is never lower than 12, which means that it is designed to be 12 times stronger than the strain it is calculated to withstand. In general machinery, the "factor of safety" is from 4 to 5; but in a bicycle it is but 1 1/4, in order that the machine may be as light as possible. It can therefore be readily understood that the greatest care must be exercised in its manufacture.
Guns are designed to be safer than bicycles?? Apparently.



Image from the book "A Wheel Within a Wheel: How I Learned to Ride the Ricycle. . . " by Frances E. Willard, 1895. This book is available here - hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89098879422

More from "How Bicycles Are Built:"
A bicycle frame must be designed to withstand all manner of strains, such as longitudinal, tortional and vibrational, and their many combinations. It must stand up well in collision and the shock consequent to a fall at high speed. And right here let me state that too much rigidity in a frame is almost as faulty as not enough of it.

The bearings of a bicycle are perhaps its most interesting feature. The wear upon these parts is almost constant, and the material used should be of the finest steel tempered in oil all the way through, and not only case-hardened, because casehardening is merely hardening the outside of the metal. When such a temper is used, the hardened surface soon wears through; and the balls, reaching the softer metal of the inside, in a very short time eat away the bearing.

After the frame, the putting together of a bicycle wheel is the most important step in cycle-building. Each spoke is tested to support a hanging weight of not less than 1,000 pounds. The hub-the foundation of the wheel-is turned from a solid bar of steel. A hole for the axle is bored lengthwise through its center, as well as many smaller holes in the flanges around the outside of its ends, to hold the spokes.

In the wooden rim there is, of course, a hole for each spoke. These holes are "countersunk," and "washers" are introduced to prevent the spokes from pulling through the rims; for it is an interesting fact that, while the weight in a wooden wheel stands on the spokes, in a bicycle wheel it hangs on the spokes, the spokes above the hub supporting most of the weight. Were it otherwise, the wheel would quickly collapse; for while the tiny wires are capable of bearing an enormous lengthwise strain, they would immediately bend under a trifling compressional one.
Wheels with rims made from wood were still common at this point.
There is no device known to mechanics which minimizes friction to so great an extent as the ball-bearing. Running parts equipped with it may truly be said to possess the poetry of motion; yet how few among the thousands of wheelmen understand its magical workings!
The complete articlehas additional details about bicycle manufacturing practices of the 1890s.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Capital Bikeshare Usage Visualized

Mobility Lab, a kind of think tank/advocacy organization in Arlington (Virginia), has this blog post that links to interactive displays of various kinds of usage of the Capital Bikeshare system based on 2013 statistics displayed on an aerial photograph of DC and northern Virginia. One of the amazing things about bikeshare systems is that they provide detailed statistics about cycling that have never been available before.

Washington DC Bicycle Map, 1896
PDF of map for cyclists in the Washington DC Morning Times, May 24, 1896

The above "Washington Bicycle Road Map (presented in a newspaper) is one I like very much since it covers so much of the DC region - it reminds me that at that time, the growing popularity of cycling was about leisure riding and a significant part of that for long rides into the countryside (which would now be suburbs, mostly). The city was only around a quarter of a million people after all. The map extends at least 12 miles out in all directions from the center of DC.

Friday, August 16, 2013

Bicycle Poster from 1896 / D.C. Bike Theft (Also 1896)

Stormer Bicycle Poster
Stormer bicycle poster from the Library of Congress

"As good as money can buy" - from the Acme Manufacturing Co. of Reading, PA. Stormer is referred to as the "model" name rather than the brand of the bicycle.

Title The Stormer Bicycle Recommends Itself
Date Created/Published Cincinnati & New York : Strobirde & Co. Lith., 1896.
Medium 1 print (poster) : color ; 213 x 102 cm.
Summary Young woman in plaid dress rides a Stormer bicycle.
Reproduction Number LC-USZC2-131 (color film copy slide) LC-USZ62-24633 (b&w film copy neg.)
Call Number POS - ADV. 19th c. - Bicycles. S778, no. 8 (in 3 parts) (D size) [P&P]
Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002719901/

As usual with digitized posters, this was digitized not from the original but from a color transparency (slide) made of the original some years ago. The quality of the digital image, if you look closely, is not great if you wanted to print a version, but otherwise fine.

