Cycling-History-Book-0817.Pdf

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

Contents

Page

Foreword – The Magical History of Cycling 4

How It All Began 5

Pedestrian Hobby-Horse 8

Lady’s Pedestrian Hobby-Horse 9

Macmillan’s Lever-Driven Bicycle 10

Sawyer’s Velocipede 11

Michaux Velocipede 12

Coventry Rotary Tricycle 13

Singer Tricycle 14

“Salvo” Tricycle 15

Lawson’s “Bicyclette” 16

Sociable Tricycle 17

Post Office Centre Cycles 18

“Invincible” Bicycle 19

Rucker Tandem Bicycle 20

“Rover” Safety Cycle 21

“Invincible” Tandem Tricycle 22

Olympia Tandem Tricycle 23

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

The First Pneumatic-Tyred Bicycle 24

A Notable Tricyclist – F.T. Bidlake 25

Simpson Lever Chain 26

Companion Safety Bicycle 27

Bicycle of the Late ‘90s 28

Tandem of the ‘90s 29

Pacing Triplet 30

Novel Tandem of the ‘90s 31

Lady Cyclist, 1896 32

Dursley Pedersen Cantilever Bicycle 33

Lady Cyclist Wearing Divided Skirt 34

Lady Cyclist, 1939 35

Lady’s Bicycle (3 Speed Gear and Dynamo Lighting) 36

Italian Velocino Bicycle 37

Touring Tandem 38

Racing Tandem 39

Racing Tricycle 40

Path Racing Bicycle 41

Light Roadster Bicycle 42

Horizontal Bicycle 43

Road Time Trial Bicycle 44

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

American Bicycle 45

Saddles 46

Family Tandem with Side-Car 47

Cyclists and the Y.H.A. 48

International Cycle Touring 49

Six-Day Racing 50

Massed-Start Racing Position 51

Track Tandem Position 52

Touring Position 53

Road Time Trial Position 54

Track Racing Position 55

Road Records: S.H. Ferris 56

Bicycle Polo 57

Conclusion 58

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Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

Foreword

The Magical History of Cycling

Like it or loath it, history shapes us, shows and teaches us constantly. After all, everything we have and everything we see today has almost always been done before, albeit in a different way and day and age.

Looking back we can see the origins of most of the things we take for granted today.

Primitive, clumsy, unattractive and not terribly functional to our modern eye, they might have been, but the idea, the beginning was there.

2000 years old Roman villa central heating; Stevenson’s Rocket; wood, canvas and string aircraft; the first motor cars; and 1,001 other early ideas that shaped the lives we have today.

There is a beauty in all ancient things, particularly those things in recent history that have evolved and are in everyday use today in the 21st century.

One of the greatest inventions that has influenced the lives of both young and old worldwide is the bicycle, which remains the prime mode of transport for countless millions of people and which will undoubtedly continue to do so ad infinitum.

In these pages you can wonder and marvel at the invention of the bicycle and see at first hand its early and subsequent development.

Taken from early cigarette card artwork and drawings in the early 20th century, you have here a fascinating record of the birth and development of the cycle.

Enjoy!

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

How It All Began!

The Celerifere

The first known attempt at two-wheeled personal transport is believed to have originated in France around 1790. Named a Celerifere it was little more than a wooden scooter with a saddle. There is no record of any real success or popularity with this machine.

The Hobby Horse

Although it could hardly be called a bicycle, the second recorded attempt at travel on two wheels was an invention by a gentleman by the name of Baron Von Drais in 1817. The machine consisted of two wood same-sized wheels mounted on a wooden frame.

Sitting on a saddle between the two wheels, the rider propelled himself along by pushing the ground with his feet. There were no pedals, or brakes, although the front wheel could be steered.

Known as the Draisienne it was nick-named the Hobby Horse and needless to say the contraption had very limited use and a short life, but it was the beginning of things to come!

