Black Bicycle Mfg. Co. - 1896 Bicycle Factory

The Black Bicycle Mfg. Co. in 1896, external view

The January 4 1896 issue of Scientific American has illustrations showing scenes from the Black Bicycle Manufacturing Company factory and some description of the manufacturing process in an accompanying article.

THE TRIBUNE BICYCLE

Within the past three years, the American bicycle Industry has grown up to dimensions which fairly entitle it to be considered representative of the country and of the day. Every day sees hundreds of wheels of high and low grade made in the factories of this country for the American and foreign market. Three years ago the English bicycle was considered by many the best wheel, and the possessor of such was apt to consider himself better equipped than his friend who rode one of American manufacture. Now, all is changed. A visitor to England or to the Continent, if a cycling enthusiast, cannot fail to be impressed by the superiority of American wheels as contrasted with the foreign ones, and no wheelman really an fait in his subject would dream of buying his wheel abroad, so superior is the American make. The industry has brought about an enormous development in the manufacture of special tools and of parts of bicycles.


Assembling the Bicycles

Many assumed bicycle manufacturers simply buy these parts and do their own assembling. But for the production of the absolutely high grade American bicycle, a factory is required which will turn out practically all the parts of the wheel manufactured, for unless such is done one concern cannot be answerable for the perfection of the whole machine.

We select as the representative of such a factory the works of the Black Manufacturing Company, of Erie, Pa., a company which produce the highest grade of wheel and which put it on the market purely on its merits without the adventitious advertisement of paid riders. The wheel made by this company, the "Tribune Bicycle," embodies the best possible practice and is correspondingly free from structural variations of unproved merit.


Milling Machine

The tubing, whose walls are of 20 gage thickness, is of American make, the company having found that English tubing could not be obtained of sufficiently even quality. At the junctions of the tubes forged connections are employed. These are received in a solid state and are machined out, drilled and turned, until only a shell of the original material is left. Each connection has projecting nipples which enter the ends of the tubes, and the whole is so accurately made that when the ends of the tubes are placed over the nipples the frame will hold itself together without further fastening. The tubes are of uniform diameter throughout and are simply cut of proper length, so that their natural strength is unaffected. The most striking instance of the preparation of the forged connections is in the crank bracket. This is received as a massive forging weighing 3 pounds 2 1/2 ounces, in general shape a cylinder, with four solid projections. This is put into the finishing machine and finished. It comes out with the solid cylinder drilled out so as to present a large aperture through which the crank shaft is to go. and its ends faced off and finished for the reception of the ball races: The four projecting nipples are drilled out and are also turned down on the outside so as to fit accurately the outside of the tubing. The bracket now weighs 8 ounces; all the rest has been converted into drill chips. One of the typical connections is that used for the head of the rear forks, which forging we specially illustrate, in order to show how solid a construction is given to this vital point.


Rear Fork

The frame has now to he brazed together. The pieces are placed in a massive iron jig or template, adapted to receive them and retain them in position, and which holds horizontally the entire frame. This template is mathematically accurate. While held therein, holes are drilled through the connections and tube ends and pins are driven in, pinning all the parts together. When removed from the jig the frame is perfectly rigid. It now goes to the braziers, who, with the best quality of brass and with large gas blowpipes, braze all the the liquid spelter penetrating all the join even running out around the pins. The frame next goes to the filers, after the borax has been brushed off it, who with file and emery paper, go over all the connections and over the tubing, polishing it all, and removing every excrescence, which, it will be observed, gives the frame an absolute hand finish over all its surface.


Brazing Room

The forks taper toward the end, and to produce this taper cold swedging is employed. The swedging machine carries a heavy head like a lathe head or chuck, which rotates in a horizontal axis, and within which are eight hammers, which by the action of the machine move in and out in radial directions. A piece of cold tubing pushed into the machine and fed up by hand is subjected to a multiplicity of blows and has its diameter rapidly reduced, the workman being able to give it any desired taper. The metal thus tapered is flattened and bent to the proper curve to give one side of the fork.


Cold Swaging Machine
[For someone who doesn't know what "swaging" is - like me - you can read something about it in Wikipedia.]

The cups and cones for the ball bearings are made on automatic turret lathes, the turret carrying in some cases as many as five tools. A bar of tool steel which may be 20 feet long is introduced into the machine and is gradually and automatically fed up to the tools, which shape and cut off from it bearing after bearing, which drop from it every few seconds without any attention from the workman. A liberal supply of oil is kept in constant circulation through the machine, falling upon the cutting tools. The bearings thus finished are purposely left 0 005 of an inch too large. They are then screwed on a mandrel in a special lathe and the final finish is given by hand. They are then tempered by secret process with sperm oil and polished, coming out with a beautiful straw color, equal in finish to any steel tools made. The standard finish of the machine is black enamel and nickel plate. The enamel is put on in four coats, two of India rubber enamel and two polishing coats, the frame being rubbed down with rottenstone between the applications. This gives a finish equal to a piano body. To secure evenness the enamel is applied by dipping in a tank of the compound, after which the parts are hung up and allowed to drip to remove the surplus before baking. All nickel plated parts are first copper plated. This prevents water or moisture from getting under the nickel and rusting the steel and thereby causing a separation of the coating.