I don't know why the Library hasn't made the images readily downloadable offsite - the item is clearly labeled as published in 1896. I created this JPEG directly from the TIFF and didn't use the relatively low resolution JPEG provided on site at LC.

I don't find much mention of the Stormer Bicycle in digitized newspapers of the time, although the Washington Times includes one in a weekly list of stolen bicycles from Washington DC (!).
Washington Evening Star, September 19, 1896, Page 18

BICYCLES STOLEN - Theft of Nine Wheels Reported During the Week.

During the week ending yesterday the theft of nine bicycles was reported at the police headquarters. At this rate it would seem as though on an average 500 wheels are made away with by unscrupulous persons a year, and, in spite of the rewards and the efforts of the police, a large percentage are never found. Thieves have found bicycle stealing to be a profitable and easy business, owing to the owners leaving them unguarded and unlocked. It is almost a matter of impossibility for policemen to trace stolen wheels unless the latter posses some marked peculiarities. The victims during the week are:

George D. Harning, Central building, 9th street and Pennsylvania avenue, Fowler bicycle. No. 22951.

Ernest H. Elliot, 145 Q street northwest, Victor bicycle, No. 88679.

Wade Luckett, 66 H street northwest. Telegram bicycle. No. 8753.

Willis A. Madden of Howard University, Stormer bicycle, N. 26278.

Horace H. Brower, 9A 9th street. a Horseman bicycle. No. 3336.

Harry W. Higham, Jr., 476 Pennsylvania Avenue northwest, Wilhelm bicycle. No. 242.

Fred Busch, Florida avenue northwest. Crescent bicycle, No. 188727.

A. G. Randall, 800 A street southeast. Wilhelm bicycle, No. 26771.

Allan Baeschlin, 1826 Half street northwest, Elmore bicycle.

Although it is stated that the bicycles are not easily identified, numbers are given for all but one - are these serial numbers or license numbers? Not sure. I suppose mostly like serial numbers.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

"A [Bicycle] Road Race in Japan" - 1896

From Referee & Cycle Trade Journal for March 12, 1896. May of the articles about cycling in foreign countries in this publication reflect the interest of some of the readership in the potential for selling American bicycles abroad but there is also something of a human interest angle evident as well. This article says nothing useful about the possibilities for selling American bikes in Japan but at least describes their being raced there - all the bicycles used in the race described were American. It isn't clear, but if all the riders were not also American, they were at least not Japanese. (In fact, the only Japanese aspects of the race were the locale and the prizes, "all beautifully made and artistically modeled in the best native styles."

I have included here the entire text of the article as published and both illustrations. The text includes some interesting details, such as the "gear" of the bicycles, a number representing the "gear inches" of each, since each bike was a fixed gear bicycle (with only one gear available as ridden). The weights of the riders are also given, and while several of the riders were 150 pounds or less, the winner was surprisingly heavy at 176.

The article is amusingly evangelistic about the different American brands in use by the riders.

Bicycle road race in Japan

ROAD RACE IN JAPAN.

Interesting Account in a Letter from Yokohama—Won on a Rambler.

The following very interesting account of a road race in Japan is taken from a letter to the Gormully & Jeffery Manufacturing Company from Mr. MacArthur, of H. MacArthur & Co., Rambler agents at Yokohama. For the accompanying cuts the Referee is also indebted to the courtesy of the Chicago company. The letter is dated at Yokohama, Feb. 11, and reads in part as follows:
"We advised you not long ago that on the 1st of this month, weather permitting, the first road race, properly organized, ever run in the neighborhood would take place, the course being from Yokohama to Kodza, starting outside the city, a distance of thirty-two miles. February 1 happened to be election day for this prefect, and the police authorities, desiring to do all that was possible to help on the race, desired us to select another day, rather than hamper them with too much responsibility on such a busy day. We, of course, postponed the race, and had it rather on the 8th, Saturday last.