The Macmillan Pedal Bicycle

It’s believed by some researchers of early cycling that the first true bicycle using pedals to propel it was an invention by a Scottish blacksmith named Kirkpatrick Macmillan in 1839.

Kicking the ground with your feet to propel yourself along seemed ungainly and laborious to Macmillan and he set about creating a two-wheeled vehicle that could be ridden using pedals to drive the front wheel, which made riding more effective, faster, comfortable, and capable of longer journeys.

Indeed it is recorded that Kirkpatrick rode his machine 68 miles to visit relatives. This created considerable publicity for his invention, but at what discomfort to his backside is not recorded considering the wooden wheels had iron rims ... ouch!

Macmillan’s invention was soon copied and sold, but he made little money from his ideas.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

The Velocipede

The next big step in the world of cycling came around 1865 when a father and son team of carriage-makers in Paris, Pierre and Ernest Michaux, turned their attention to building a cycle (the Velocipede) that was driven via cranks and pedals connected to the front wheel.

However an employee took the development details with him to America and filed for the first bicycle patent with the U.S. Patent Office in 1866.

The Velocipede (“fast foot”) earned the nick-name “Boneshaker” due to its very rough ride caused by the iron frame and iron-clad wooden wheels. You must have been keen to buy a bike in those days!! Surprisingly, however, the first bicycle riding rinks for fun and exercise began to appear.

The Penny Farthings

During this time bicycles continued to evolve and change quite rapidly – the genie had been let out of the bottle, as they say – and cycling continued to grow and grow as the “everyman” mode of transport.

Since pedals were attached to the front wheels, the only way to increase speed was to increase the size of the wheel. Inevitably this led to the ridiculous situation of what became known as the Penny Farthing bicycles, with a huge front wheel and a tiny rear wheel.

Difficult to mount and dismount, they were precarious to ride and certainly not suitable for ladies of that time with their long voluminous dresses and skirts. It was obvious that changes to bicycle design were urgently required and so designers got to work to produce a more practical and safe bicycle.

Among the many new designs was a kind of Penny Farthing in reverse bicycle. The big wheel became the rear wheel and the small wheel the front wheel. But although this was an improvement over the original Penny Farthing design, it was doomed to failure.

High Wheel Tricycles

These three-wheeled machines were designed with two large wheels at the rear and a single smaller wheel at the front.

These tricycles were better suited for ladies and the more dignified members of society. Many of the design concepts used on these tricycles went on (modified, of course) to be used in the burgeoning car industry.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

The Modern Age Bicycle Arrives

1885 was the year that saw the emergence of what can be truly called the modern bicycle, that is to say a machine that was of all metal construction and used technology which was the forerunner of what we still use today; technology which included a drive chain, a gear which enabled smaller size wheels to be used, and which greatly improved stability, control, safety and all-round performance.

Five years later, the early 1890s, and bicycle production really began to explode with factories producing cycles with a double-diamond frame which has not changed hugely to this day.

Things were moving forward fast in bicycle development at this time as more and more entrepreneurs saw the huge commercial and financial benefits that cycling could bring them.

However, riding comfort was still a big issue as solid rubber tyres were still in use, but “cometh the hour, cometh the man” as the saying goes, and a young inventive Scottish veterinarian seeking to make cycling more comfortable for his son, invented the pneumatic tyre.

This single invention revolutionised bicycles and cycling like nothing else, and indeed John Boyd Dunlop’s invention was to have massive implications for travel comfort and safety to this day.

Along with suspension systems, long wheel spokes, bicycle frame designs for women, faster production systems and lower purchasing prices that put cycling within reach of ordinary folk, the bicycle revolution had finally arrived.

Soon cycling clubs sprang up, as did cycle racing of all sorts including the legendary Tour de France in 1903. Cycling was here to stay for countless millions.