[Factory Floor]

The aim of the constructor of this typical American wheel has been to secure simplicity and produce an absolutely standard article. Its criterion is its quality pure and simple. There are, however, some novelties introduced that are especially worthy of illustration. One of these affects the crank and crank shaft mechanism, the crank being secured to the shaft in a new way. V-shaped teeth are formed upon the crank shaft and upon the aperture in the pedal arm. This aperture in the pedal arm is split and provided with a tightening screw. To attach the ciank arm to the shaft, it is thrust over the end of the shaft and the tightening screw is turned up, when it is secured as rigidly as if all were one piece of metal. Those who have struggled with the old-fashioned cotter will realize the advantage of this crank, which is instantly released with two or three turns of a screw.

The handle bar is made adjustable by an arrangement of equal simplicity and efficiency. The socket in the head which receives it is threaded. On the center of the handle bar is brazed a sleeve threaded with the same pitch of screw. The socket is split and provided with a tightening screw. The screw is loosened, the handle bar thrust through the socket and screwed into place. When at the desired angle the screw is tightened and the whole becomes practically one piece of metal. By reversing the handle bars, they can be used in up-tumed or downturned position.

The sprocket wheels ought not to be spoken of as a novelty now. They are cut to the cycloidal or theoretically correct curve, which avoids all friction of the chain against the teeth. This has long been the specialty of the Black Manufacturing Company, but now the system has spread among other companies, and cycloidal sprockets are characteristic of several other first-class wheels.


Cycloidal Sprocket

We also illustrate the system of truing up the wheel. Each wheel is mounted on a gaging frame, and the workman, by setting up and loosening the nipples, brings the rim into an absolutely perfect plane. The steering arrangement of the tandem machine deserves attention. Sprockets are carried by the front and rear steering posts, and these sprockets are connected by chains and rods so as to insure unity of steering action between the front and rear handle bars.


Wheel bearings

What I have done here is bring together the illustrations that were on the cover of the issue and with the article with my hand-corrected version of the OCR'ed text, but some errors likely remain (alas) - if you come across a mistake, let me know in the comments and I'll fix. Thanks!!

Side-by-Side Tandem (1896)

From the January 4, 1896 issue of Scientific American

Full text of the article describing this side-by-side tandem bicycle that goes with the above illustration:

THE PUNNETT COMPANION SIDE SEATED BICYCLE.

The bicycle has now reached a typical construction from which there seems to be slight tendency to deviate. Absolute novelties beyond the details are more and more rare. The companion side seated bicycle which we represent is. however, one of the novelties of the year. The tandem bicycle, which has met with considerable success where the desire is to have company on a ride, is more or less criticised on account of the position of the riders, one of whom must be behind the other. In the bicycle which we illustrate it is proposed to have the two riders seated side by side, as in the old-fashioned "sociable" tricycle, and yet to have the two riders carried by two wheels only. The two cuts are self-explanatory. The long axle of the rear wheal enables the use of two sprockets at its extremities so far apart as to permit of each one being acted upon through a separate pair of sprockets, each actuated by a separate rider. There is a triple head and a duplex frame, the latter carrying two saddles placed side by side at a proper distance apart for two riders to occupy also side by side.

It is said that a difference of 100 pounds weight in the two riders is not noticeable, and that a person who is ignorant of riding can be taken out on this wheel with perfect safety. The system of mounting is peculiar. For the first one who mounts, the wheel is inclined to one side and this rider takes his or her place on the lower saddle. The machine is then pulled back to an upright position and the second rider mounts by the pedal, and so the start is made. The dismount is made in the same way, reversing, of course, the operations. The two saddle posts are connected, it will be observed, by a crossbar. At the center of the crossbar is a special socket. When a single person fa riding the wheel the saddle is transferred to the central position and the rider sitting there drives the machine by one of the right hand and one of the left hand set of pedals. This, of coruse, produces considerable lost motion in the pedal action, but it at least is possible for a single rider to take care of and to drive the wheel to and from the place of appointment with his friend. It is not a wheel depending absolutely on the presence of two riders. The wheel shown in the illustrations is made by the Punnett Cycle Mfg. Co., Rochester, N.Y.