"There were nine competitors, rather we should say entrants, two dropping out, while a third fell out of rank on the morning of the race. The weather was perfect, and the men lined up well. We enclose photo showing the starters. Beginning from the left of the picture, the starters are: H. F. Arthur, on a Dayton, gear 68, rider weighing 162 pounds; E. Adet, on a Rambler, gear 66, rider weighing 176 pounds; H. A. Poole, on a Columbia, gear 70, rider weighing 150 pounds; J. M. Scott, on a Dayton, gear 68, rider weighing 140 pounds; L. W. Eyton, on a Rambler, gear 63, rider weighing 138 pounds. One young fellow, S. S. Kuhn, had been by general consent of the riders allowed five minutes start, and does not appear in the picture. He rode a Crescent. This youngster made remarkably good use of his allowance, and was only collared at Totsuka, about nine miles on his journey, by Adet. Kuhn was rather pumped, but Adet was going freely and strong.

"Arthur got rather the better of the start, but Scott shot ahead in a few yards and Eyton was close on his heels. A mile out Arthur's chain snapped, and he was at once out of the race.

Japan Race Winner 1896

Adet had the worst of the start, but at the first hill pulled up on the others and at Totsuka collared the allowance man, and from then seemed to be having it all his own way, riding freely and increasing his lead, till he had ill luck to collide with a native cart on a small bridge, twenty miles out, the driver of which in his excitement and fear of death from the flying wheel carefully swung the cart across, entirely blocking the bridge. Poor Adet got the buttress at full speed, with the very natural result of a front wheel smashed and the chagrin of knowing that he was no longer in the race. Eight minutes later the advance man was up to him, and in another three Eyton passed still going well and stronger than ever. From this on the race was Eyton's, who won as he liked in 1:58. Kuhn came in at 11:03:15, and Poole took third place, coming in at 11:13.

"Eyton had a serious fall at Totsuka, colliding with the ubiquitous cart and twisting his handlebars. Jamming these against a tree, he got them straight and remounted, never observing that in doing so he bad reversed his front wheel. The whole thing had turned in the bearing, and he continued his ride and won his race, serenely unconscious that aught was amiss with his wheel. A bystander, an expert in wheels, seeing the machine at the finish, declared that it had undergone the severest test a wheel could be put to, and come out unscathed. Formerly he had fancied other wheels, but this experience converted him. This makes the second race this identical wheel has won—there have only been two—the other being two miles on the track, when it had to compete against Columbias and other wheels of 70 gear and over. Adet rode it on that occasion, and won a handsome bronze medal, given by us, as first prize. The prizes on this last race deserve a word or two. The first was a gold medal, value $25, the second a silver, and the third a bronze; all beautifully made and artistically modeled in the best native styles."

It is worthy of note that all the wheels ridden in this race were of American make, there being two Ramblers, two Daytons, one Columbia and one Crescent. The unique and most severe test given to Eyton's wheel after his fall at Totsuka was another notable incident of the race and was a splendid advertisement of the sterling qualities of the Rambler.
In articles that are more than 100 years old, there are often surprises in the language used. I was struck by the sentence, "Kuhn was rather pumped, but Adet was going freely and strong." I was surprised by the usage "rather pumped" - presumably this means the same thing that it would to day? Given the comparison to Adet, who was "going freely and strong" it is hard to tell.

Also, the article says that this bicycle race was "the first road race, properly organized, ever run in the neighborhood " - is this supposed to mean that this was the first organized road race in Japan, or more literally in the region of Japan where it took place?

Saturday, April 13, 2013

1896 Bicycle Built for Seven - the "Sept"

An article describing the (claimed) only seven seat bicycle of the day in Referee & Cycle Trade issue of April 23, 1896. At the time three and four seat bicycles were general used to "pace" riders who would draft behind to set certain categories of bicycle speed records and in certain races - to have a seven seat version would likely not be faster, so this is something of a publicity stunt, I think.
THE ONLY "SEPT."
- - -
Sharpless & Watts Are Its Makers, and It Is a Marvel of Constructive Ingenuity.
- - -
Philadelphia, April 21.—There is now on exhibition at the extensive bicycle factory of Sharpless & Watts, at 1520-22 Sansom street, that Goliath among bicycles—an account of the building of which appeared in these columns some weeks ago—the only septuplet in the world. The frame is practically seven ordinary single diamonds firmly joined together, with all the joints securely brazed, forming a sort of truss bridge between the contact points of the front and rear tires—a wheel base of 16 feet. This will give some idea as to the length of the monster.