The advent of the bicycle can never be under-estimated and its use and impact is still as huge now in the 21st century; and no doubt will continue to be so. The invention of the bicycle must rank with anything else invented since, in its impact and benefits to human- kind.

From two wooden wheels, a plank of wood and a saddle, “the rest is history”, as they say.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

1. Pedestrian Hobby-Horse

The Hobby-horse, a pedal-less “bicycle”, was first seen in Paris in 1816. The rider, curiously enough, was M. Niepce who became famous as “The Father of Photography”.

The Hobby-horse was propelled by the rider, who sat astride and pushed alternate feet on the ground. It became the rage in France and in this country for a short period, and although 50 years were to elapse before the world was ready to take up cycling, it was undoubtedly the forerunner of the bicycle as we know it today.

An improved model with arm-rests, the “Draisienne”, invented by Baron von Drais in 1818, was imported into England by Denis Johnson of Long Acre.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

2. Lady’s Pedestrian Hobby-Horse

In 1881, Denis Johnson, Coach-maker, of Long Acre, London, introduced the Hobby-horse into England (see no.1). A year later a modified version of this contrivance for the use of ladies was introduced, probably by Johnson, who exhibited it at his riding school.

The machine, which weighed about 66 lb, had a wooden dropped frame somewhat resembling that of the lady’s bicycle of today. The saddle was supported on an iron pillar fixed to the lower part of the frame.

There is very little evidence that the ladies of the early 19th century indulged in the pastime, although Johnson’s advertisements assured them that it could be enjoyed without loss of decorum.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

3. Macmillan’s Lever-Driven Bicycle

Continuous cycling history dates from 1865 and credit for the invention of the pedal-driven bicycle is claimed for Michaux, a Frenchman (see no.5). But the first maker of a bicycle with drive-mechanism was a Scotsman, Kirkpatrick Macmillan. The centenary of his invention is being celebrated in 1939.

Macmillan’s bicycle of 1839 was more advanced than Michaux’s for the drive was on to the rear wheel, thus anticipating the developments of 40 years later. The Macmillan bicycle, however, was lever-driven.

Macmillan was the first cyclist to be convicted for a road offence when, in 1842, he knocked down a child.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

4. Sawyer’s Velocipede

“Mechanical projection of the travelling chaise without horses” was the description applied to the first vehicle that was “cycled”.

This was invented by a Reigate schoolmaster about 1760 and the type became known as the Manumotive Carriage, a four-wheeled contraption which was developed in a variety of forms.

This picture shows one of them – Sawyer’s Velocipede of 1850. The front wheels were driven by a cranked axle whilst the steering mechanism was coupled to the rear wheels.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

5. Michaux Velocipede

Whether Pierre Michaux or his son Ernest (whose portrait is shown) or a workman in their employ named Lallement, was the first to think of fitting cranks and pedals to the front wheel of the Hobby-horse has never been thoroughly established. This we do know, however, that the cycling era dates from the Michaux-made, pedal-driven Velocipede of 1865.

At the Paris Exhibition of 1867, Michaux Velocipedes were shown and examples were purchased by Rowley B Turner, who persuaded his firm, the Coventry Sewing Machine Co., to make these “Boneshakers” for the French market. Owing to the Franco-German War, however, a market in England had to be developed for the machines.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

6. Coventry Rotary Tricycle

An interesting development of the tricycle, before the more usual modern design was evolved, was the Coventry Tricycle. This was first made with a lever drive; then, when the chain mechanism was added, it became known as the Coventry Rotary Tricycle.

It was patented in 1876 by James Starley, whose nephew, J.K. Starley, introduced the rear-driven “Safety” nine years later (see no.14).

The Coventry Rotary Tricycle was a two-track machine, the big wheel on the left being the driver. The two small wheels were steered by the handle which the rider held in his right hand.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

7. Singer Tricycle

The grand old Ordinary was, by its very design, an instrument for the use of long-legged men only. For diminutive and older folk and ladies who wished to cycle, the tricycle came into vogue.

