324
CYCLING
affair of steel, iron, and wood. The rider sat upon a wooden or iron frame, or a long steel spring connecting the wheels, and he propelled and steered the cycle, known as a bone-shaker, by the front wheel. In 1866 also, Pierre Lallemant took out in the United States a patent for a wheel driven by a crank and pedals; this patent was upheld for many years, and later it had much to do with the development, or want of development, of the American cycle industry. A similar patent was granted to E. Gillman in England a few months earlier. Lallemant’s machine was shown by Michaux in the Paris Exhibition of 1867. In the same year the first modern machine with a large wheel in front is said to have been made in England, but the maker’s name is unknown. Crank-action, howrever, had been applied to velocipedes with three or
Fig. 3.—The Boneshaker, 186S. four wheels many years before. In 1868 the bone-shaker was imported into England from Paris by Mr Turner. And in 1869 Michaux is reputed to have produced in France the first bicycle with a big front wheel, the “ordinary.” These two statements seem contradictory, but it would be impossible to prove, or disprove their truth at the present time—that is, to prove whether the bicycle with the large front wheel was first made in England or in France. There is no doubt, however, that the tall bicycle was at first used more generally in England. There was unquestionable delight and pleasure in riding this machine, and very long tours and very fast times on the road and path were made on it. H. L. Cortis covered 20 miles 300 yards in the hour, in 1882. In 1884 Thomas Stevens started from San Francisco to ride round the
Fig. 4.—Ancient Wood Tricycle, 1850-55. world, a feat of most surprising pluck, energy, and endurance, which he accomplished in three years. Endless attempts were made to produce dwarf or safety bicycles which should combine the safety of the tricycle with the speed of the ordinary. Among the most popular were the “ Extraordinary Challenge,” the “ Facile,” the “ Kangaroo,” the “ American Star,” but, though they possessed scarcely greater safety than the ordinary, they were very complicated,
and have all disappeared. Starley’s “Kover,” however, was safe, and was a success from the start. He returned to the form of the “ Draisnene,” but the “ Rover ” was driven by a chain carried on a gear wheel, so that the
Fig. 5.—The “ Phantom,” 1869. rider by one revolution of the pedals propelled his cycle as far as or farther than the rider of the tall ordinary. This chain travelled from a crank axle, fitted between the two wheels, to the hub of the back wheel, and the machine was steered by the front wheel. Save in structural details the safety is the same to-day as in 1885. About 1870, or possibly. before — the exact date is unknown—steel suspension wheels had been substituted for wooden spokes, and solid rubber for iron tyres. But even with rubber tyres (by 1887 to 1888 large cushion tyres had been fitted to the wheels and powerful springs to deaden vibration added to the frame) the progress of the cyclist along the road was anything but pleasant. The vibration on the tall bicycle, produced by the small back wheel, often only from 14 to 18 inches in diameter, though the front wheel had grown from 50 to 60 inches, was most trying, and the jolting on the safeties, with their tiny tyres, was almost equally bad, producing not only nervous exhaustion and fatigue, but, with most people, ultimate
Fig. 6.—Grout’s Tension, 1871. distaste for the pastime. Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson was the first to draw serious attention to the mental and physical danger of vibration. But no satisfactory solution was to be found. The safety not infrequently was totally unmanageable. The frames had no uniformity. They were either made in a series of curves, or with two crossed tubes like an open pair of scissors stayed by wires. The diamond frame, now universal, was faintly suggested by imaginary lines, and the diagonal one was unthought of.