It is constructed throughout of l 1/4-inch tubing, and, although no special fittings were required in its construction, David Watts, a member of the firm, is authority for the statement that the toy is worth a "cool thousand." As must be imagined, the strain on the front forks will be immense, but Mr. Watts has provided for this by constructing them of inch tubing, into which 7/8-inch tool steel is driven, insuring the necessary rigidity. This feature of providing additional strength at points of greatest strain is a peculiarity of the entire construction.

An innovation in a strengthening way, which is necessitated by the extreme length of the structure and the immense load it will be called upon to bear, is the introduction of long arches of angle steel, extending on either side of the frame from the front to the rear diamond; at every point of contact these angle steels are firmly brazed. This is also an idea of Mr. Watts', and insures a rigidity which he says is noticeably lacking in pacemaking machines of a similar character.

To assist the front man to steer—for it is a single steerer—an ingenious device of springs on either side of the front handlebar has been utilized which will take much of the strain off him to whom is entrusted that important function.
Sept (seven seat) Bike
A photograph of the "Sept" from the next issue of Referee & Cycle Trade of April 30, 1896
Back to the last man the tread is 5 1/2 inches; beyond that point to the rear sprocket it is a half inch more. The whee's are 30 inches in diameter, and the spokes are a little less than an eighth of an inch in thickness and fastened to barrel hubs measuring 2 1/2 inches in diameter in the center. With forty teeth in the large sprocket and ten in the rear the gear is 120 inches. The chains throughout are the best Perry Humber 1/4 inch. The 2 1/2-inch tires, which were specially made by Morgan & Wright, are a half-inch in thickness. The weight of the machine, "all on," is in the neighborhood of 175 pounds.

Mr. Watts, on being questioned as to his idea in building the mammoth -wheel, said, in substance: "We built the 'sept' merely to announce to the cycling world at home and abroad that right here in Philadelphia there is a plant which has facilities for constructing wheels of any pattern or dimensions. Of course, we intend to exhibit, it, and it will no doubt prove a good advertisement in its way. Do I think it can be safely managed at high speed on the track? I most certainly do—provided the track is a properly constructed one; and if we can get seven good men on it, and a track that isn't too small and is properly banked, the records will have to come our way. No; we don't intend to race the Atlantic City 78-mile-an-hour express, although I haven't the slightest doubt that we could hold our own against that world-beater for a short distance. I hope to see our pet on the track before long, when the local public will have an opportunity of sizing it up."

There are modern seven-seat bicycles, but the best known (see below) is a novelty item - in a number of cities you can rent one for your company or organization to use for "team building" exercises, for example.



Orient Quad bike, 1898
A more typical multiseat bicycle of this period used to "pace" racers

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Idyllic Country Bicycle Ride - Monarch Cycle Co. Ad 1896

Monarch Favorite
Full page color ad for Monarch bicycles in The Referee and Cycle Trade Journal issue for January 23, 1896.

According to a short online biography of the founder, John William Kiser, the Monarch Cycle Manufacturing Company was active during much of the 1890s but became part of the "bicycle trust" shortly before an economic crash that (as I understand it) seems to be credited with much of the fall in bicycle sales around that time.

Here is an earlier post with another color ad from Monarch showing bicycles in Egypt, apparently navigating through sand. This journal (Referee and Cycle Trade Journal) must have been pleased to have their full page color ads from time to time since presumably they got more income from them. Color ads in publications like this were rare - most issues that I have looked at do not have any.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

The Folding Bike Idea - of 1896

In the The Referee and Cycle Trade Journal issue for April 9, 1896 there are a number of pages with smaller ads for different cycling related products and smaller companies selling bikes.

Folding Bike
A folding bike for the 19th century

There are not all that many truly new ideas in basic bicycle design.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Peter Akmatow-Dombrowski, Russian Racer of 1896

From The Referee and Cycle Trade Journal issue for March 26, 1896.

RUSSIA'S FUTURE CHAMPION - Peter Akmatow-Dombrowski and His Many Brilliant Performances.

Peter Akmatow-Dombrowski, the subject of this sketch, will, it is safe to predict, play a leading role on Russian race tracks the coming season; in fact, there is little doubt that he is the best man on the track in Russia to day. He is a native of Kiew and twenty-one years of age. Although active at racing since his fifteenth year, he was not prominent until 1895, when at Moscow he came within a fraction of an inch of winning the Russian mile championship from Djakow.