So popular became the three-wheeler that clubs exclusively for tricyclists were formed in the late 70s and early ‘80s, and the almost endless variety of tricycle designs included both the weird and the wonderful.

The one we picture, known as the Singer Tricycle of 1879, had a big lever- driven rear wheel and two small steering wheels in front. It was possible to collapse the two front wheels close together to permit the machine to be wheeled through narrow gates or passages.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

8. “Salvo” Tricycle

This picture shows James Starley, “the Father of the Cycle Industry”, riding the “Salvo” Quadricycle (later made as a three-wheeler) which he designed to incorporate his invention of the differential gear in 1877.

By its means the drive is transmitted to the two side wheels by an ingenious mechanism that allows the outer wheel when cornering to overrun the inner wheel, yet whatever the varying speeds of the two wheels the drive to both is continuous. The Starley differential-gear principle is used today in every motorcar. Queen Victoria bought two “Salvo” tricycles in 1881.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

9. Lawson’s “Bicyclette”

An important milestone in the development of the modern chain-driven bicycle was the “Bicyclette”, patented by H.J. Lawson in 1879.

It was virtually an Ordinary (high bicycle), with the two wheels joined by a straight instead of a curved “back bone”, leaving room between the two wheels for the chain drive mechanism. Lawson was, therefore, the true inventor of the first rear-wheel chain-drive bicycle.

Lawson was also the first to register the word “Safety” to distinguish the dwarf machine from the high Ordinary.

He named his chain-driven machine the “Bicyclette” for the same reason.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

10. Sociable Tricycle

In the early ‘80s the tricycle was being developed in so many types that the cycle trade was embarrassed by its own ingenuity. Two-seaters became the vogue, and a novel pattern was the “Sociable” on which the riders sat side by side, but they were slow, heavy and awkward, and had only a short period of popularity.

This picture shows the “Salvo” Sociable of 1882. The riders are Mr and Mrs W.D. Welford, famous in the history of photography as well as cycling. W.D. Welford was the first paid secretary of the Cyclists Touring Club (1879-1881) and Mrs Welford – still hale and hearty in 1939 at the age of 85! – was the first woman member of the C.T.C.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

11. Post Office Centre-Cycles

A number of Centre-Cycles (five-wheeler carrier machines) were used by the Post Office in the Horsham area in 1883, about the time of the introduction of the parcel post.

Above the small wheels of the Centre-Cycle were brackets supporting large baskets for carrying correspondence and parcels.

Because of the arrangement of its four small wheels clustered round the centre big wheel, it was familiarly known as the “Hen and Chickens”.

These Centre-Cycles were not generally successful and their use was soon discontinued.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

12. “Invincible” Bicycle

The development of the Ordinary from the Boneshaker was to increase the size of the front (driven) wheel, while instead of a wooden frame and wheels with iron tyres, the Ordinary became a graceful and slender instrument of steel, the wheels being shod with narrow solid rubber tyres.

The “gear” of an Ordinary was the diameter of the front wheel in inches. The gear of a modern bicycle is similarly quoted by stating the diameter in inches that a big wheel would have if its circumference equalled the distance travelled in one complete turn of the pedals.

We show the 59 inch “Invincible” ridden by H.L. Cortis in 1882.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

13. Rucker Tandem Bicycle

The earliest effort at tandem bicycle construction was made by M.D. Rucker about 1884. It consisted of two Ordinary driving wheels with the back-bone of the front wheel joined to the steering head of the rear wheel.

As is apparent from the design, it was unsatisfactory and called for an acrobatic degree of skill to balance the machine. Only a few were made, but it lingered longer as a type in America and Germany than in this country.

M.D. Rucker is shown in the picture of the “Invincible” Ordinary (see no.12) pushing off H.L. Cortis, the first cyclist to cover more than 20 miles in the hour.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

14. “Rover” Safety Cycle

Prior to 1885 the name “Bicycle” meant the current machine, the old high bicycle.