I can't work out if this really could work or not - apparently it did, but it seems difficult to manage, to say the least.

Original article is here

Cycles with Guns (1896)

Two "Army Bicycles" shown at trade show at Madison Square Garden

Article text that accompanied above illustrations is below, from Scientific American, February 8, 1896.

NEW ARMY BICYCLES
The new army tandem and the model 40, mounted with a Colt's automatic machine gun which have been made by the Pope Manufacturing Company, were exhibited at the Madison Square Garden Cycle Show and attracted great attention.

The tandem is one of the Pope Company's regular model 43s taken directly from stock and finished plainly in enamel and nickel. On the front handle bars are tightly strapped two army overcoats, and on the rear bars a pair of blankets. Resting safely in brackets on either side of the machine is a twelve shot repeating rifle, and hanging on each seat post a Colt quick action revolver of the latest pattern. In addition to this there is a case of signal flags extending almost the whole length of the machine, but not interfering with the riders in the least; and this is the case with all the equipments, being as well and safely placed, ready for use in a moment, and yet causing not the slightest interference.

The Colt automatic gun mounted on the model 40 is the one recently adopted by the government for our navy. This gun weighs between thirty-nine and forty pounds, shoots two hundred and fifty or five hundred times—being automatically fed—and is remarkably accurate. It is fastened securely to the head of the machine, can be easily directed at any angle, and does not interfere with the rider or affect the steering of the machine.

These two wheels are as perfectly equipped with the necessary accouterments of war as would seem possible, and the interest which army people and civilians alike have shown in them leads one to believe that it will not be long before the wheel will form a very effective adjunct to regular army service.

For good or bad, cycles as a part of warfare didn't catch on. Original article is here.

Tolstoy's Bicycle Riding - 1896

Tolstoy's bicycle, preserved in a Russian museum

A Cycling Notes entry in Scientific American for April 18, 1896, includes this brief item:

Count Leo Tolstoi, the Russian novelist, now rides the wheel, much to the astonishment of the peasants on his estate.

Apparently Tolstoy took up bicycling at the age of 67. Russia comes up again in a later Cycling Notes entry, for May 9, 1896:

Though Moscow has nearly five thousand wheelmen, only about one-half have permission to ride in the city limits. [?!?!?] Russia asks $12.50 duty on each wheel imported into that country, no matter what the price may be.

Presumably Tolstoy had no problem paying a price that included this fairly high duty.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on Benefits of Cycling, 1896

The usual quote from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Scientific American 1896 is given as:

When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.

But did he have more to say? Yes he did.

The rest of what he had to say:

I have myself ridden the bicycle most during my practice as a physician and during my work in letters. In the morning or the afternoon, before or after work as the mood o'ertakes me, I mount the wheel and am off for a spin of a few miles up or down the road from my country place. I can only speak words of praise for the bicycle, for I believe that its use is commonly beneficial and not at all detrimental to health, except in the matter of beginners who overdo it.

This quote from the physician Conan Doyle was in the spirit of this period to find medical doctors who would endorse the health benefits of cycling, or at least not condemn it. That he was a famous and clever writer was presumably a bonus.


Cycling Notes column in Scientific American issue of January 18, 1896 with full "Dr. Conan Doyle" quote in middle.

Moscow City Authorities Back 150 KM of Bike Paths

Article suggests better riding conditions will be offered to folks like him

Article in Russian describes Russian city authorities plan to improve traffic in Moscow (which is apparently awful) that includes new interest in supporting cycling.

The authors of the program are betting on cycling. "They move through the city with an average speed of 17 kilometers an hour and get around all traffic jams, while the average speed of cars reaches only 25 kilometers per hour and in rush hour doesn't exceed 13 km/hr" - they claim as advantages of bicycles. A driver pays an average of five rubles per kilometer [28 rubles to the dollar] and the government pays roughly the same amount in addition as expenses for supporting the infrastructure, so the authors of the program consider that cycling support would have savings for the citizens directly and for the government. They suggest constructing by 2016 no less than 150 km of bike paths and bike lanes and to create 10,000 bike parking places in Moscow.

(The Russian version: Авторы программы делают ставку и на велосипед. «Он движется по городу со средней скоростью 17 км/ч и объезжает любые пробки, а средняя скорость автомобиля составляет 25 км и в часы пик не превышает 13 км/ч», — рекламируют они преимущества велосипеда. Автомобилисту километр проезда обходится в среднем в 5 руб., еще столько же — расходы государства, например, на инфраструктуру, подсчитали авторы программы, так что передвижение на велосипеде экономит деньги граждан и города. Они предлагают до 2016 г. оборудовать не менее 150 км велодорожек и велополос, построить 10 000 велопарковочных мест.)