RussianRacer

This being the first time he had met the faster men of his country, his performance caused intense surprise. All previous minor events in which he started were won by him, this being his first defeat. He holds the Eussian unpaced records for the quarter, eighth, and half verst, and the quarter English mile.

Coverage of foreign cyclists and particularly outside of western Europe at this time was quite unusual.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Fanciful Bicycle Ad from 1896 - Egypt & the Pyramids

MonarchCycleAd
From "The Referee and Cycle Trade Journal." January 9, 1896.

This was a trade publication that normally did not have color advertising - at this time there was a bicycle show in Chicago, so apparently this company chose to pay for a "premium" ad.

The bookplate at the front of the bound volume which contained this issue identifies it as having been part of the Patent Office library collection originally, but it was apparently transferred at some point to the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian has been having some older materials digitized by the Internet Archive at the Library of Congress resulting in interesting "finds" like this.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Bordeaux-Paris Winner 1896 and Simpson Chain

The Jules Beau photo albums have wonderful photographs of cycling from the 1890s and intot he next decade. Here is link to volume 3 for 1896. Below is one of the photographs from it.

Linton
Arthur Linton, who tied for the victory in the 1896 Bordeaux-Paris race

Title : [Collection Jules Beau. Photographie sportive] : T. 3. Année 1896 / Jules Beau
Author : Beau, Jules (1864-1932). Photographe
Date of publication : 1896
Subject : Sports -- France -- 1870-1914
Subject : Cyclisme

Mr. Linton from Wales tied the race that year and was given flowers, according to what is in the album, from the Gladiator factory. This is another image that shows the Simpson bicycle chain that I discussed in a previous blog post.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Simpson Chain Shown on Gallica - 1896 Innovation

Simpson Chain with two women riders 1896
Two women riders, Lisette and Eteogella, riding bikes with "Chaîne à levier Simpson"

In this photo album with mostly photographs of then-famous French and other cycling racers there is this page with two photographs of women on bicycles (or more likely, what is one bicycle, a Gladiator) equipped with a "Simpson chain", which was considered a way of gaining a slight mechanical advantage over a traditional chain (that is a chain fundamentally the same as what we use today).

The chain consisted of a series of metal triangles with pins at the corners (see this illustration) so that along the inside it was much like an extended version of a present day chain (with the pins a bit further apart). Each link was matched by two other links extending out to a third pin. In the front the force was transferred the same as a bicycle today with teeth into the inside links, but at the rear the force was transferred by the pins on the outside edge. It gave the bikes that used them a distinctive appearance since the chain stood out.

Apparently there were match races to prove the superiority of this chain but ultimately not enough were convinced and people with some engineering experience decided that there was in fact no mechanical advantage to this chain. Certainly it added to the complexity of the drive train of the bikes that used it and to some extent the weight. There don't seem to be lots of photographs of this chain on the Internet on bikes, and although these are somewhat low resolution, they show it reasonably well.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Contented Woman Cyclist (1896 Poster)

Ride a Stearns [bicycle] and be content (1896)
Ride a Stearns [bicycle] and be content

From the Library of Congress' poster collections.

Title : Ride a Stearns and be content / J. Ottmann Lith. Co., Puck Bld'g, N.Y.
Creator(s): Penfield, Edward, 1866-1925, artist
Date Created/Published : [1896]
Medium : 1 print (poster) : chromolithograph ; 152 x 116 cm.
Summary : Poster advertising Stearns bicycles, showing a woman cyclist.
Reproduction Number : LC-USZC4-6645 (color film copy transparency)

This is a scan of a color transparency copy of the original and not a direct scan of the original item. I have cropped and rotated the image that is on the LoC site, which is here.

what is not so clear to us today from the poster is that the rider is coasting - since this is a "fixed gear" where is no coasting with feet on the pedals. In order to coast, you put your feet up on small posts on either side of the fork (that are not visible, but are there) while the pedals continue to go around.

Coasting
A clearer image of coasting from 1896

In the example above, you can see that this bike does have a single brake for the front wheel, which is a "spoon brake" that is activated by a rod that presses down against the front tire. Trying to stop a coasting bike that didn't have a brake would involve somehow getting your feet back on the spinning pedals - not so easy.