When the “Safety” was first developed, the bicycle was still the big-wheeled instrument, and its army of devotees looked down upon the few Safety pioneers, calling them such names as “Crocodiles”, “Beetles”, etc.

Thus, until the Safety finally ousted the high machine during the early ‘90s, the latter was referred to as the ordinary bicycle to distinguish it from the new Safety.

Today the adjective “ordinary” has become the name for the old graceful high wheel.

In 1885 the “Rover” Safety Bicycle with rear chain drive and direct steering established the design of the Bicycle very much as we know it today.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

15. “Invincible” Tandem Tricycle

The “Invincible” tandem tricycle was a rear-steering mount with chain drive on to the two front wheels. The rear “fork” was a single blade positioning the wheel spindle at one side only.

We show Mr J.S. Smith with his wife; the former was proprietor of the Surrey Machinist Co., makers of the “Invincible” series of bicycles and tricycles.

Mr and Mrs Smith were a famous tandem pair; Mrs Smith is the only lady in the world to hold a medal for track records. In 1887 she and her husband beat the world’s amateur records from 21 to 25 miles on this tandem tricycle.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

16. Olympia Tandem Tricycle

This 50 year old design of a three-wheel two-seater is considered by many knowledgeable cyclists who remember the type to be one of the most successful tandem tricycles ever built. Indeed, consider that a modern version of this compact short-wheelbase machine would be a speedier instrument than the orthodox design of today. It is interesting to note that the rear sprocket is outside the fork ends.

The riders in the picture are famous men; S.T. Edge still alive and still a cyclist, is on the back seat and J.E.L. Bates is in front. In 1890 these two rode this machine a distance of 100 miles in 5 ½ hours.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

17. The First Pneumatic-Tyred Bicycle

Cycles, motor-vehicles and aeroplanes could not have attained their present state of efficiency without the air-filled tyre, possibly “the greatest development in transport since the invention of the wheel”.

The compressed-air tyre was first invented in 1845 by a Scotsman, R.W. Thomson, but he was before his time.

Without knowledge of Thomson’s patent, J.B. Dunlop, another Scotsman living in Belfast, re-discovered the principle in 1888, and applied it to a tricycle and then to a bicycle ridden by his son Johnnie who appears (with the bicycle) in this historic photograph.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

18. A Notable Tricyclist – F. T. Bidlake

The “Father of Cycling Road Sport”, F.T. Bidlake died in 1933 at the age of 65. “Biddy”, as he was familiarly called, broke more than 100 records in his youth, and to this day his 24 hours tricycle track record of 410 miles 1,110 yards (established in 1893) remains unbeaten. At one time he held the 50 miles, 100 miles, 12 hours and 24 hours tricycle records on both road and track.

F.T. Bidlake founded the Road Racing Council (now the Road Time Trials Council). He also served on the Road Records Association almost from its inception in 1888, and was its President from 1924 until his death. His memorial is on the Great North Road at Girtford Bridge.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

19. Simpson Lever Chain

The “Simpson chain versus the plain chain” matches at the old Catford track in 1896 caused a tremendous sensation.

The inventor of the Simpson chain claimed that by a leverage principle in the links the rider’s thrust on the pedals was more effectively transmitted into driving the rear wheel. He challenged the plain chain interests to a test and thousands of pounds were spent on the pacing arrangements.

The results proved nothing, for although two of the three Simpson chain riders won, the truth ultimately had to be acknowledged that energy cannot be created by mechanical means.

The picture shows the Simpson chain rider, J. Michael, who retired in his event.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

20. Companion Safety Bicycle

This Companion Safety of 1896 was no more than a novelty designed as a single track instrument but on the lines of the Sociable tricycles of the early ‘80s. It was never a practical touring mount like the tandem, which had then developed into a fast and useful bicycle for two.