Well, the Alaska legislature is working on a bill (says this article) to have grants to encourage cycling, so why not Moscow? "Innovations like studded tires, fenders and trailers to carry groceries and work supplies have made bicycle commuting a viable option even during Alaska's icy winters," it states.

Maxim Gun Equipped Bicycles (1896)

Part of an article about a bicycle show in Washington DC - the article is in the Washington D.C. "Morning Times, March 26, 1896 issue.

Another novelty is the duplex wheel [that is, bicycle - with side-by-side seating], with the Maxim rapid-firing gun mounted upon it. It carries two riders, one to propel the machine and the other to work the gun. It is understood that a proposition has been made to the representatives of the Cuban government to equip a regiment of their soldiers with these machines, it being shown that with proper handling they would prove awful and effective engines of destruction.

Unfortunately no illustration of this bicycle was included and I have had no luck finding one elsewhere. The machine-gun equipped bike didn't seem to prosper as a tool of war.

The Woman Cyclist - 1896 Article

Ad for "bicycle suit" for women cyclists, 1896

Text from an article in the Washington DC Morning Times, June 7, 1896.

THE WOMAN CYCLIST.
She Reigns Supreme This Season. Some Timely Suggestions for Her.

The woman cyclist reigns this season. The number of women who have taken to the wheel shows an increase of 75 percent, and the makers of machines for women can scarcely keep pace with their orders.

In the selection of a machine most women who are making their debut as riders this reason need reliable wholesome advice, and if any points of value are secured from this article its purpose will have been fulfilled.

So far as the costume is concerned, knickers are very largely worn in Europe, especially in Paris, but in America they are the exception more than the rule, and therefore this is addressed to ladies who will ride in skirts.

The question of weight in connection with ladies' machines has recently received more attention at the hands of manufacturers than ever before, and the consequence is reliable machines may now be purchased, fitted with brake, mud guards, dress-guard, and gear-case at just about thirty pounds in weight.

In selecting a machine a lady should see that the handle bars and saddle can be so adjusted as to enable her to sit perfectly upright, for nothing looks much worse than to see a lady adopting what is known as the "scorcher" attitude.

Large makers build machines in more than one size, and exceptionally short and exceptionally tall ladies should have machines built higher and lower respectively in the frames than standard patterns.

The pedals should be rubber, and not all steel, the latter with their sharp points being more liable to catch in the rider's dress, pedals to suit the width of foot, can, of course, be selected.

A really first class-machine by a leading firm will cost nearly $lOO, or perhaps a little more, but, of course, very good machines can be purchased for less than that amount.

There are several little things a tider should be particularly careful about, and one of these is the application of the brake. The brakes fitted are usually those which act on the tire, and should consequently not be too suddenly applied, or they will probably tear the tire.

And finally this ~

A lady will find it very convenient to mount from the curb, and will thus be enabled to properly arrange her dress. Sometimes this method of mounting is impossible. A lady will then do well to allow one of the pedals to ascend to its fullest height and descend the merest trifle, and then, placing one foot on the pedal in question, spring into the saddle, the weight of her body on the pedal necessarily causing the machine to go forward. When well going it will only be necessary to slightly raise herself in the saddle, actually standing on the pedals, and the dress will fall as it should. This will be found to be a perfectly easy accomplishment with a little practice.

Full article as PDF is here.

Cross Country Cycle Road - 1896 Plan

Map for a cross country bicycle route

Taken from Washington DC Morning Times, June 7, 1896. Reflects some wishful thinking on the future of cycling in the days before automobile owners (and their allies) took over the lead in advocating for funding a good network of roads. The article's author advocates a connected network of "good roads" rather than more expensive macadamized (asphalt) dedicated "bicycle tracks" or "bicycle paths" for long distance bicycle travel.

Some quotes ~

To establish a bicycle track from coast to coast so that wheelmen can journey from New York to San Francisco as easily if not as rapidly as they now do by train. Such tours have been undertaken and partlv carried out. One man would wheel from Salt Lake Cit to Buffalo. Another, at some time, would start at Chicago and wheel to the Pacific Coast. But they seldom wanted to take the trip twice. It was too tiresome. Roads were too bad. Too many mountain paths had to be climbed, too many prairies tortured through. But I am looking into the matter so as to do away with all this.

What has hampered us more than anything in this cross country project are the wheeling [cycling] enthusiasts. These gentlemen insist upon bicycle paths and so we get nothing. A macadamized bicycle path costs in a rocky locality $15,000 per mile. Now make this same locality and use tho road that is already in it by merely improving it and the cost will not be $3,000. You can make a mile or very bad road into very good road for that sum. That is what I mean by intelligent wheeling legislation.