Bicycling For Ladies - Cover
Another woman rider coasting - she looks happier than just "content"

Saturday, February 9, 2013

1896 Ice Bike Demonstrated by Woman Rider

Short article about ice bike demonstration in The San Francisco Call, January 19, 1896.

An Ice Bicycle.

A bicycle has been invented for traveling on ice or snow, says a New York paper. The long runner or skate, which replaces the front wheel of the bicycle, in itself is made for ice alone, but when the machine is used on snow-clad roads a metal shoe is fitted over the skate, and it is claimed that the machine will carry a rider over the ground, or rather snow or ice, at a greater speed than the regulation wheel.

Ice Bike

Miss Davidson, who is young and enthusiastic, mounted the ice wheel at a rink last evening with but little difficulty, and, after a few "wobbles," started off around the rink gracefully. The half dozen spectators were astonished at the perfect work ing of the machine. After two or three turns about the rink Miss Davidson did a few fancy moves and then dismounted.


Saturday, December 29, 2012

Sarah Grand & Cycling - A Later View (1899)

Sarah Grand was a British feminist who traveled in the United States to lecture (and presumably sell more of her books). In an earlier post, I looked at an 1897 article about her suggestions for optimal cycling attire for women. (This article was published as filler material in a number of newspapers in the United States.)

I have since found a similar sort of filler item, but a shorter one from 1899, Sarah Grand and Her Bike, that uses a photo of Ms. Grand to demonstrate that she was not a "new woman" who practiced what she preached - she did not "ride in bloomers or trousers."

Sarah Grand with Bicycle
Illustration with article from the Kansas City Journal., June 04, 1899

SARAH GRAND AND HER BIKE
The Creator of the "New Woman" Does Not Hide in Bloomers or Trousers.
From the New York Journal

Sarah Grand, the author of "The Heavenly Twins" and the creator of the new woman in literature, rides a bicycle. We might expect her to ride in bloomers or trousers, or some other garment unlike any thing worn by the "old" woman, but instead of that we find her dressed in skirts of a decorous and graceful length.

Mme Sarah Grand has had herself photographed in bicycling costume just as she is about to mount her wheel. She has had this done because she wishes the public to know just what an ideal new woman looks like. You may see her on this page.

Sarah Grand is entitled by marriage to bear the good old Irish name of "McFall," but with curious taste she prefers the remarkably pretentious name of "Grand." Her husband was an army surgeon and she was separated from him. It is said that he was the original of the wicked colonel In "The Heavenly Twins," who was fond of long glasses of brandy and soda and of pretty girls, and for these sins was boycotted by his voting wife and brought to a sudden and terrible end by the author.

Sarah Grand is engaged regularly in literary work, but she achieved no success comparable to that of "The Heavenly Twins."

SarahGrandWbike
The full article as it appeared

A little research reveals that the photograph of Sarah Grand that was the basis for the newspaper illustration, claiming to show her as a "new woman" not wearing her suggested cycling attire was from 1896, before she made her declaration against using traditional women's clothing for cycling.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Bicycle Polo in 1896

As usual, I have noticed a drop-off in the number of bicycle commuters and other riders as the weather gets cooler (and wetter).

In the 1890s, there were various attempts to encourage cycling during cooler months - in 1896, one strategy was to encourage new indoor cycling activities, including an article in the October 17 1896 Washington Evening Times about "Bicycle Polo".

Bicycle Polo 1896

The most exciting novelty of the wheeling season has been bicycle polo, which was practically unheard of until about a month ago. It is a rather dangerous game, but not more so than polo as played with ponies at an East Indian gymkhana or a Meadowbrook Hunt meet. A low-geared bicycle has decided advantages in playing it, because it is so much easier suddenly to check or start it. Precisely so, a low-geared pony-that is to say, one that can start or stop promptly and is quick in turning is preferable to one that is merely fast. Of course, the rider in bicycle polo must have a quick eye for distance, be able to ride "hands off" at any angle, and to turn in the shortest compass. In spite of Its difficulties. the game will be the principal attraction at most of the big exhibition meetings in the riding academies this winter.