But the middle ‘90s produced a host of freak machines, including a somewhat similar sociable bicycle but with one pair of handlebars only. One rider carried a sporting gun, which he rested across the steersman’s shoulders, presumably for the purpose of indulging in a little sharp shooting as both pedalled along!

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

21. Bicycle of the Late ‘90s

This picture shows a bicycle of 40 years ago. It may be noted how in just over 10 years after the Rover rear-driven safety of 1885 had “set the fashion to the world”, bicycle design had developed until we see the standardized construction generally as we know it today. The frame was bigger than that of the modern lightweight and, in consequence, the long head was a typical feature.

Although the freewheel was applied to the bicycle in practical form in the ‘90s, this machine presumably had a fixed wheel; when coasting down-hill the rider put his feet on the foot-rests fixed to the fork blades. Note the unusual feature that the drive of this machine is on the left side!

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

22. Tandem of the ‘90s

The design of the two-seater bicycle of this period was very much on the lines of the modern tandem. Some interesting features may be noted, however. It had one brake only of the “spoon” type which pressed on the tyre.

This machine was fitted with Simpson Lever Chain (see no.19), the transmission being through five chain wheels and a rear sprocket, and there were three lengths of chain! To allow for the extra bottom bracket, the wheelbase of this tandem was very long and it suffered from “drag” on hills.

The steersman in the picture is A. Pellant, who in 1888 rode a solid-tyred Ordinary bicycle 50 miles on the road in a little over 3 hours.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

23. Pacing Triplet

Paced racing and record riding reached their zenith in the middle ‘90s.

Following police interference, however, massed-start racing and paced riding have not been permitted on the road since about 1895, while on the track the tightening-up of the amateur rules brought to an end the spectacular displays of trade-assisted pacing teams on triplets, quads, quints and even more than five-seaters, that were a feature of path sport up to 40 years ago.

Today there are motor-cycle paced races and record rides on the track, and the 50-mile track championship of England is a tandem-paced race.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

24. Novel Tandem of the ‘90s

This Coventry Humber tandem of unusual design had a very short vogue in the middle’ 90s. It is interesting because it is built somewhat on the lines of the Olympia Tandem Tricycle (see no.16), and it is one of the last of the “mixed” two-seaters before the ladies were asked to take the back seat. Although up to this time the lady was always seated in front, the man behind did the steering!

The Coventry Humber tandem was a difficult machine to handle and was extremely hard to “swing” into anything like a pace.

Our picture shows Mr and Mrs E.J. Steel. In 1938 at the age of 64, Mr E.J. Steel rode a bicycle 100 miles on the road in 5 hours 21 minutes 39 seconds.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

25. Lady Cyclist, 1896

This charming and wasp-waisted lady wheeler of 40 years ago was a member of the aristocracy. The Society boom in bicycling started in 1895 – this was before the motoring era – when, among others, the Countess of Warwick and Lady Norreys, two famous beauties of that time, took to cycling.

The cycle trade could not cope with the rush of orders, and whereas, a few years before, only one in every fifty bicycles was of the feminine variety, by 1896 every third machine ordered was of the open-frame type for the lady rider.

Note the spoon brake which, when engaged, pressed down on the tyre tread.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

26. Dursley Pedersen Cantilever Bicycle

This ingeniously designed bicycle was patented by M. Pedersen, a Dane, in 1893 and made at Dursley, Gloucestershire.

Although not clear in the picture, the tubes were all in duplicate converging to a point at their upper ends. The triangulation of the frame was such that every tube was subject to compression stress only, and in consequence the tubes needed to be of narrow section only, which resulted in a much lighter construction than the contemporary standard frame.

Pedersen also patented a 3-speed hub gear in 1902, and one is built into the machine illustrated.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

27. Lady Cyclist Wearing Divided Skirt

Many women took to bicycling in the middle ‘90s, and the idea of a rational dress for the new pastime came under discussion, but only a few of the more advanced lady wheelers dared criticism by venturing forth in “bloomers”.