"Across the country in eighty days will be the wheelman's attraction a few years hence. Now it looks funny, but that is what Jules Verne's idea or "Round the World In Eighty Days" did to people years ago. Now we can belt the sphere in seventy days."

Full text of article available most readably here.

1896 Map of Washington "Bicycle Tours"

PDF of this newspaper page provides the best image quality and ability to zoom in. Given that this image is from microfilm of the original (that is, several times reformatted from the original paper item) the quality is pretty good. Not great, but good.

From the article below the map ~

There has never been a season when there was half as much travel on the flying wheel as there has been, is, and is going to continue to be this season.

and

Not a night passes but some gay party passes out for a run through the country. All routes are being tried and becoming better known, so that even the inexperienced, with the assistance of a map and a little information from a friend can make pleasant and health-giving trips into the open country.

The article goes on to provide descriptions of different possible excursions.



Above, somewhat more detailed view of the Northern Virginia part of the map; below, zooming in further



Already in 1896 bicycle rentals were available ~

Escape from the heat and air of the city for a few hours a day is possible to every person who cares to learn to ride and can get the small amount necessary to hire a wheel - it is of course better to own one, but no longer absolutely necessary.

Japanese Bicycles, 1896

A Japanese bike from 100 years later than the two articles below

Short article about Japanese bicycle industry in 1896, from the Morning Times of Washington DC, September 13, 1896

JAPANESE BICYCLES.
An American Says They Are Not Being Largely Exported.

D. H. Kenaga of Port Townsend, Wash., has received the following letter from a friend in Yokohama, related to the oft repeated Japanese bicycle rumor:

"I have visited the oldest bicycle factory in Japan, and had an interview with the proprietor. He gave me a printed price list of all the cycles he is now putting out. The retail prices varied from forty five to one hundred and ten Yen. He informed me that his factory is unable to supply the demand iu Japan at these rates. At wholesale he could not offer 10 per cent reduction. There is a factory in Tokio which I have not yet heard from, but owing to the large demand for wheels in this country a large number being imported from America and Europe, I believe that the Japanese are not now exporting, and never have exported cycles to America. The great danger on this side is not from the Japanese alone, but from foreigners who may establish factories for the purpose of flooding foreign markets. In a few years the country will be all opened to foreign enterprise. The Japs [sic] have the will and facilities to compete with foreigners, but they lack in enterprise, originality,
and organization. In due time these drawbacks may be corrected, but it will not be for years to come."

In 1897, the Yen was worth about fifty cents to the U.S. dollar according to a Wikipedia article. So these prices were (in theory) about half the U.S. range for bicycles at the time.

Thus it would seem that at this early period of industrial production in Japan there was a concern in the U.S. that inexpensive Japanese bicycles could or would flood the American market. (Presumably that potential flood is what is meant by "oft repeated Japanese bicycle rumor," above in bold.)

Short piece in the magazine "Cycling Life" for bicycle tradesmen, 1896

JAPANESE BICYCLES.

Yokohama, Japan, Oct. 9.—There are at present four bicycle workshops of note in Japan, two in Tokyo, one in Kyoto and one in this city. All were opened some three or four years since. Kajiuo's workshops in Yokohama and Sasaki's in Asabu, Tokyo, being the pioneers. One other big workshop is that of Morita, in Honjo, Tokyo. The output of each shop does not exceed 130 machines, 17 mechanics being employed in one, and only 10 in another. They are not adepts at the work. At present many different kinds of bicycles, are manufactured in the workshops of Tokyo and elsewhere, the price of the machines varying very much. A pneumatic tire machine of the first-class from the Morita factory costs $58.92, a second machine $49.10, but one of special make costs $73.05 The pneumatic tire being difficult to repair, is not in favor with Japanese riders, who prefer substance to fashion. They like the solid tired bicycle, which costs less to keep in repair The latter sell for a first-class machine at $51.50; second class, $46.64; third class, $39 GS and fourth class at $34.39. The high, thin tired machines, though much more in vogue formerly, are not now so popular. Their price is comparatively low, a first-class machine costing $31.15, a second-class one $27 and a third-class one $22. Both the Tokyo shops are patronized by the post office and one is under the patronage of the metropolitan police. Generally speaking, bicycle riding is not so popular in Tokyo as in Yokohama riders of that city being confined to employees of mercantile and banking corporations, head clerks of large shops and school teachers. In Tokyo the home-made machine and foreign makes are closely balanced in point of numbers. With the increase of riders the patronage accorded to Japanese machines is on the increase.

This author does not seem concerned about imports of Japanese bicycles to the U.S. but rather interested in trade heading the other direction. From time to time Cycling Life would report export figures of bicycles to different countries, including Japan, although by today's standards the figures would generally seem modest, Japan was generally in the top half.