WHBPC | 4th World Hardcourt Bike Polo | GVA 14-18 août 2012
Bicycle polo is still around . . . photo from Del~Uks Flickr offerings

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

"Nobby" Bicycle Suits (1896)

"Bicycle Suits" (1896)
Cycling attire ad, 1896

From "The Referee and Cycle Trade Journal: a Weekly Record and Review of Cycling and the Cycle Trade." Volume 17, Number 1 - May 7, 1896.
archive.org/details/refereecycletra171896chic

Women cyclists of the 1890s often wore special clthing specifically created and intended for cycling, such as bloomers. I usually think of the tweedily attired male cyclists from the 1890s as riding in a version of their regular clothes, but this kind of ad suggests otherwise.

The slogan of this company, Rosenwald & Weil, seems a bit obscure - "Distinctive gentility in style - like brevity in composition - represents greatest merit."

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

The Bucolic Cycling Image

Bucolic Cycling
Filler illustration from 1896 cycling magazine

"The Referee and Cycle Trade Journal: a Weekly Record and Review of Cycling and the Cycle Trade." Volume 17, Number 1 - May 7, 1896.
archive.org/details/refereecycletra171896chic

An idealized view of cycling in the 1890s - perhaps. Hard to know if it is idealized or not, actually.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Schwinn Five Rider Pacing Bike (1896)

I discovered this article about an early Schwinn "Quint" - a bicycle that seats five riders who would be able to attain a very high speed and a single rider would then try to set speed records riding behind them, drafting.

The Referee and Cycle Trade Journal: a Weekly Record and Review of Cycling and the Cycle Trade. Volume 17, Number 2 - May 14, 1896.
The article in the online presentation of this magazine.

Quint Bicycle with Team
The Schwinn "World Quint" and the bike that would draft behind it

THE "WORLD" QUINT.
It is Exhibited on the Road and Track and Causes Astonishment.

The quint made by Arnold, Schwinn & Co., to be used in pacing Johnson, made its appearance last week and was given a trial at the Thirtyfifth street track. Kennedy made an attempt at Steele's state record of 1:55, but the track being in poor condition and the men not being used to the machine the best time made was 2:08. The chains on the machine were too tight to admit of its being ridden as fast as Kennedy was capable of going. The makers had figured on the chains stretching enough in riding the quint to the track to make them about right, but the chains didn't stretch. This fault was easily and quickly remedied, and the big affair was out on dress parade Sunday, the riders being clad in white suits. The boulevards were covered in the morning, a crowd of cyclists following at all times. The machine is a fine-looking affair, is substantial and ought to serve its purpose well. It has been shipped to the team in Paris.

Quint Bicycle Action Shot
An "action shot" of the quint on the track

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Paris-Roubaix, 1896

Fisher
The "crack rider" Fischer, the winner

"The Referee and Cycle Trade Journal: a Weekly Record and Review of Cycling and the Cycle Trade." Volume 17, Number 1 - May 7, 1896.
Full article in "The Referee".

Much to my surprise, detailed coverage of the Paris-Roubaix "tourist riding" race of 1896 in France in a publication from Chicago. (The article various spells the German winner's name "Fischer" and "Fisher.") The article starts as follows:

FISHER'S BIG ROAD RIDE.
COVERS 174 MILES FROM PARIS TO ROUBAIX IN 9 HRS. 17 MIN.

Averages Over Eighteen and a Half Miles an Hour on the Journey—
Linton Holds Him Even for a Part of the Distance.—
Eck and Johnson's Plans
Paris, April 21.—[Special correspondence.]

Favored by glorious weather, the opening road event of the season, Paris to Roubaix, 280 kilometres, or 174 miles, duly took place last Sunday, forty-eight riders out of an entry of a hundred facing the starter at the Porte Maillot at 5:30 a. m. The value of the prizes was as under: first, £40, second, £20, third, £12, fourth, £8, the following five £4 each, and the tenth was a case of champagne. A prize of £6 was awarded the leading man at Amiens. A. V. Linton managed to secure this sum, winning by half a wheel from Fisher. All along the line road records were smothered, the winner Fisher, riding throughout the race at an average speed of over 18.2 miles an hour, which pace in itself constitutes a record for tourist riding.
". . . Tenth [place prize] was a case of champagne . . . "

Standings
The top finishers, their nationalities and times
In the presence of over 10,000 people at the Roubaix track, Fischer, the German, wheeled six laps, having secured the first prize, and covered the full journey in the wonderful time of 9 hrs. 17 min.