Cycle Path in Qatar

What one usually thinks of when (rarely) thinking of cycling and Qatar - the Tour of Qatar race event

Web announcement (with mocked up photos) of a proposed 35 km bike path in Qatar to promote the health of the local over-wealthy, under-healthy population. Some of it seems unintentionally funny.

. . . problem is the fact that Qatar's climate is intensely hot and humid. The project group therefore came up with the idea of cooling the entire cycle path using cold ground water.

and

The American consultancy firm the Rand Corporation has been leading in advising the Emir on the realisation of his goal of getting Qatar's population to cycle.

Oh, the Rand Corporation, consulting on bike paths! That's . . . absurd, actually. But they are probably quite happy to take the money. And involving consultants like Rand gets you a proposal to make the thing 35 km long when a more reasonable start would be to see if anyone uses a cycle path that was 3 or 5 km long - but the longer the trail, the more it costs, and the more the consulting fees presumably are.

Another blog post refers to it as being "air conditioned" but in fact it just has a mister - like riding in the vegetable department of the grocery store. Sorta.

The Velomondiale announcement has a photo at the bottom of four "trendsetters" - cyclists in Qatar today - but these look like guest workers who can't afford other transport and not the target audience the Emir has in mind. Strange.

Church Leaders & Morality of the Wheel (Bicycle), 1896

Article from the Washington DC Morning Times, August 9, 1896.



The illustration with the article provides the idealized view of the situation - bicycle as means to get to church on Sunday

This full page article looked at "the moral, the physical, and the commercial effects" of the "craze." Firsthand opinions of church leaders were gathered and presented as evidence ~

The clergy men whose views on the moral side of wheeling are given below were selected at random, the only object in view being to secure opinions to secure expressions which would represent the various denominations.

Their opinions are practically in accord, and, as will be seen, form a strong verdict in favor of the bicycle for both men and women, Practically the only point of difference among them is the question of Sunday riding.


REV. GEORGE LUCCOCK, D.D., Metropolitan Presbyterian "As I ride a wheel myself, I naturally approve of the invention, of course it can be used to an immoral end, like everything else. It's greatest abuse, to my mind is using it as a means of desecration of the Sabbath, but this in not the fault of the wheel; it is due to the ungodliness of the riders."

In other words, this minister assumes riding bicycles as a Sunday activity is in competition with church attendance but otherwise fine. He doesn't mention the compensating possibility shown in the illustration of cyclists using their wheels to get to church.

REV. I. J. STAFFORD, of St. Patrick's "I have given the bicycle subject no thought. I, therefore, have nothing to say for the present."

Well, that's clear enough!

REV. THOMAS CHALMERS EASTON, Eastern Presbyterian. "So far as the immodesty of dress is concerned, I believe every gentleman will admit with me that the decollete dress of ladies in the circles of fashion are more suggestive and imprudent than the a la bloomer costume of the wheel."

"I endorse the wheel and regard it as healthful exercise, which can only be made a means to licentiousness where the tendencies are already immoral on the part of its patrons. Unfortunately, I have not a wheel of my own, and no doubt I would be a greater enthusiast for its use if I possessed the 'flying iron steed.'"

A number of the ministers focused on the morality (as they saw it) of women's cycling attire.

REV. W. R. STRICKLEN, pastor Hamline M. E. Church, Ninth and P streets Northwest. "As Washington is the wheelman's paradise, no minister who propose to do his whole duty should be without a bicycle. Mine is as much a facter in my work as my study. By its aid I have gone through a hard season's pastoral work with comfort and delight. I would not part with my faithful companion under any consideration. All hail to the ever increasing army of wheelmen!"

So there you have it - Washington DC, in 1896 a paradise for cyclists!

These are just excerpts from the statements in the full article of ten representatives of different denominations whose opinions were mostly positive - which isn't too surprising since judging by the content of typical articles in the Morning Times at the time it seems to have been trying to attract cycling Washingtonians as readers.

Encouraging Fashionable Cycling Attire (1896)

An article on August 30, 1896 in the Washington DC Morning Times anticipates colder weather with advice on fashionable attire for women riding in the coming winter.


"Winter Bicycle Girl" with her fashionable boots (rather than leggings)

The article starts off in a whimsical tone ~

Bicycle Girl of Winter - She Has Solved the Problem of Wet Weather - Jaunty Cold Day Suit.

The bicycle girl is spinning up the high road of favor and Fortune, on her wheel, leads the way.

When an oracle more dyspeptic than Delphic howled forth the prophecy that the wheel was not the sphere for woman, somebody blundered-but it wasn't the bicycle girl.
She knew she was right, and Dave Crockett himself could not have surpassed her in the art of going ahead.

She is no longer an innovation but a fact, and collectively considered, such a vast and ever-increasing fact that her disapproving sisters, cousins and aunts, who only a little while back flung criticisms at her in the same spirit that boys stone frogs, now find themselves, to their astonishment, figuring as exceptions rather than as a rule. Only a few days ago one of those uncompromising creatures who have a fiendish fancy for adding the world's affairs into figures that nobody can deny, made the announcement that for every woman between fifteen and thirty-five years of age who walk the streets of a city there are two such women who wheel.

At the strictly present time the bicycle girl is spinning all over the country in nondescript skirts that are too long to suit her and too short to satisfy her friends. It is hard work serving two masters, but the fashion-plates are hurrying to the rescue, and the bicycle girl's last trial the uncertainty of what to wear and how to make it will banish with the coming of the fall.

The article continues at length, including an imagined conversation between several young women of the fashion options available, such as the choice between leggings and boots.

Growth of Cycling - 1891-1896

Article in the Washington DC "Morning Times for June 21, 1896, describes the phonomenal growth from less than 1,000 to 30,000 plus in 1896, with a graphical representation of this growth.

There are several places in the city at which the bicyclers meet unconsciously in the great afternoon tours which are usually taken to the north into the lovely suburbs. One or these places is on Capitol Hill, Second street and Pennsylvania avenue southeast. A writer from The Times took the pains the other afternoon to watch the stream or bicyclers as they passed that point, some going down the grade toward the Botanical Gardens, others north toward new Library Building, and all heading for points west and north. He counted the flyers for forty minutes, and found that the average was nine per minute. This, of course, does not mean all day, but in those, at present, delightful hours of the after noon, when the Departments are closed and the prospective tourists have dined well.

and

INCREASE IN SALES. Another measure of the phenomenal increase of sales is had from the records of the dealers. The record of one of these is as follows: In 1892 he sold 12 machines; In 1893, 80; In 1894, 124; In 1895, 200; and 633 so far in the present year. He expects to make a record of 1,500 sold for the whole year 1898. [Well, 1898 was not so good, I expect]

and

The police bicycle squad is doing good work. Although comprised of but three officers and organized less than one month ago, the silent riders have made nearly 100 arrests for reckless riding and other offenses against the bicycle regulations. Scorching- has now become the exception, where heretofore it was the rule. This city, with its smoothly-concreted and splendidly shaded streets and avenues is a paradise for wheelmen and a standing inducement for speedy riding. There are thousands of bicyclists In Washington, and while manly of them are careful and cool headed, there are others who are reckless to a degree bordering on criminality.

Self Defense for the Cyclist (1901 article)

Self-Protection on a Cycle is an article in a 1901 issue of Pearson's Magazine, a British magazine. I found reference to it (albeit a bit obscure) in a Russian web site (where some of the illustrations have been posted).



The article covers the following~

How you may Best Defend Yourself when Attacked by Modern Highwaymen, Showing how you should Act when Menaced by Foot-pads, when Chased by another Cyclist, and when Attacked under various other Circumstances ; Showing, also, how the Cycle may be used as a Weapon.

explaining that

Self-protection awheel is an art full of possibilities. The cyclist who is a skilful rider, who possesses pluck and dash, who has mastered the elementary rules of defence on a bicycle, and who is armed with a knowledge of how to use a machine to the best advantage as a weapon, may rest content that he is able to defend himself perfectly when attacked under the majority of likely conditions.

The article then goes into considerable detail, with photographs of the "tactics," on how to achieve the best defensive results.

The Model Year Conundrum - 1896 and Today

With the new year, one is reminded of the "model year" aspect of bike sales, which isn't (as it turns out) a new thing.

From the September 17, 1896 issue of Cycling Life

DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS STOCK.
Probably the bicycle trade has now outgrown the necessity for a sharp distinction between models of one year and models of the following year. As a stimulant for new business this distinction has played its part, and a considerable part, in creating and holding the public interest in mechanical improvements and in [bicycle] shows.

Perhaps more a plea from the retail sellers' point of view, it would seem, than anything else. Already in September they state that ~

The large surplus of finished and half finished stock which remains on the hands of our manufacturers labeled with the numeral of 1896 brings the question of the best disposal of the same to the forefront and with it the question of price and production for 1897.

My own "good" (carbon fiber with Ultegra components - shown above) bicycle is a "2006 Scattante CFR" (carbon fiber race) that I bought on a "year end clearance sale" in February of 2007 at what seemed like a good price. While there were some (very slight) changes in the design of the 2007 models, I was really more interested in the Ultegra components that were unchanged (since 2005, I believe). I do confess to some level of awareness that my now (apparently) four year old style of road bike is woefully out of keeping with present road bike designs but these days I'm looking more back, at older steel frame designs, than forward.

The Cycling Life writer was vexed by the model year situation ~

To accentuate a new year's model as such, so as to rouse the public's curiosity by loud emphasis on the recent date of its design, was among the adequate means for booming the entire cycle industry in its infancy; it was a resource open to all makers alike and of no more benefit to one than another. . . . . . In order to arrive upon a safe and sound basis for the bicycle industry it seems necessary to surrender all fealty to this idea of a fashion-plate regularity in changes . . . . .

I suspect however that the writer was giving far more credit to the introduction of new models with new features in stimulating demand than was accurate - the bicycle boom of the 1890s was driven by a certain segment of society deciding that they wanted bicycles - and could also afford to buy them. The real problem in 1896-97 was that this market was becoming saturated. Unless the prices dropped considerably many who wanted to own a bicycle, or at least a new one, were probably unable to act on this desire. (The issue of the used bicycle market in those days is a topic for another day.)

As an aside, I am once again amused by the prose style of Cycling Life.

Bicycles Out of Favor in Beijing

Article in the People's Daily describes efforts in Beijing to get people back on bicycles, rather soon after they just got off. Including rental bikes.

Some people gave up commuting by bike because it became too dangerous on roads packed with cars, Zhang Zhuting, a member of the Ministry of Transport's legal consulting committee, said.

Concrete measures are needed to ensure the effective operation of the public bicycling system, and the bike rental industry needs more policy support to survive, he said.

Tsinghua University law professor Yu Lingyun said many European cities, such as Paris and Amsterdam, have long run effective public bike systems.

"They have developed detailed rules and management mechanisms to maintain the system, and their residents obey the rules," Yu said. "Beijing should learn from their experiences."

Somehow to me this seems like a coals-to-Newcastle kind of thing, but I suppose it is different. Anyway, I think the problem in Beijing is economic and not about getting peoiple to obey rules.

Slow Bike as Fast as Fast Bike for Commuting (says MD)

This article in the UK's online Telegraph refers to a medical journal's study that demonstrates that commuting on a cheap steel bike is every bit as fast as commuting on an expensive carbon fiber (or fibre, since he's British) one. The author is a medical doctor, which apparently is considered enough to make up for the many methodological problems with his "study."

As is often the case, the comments are more entertaining than the article itself. Some completely miss the point and a few quibble that the author's "expensive bike" wasn't expensive enough to properly compare to the cheap steel bike.

The best comment includes this:

But the best bike is better, although the difference is marginal. Carbon fibre means the bike is lighter and stiffer and more efficient to ride at any given speed. I would suspect the doctor's heart rate and power output will be slightly higher on his steel bike compared to his carbon bike. If you are very fit and taking part in events at a reasonably accomplished level, spending more on a bike is worthwhile.

I particularly found the article interested since the good doctor's equipment (two bikes being compared) is similar to mine - a steel bike around 30 pounds and a carbon fiber around 20 pounds. (One difference is that I spent about the same amount on each, where he spent very little on his steel bike that he bought used and also less than I spent on either on his expensive carbon "fibre" bike - he's more fiscally sensible than I am, I guess.) And the commuting distance, around 40-45 minutes in good weather - is also similar.

My impression is that the increase in the average speed when riding the lighter bike (and using messenger bag rather than panniers) may not even be two miles per hour - say, from 15 to 16 mph average (for the whole ride, including sitting at lights and various slowing down for this and that). But the enjoyment of riding a faster bike and being able to accelerate much faster if I want to is more than enough that I choose to ride carbon fiber whenever that bike fits with the weather.

The suggestion that the cyclist losing weight is simpler and cheaper than paying big bucks to buy a lighter bike is something one sees in print often enough, but it doesn't work for me. By the same logic, I can argue that a particular tool (say a wrench)is just as good as a more expensive one that applies more force if the purchaser went to gym and worked out more and was stronger. Besides, if most people could lose five pounds or ten that easily, presumably they would.

Russian Blogger Explains Cycling in Paris

"Live Streets" blog entry about the cycling infrastructure in Paris (in Russian). Google's language tool does an acceptable job of providing a English translation.



Of course, it isn't perfect - a fair number of words related to cycling that the author uses don't appear in any dictionary so they are simply transliterated versions of the Russian Cyrillic ones. Most of these are understandable this way, however - the blog entry title is "Sketch of veloinfrastrukture Paris" - "veloinfrastruktura" would be "cycling infrastructure," a single word coined most likely recently in Russian. Or the word "sitibayki" - that is, "city bikes," a case (another case) where an English word/phrase has been incorporated into Russian wholesale.

This is a good, comprehensive overview of what Paris does to support cycling as an alternative means of transportation. Much of what is described is available in some (a few?) American cities, but I don't think any do all these things.