In 1898, a well-known pioneer cyclist who furthered the cause of woman’s emancipation was refused admission to the coffee room at the Hautboy Hotel, Ockham, because of her rational attire, and was directed to the bar parlour. The Cyclists’ Touring Club, on her behalf, challenged the hotel proprietor’s right to refuse admission to a part of a licensed establishment .

The picture shows a Parisian divided skirt of that time.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

28. Lady Cyclist, 1939

This modern girl cyclist is a picture of health and fitness and contrasts favourably with the narrow-waisted, over-clothed female riders of 40 years ago. The cycling girl has been one of the greatest influences in gaining freedom for women to act and travel independently, a right that was denied her grandmother.

In the background is Ferniehirst Castle Youth Hostel, near Jedburgh, in Scotland. It is a fine relic of a Border stronghold and a “show” Hostel of Scotland. Ferniehirst Castle is one of the chain of Youth Hostels linking Edinburgh to Newcastle.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

29. Lady’s Bicycle (3 Speed Gear and Dynamo Lighting)

Easily the most popular type of bicycle with the modern young lady is the sports tourist machine. It is used in cycling clubs, for riding to and from work, and by the touring enthusiast.

A variable gear is usually fitted as standard equipment, and often, as is shown in the illustration, dynamo lighting is included in the specification together with light celluloid or steel mudguards. The roomy saddle bag carries tools, wet weather wear, etc. The down tubes are scientifically splayed to ensure the greatest rigidity for this open frame design. Rubber pedals are popular on this type of bicycle.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

30. Italian Velocino Bicycle

The Velocino is an Italian novelty introduced about five years ago. The inventors claim that it is safer, more comfortable, and more easily carried and stored than the orthodox machine. It is comparatively easy for the rider to “step out of” this type of bicycle in an emergency or to minimize the danger in a collision by protecting himself with his hands.

It did not gain any popularity in this country, although it proved to be satisfactory as a town-riding machine and for short distances. Because the rider has to sit upright, it is hard to propel against a head wind and it is sluggish on hills.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

31. Touring Tandem

Sturdily built, with larger-section tyres to smooth out road inequalities, the average touring tandem is nevertheless a lively machine.

Normally equipped with a variable gear and light celluloid or steel mudguards, prices range from £12 to £18. Thicker spokes are generally used in tandem wheels, otherwise the component parts of a tandem are much the same as those of a single bicycle.

Nowadays both sexes use the type of tandem shown in the illustration, the girl rider wearing divided skirt, plus fours or tailored shorts. The luggage for a fortnight’s tour can quite easily be accommodated in a bag suspended from the rear saddle or strapped to a specially constructed carrier.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

32. Racing Tandem

Two British cyclists, E.V. Mills and W.G. Paul, riding a racing tandem in 1937, set up a world’s record unpaced on the steeply-banked track at Milan, Italy, by covering more than 31 miles in the hour.

Note how the tandem we illustrate, built solely for speed, has a short wheelbase achieved by curving the rear seat tube. It is built of aircraft specification “531” steel tubing, as are many modern racing bicycles. The wheels are the usual 27 in. racing diameter, built with wood rims, and the fine silk and rubber tubular tyres are fixed with shellac to the rims and also taped on.

The weight of the machine pictured is only 38 lb.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

33. Racing Tricycle

This type of tricycle, costing about £20 and weighing approximately 32 lb., has been ridden around Herne Hill Track, London, at a speed of 30 mph. In a road record a Scotsman, A. Watson, has covered 50 miles in 2 hrs, 0 mins, 40 secs.

Used by comparatively few enthusiasts, the tricycle is a most fascinating instrument to ride. The differential in the back axle, first invented for tricycles, is built into every modern motorcar.

Some cheaper tricycles have no differential, the drive being direct to the nearside wheel, the offside wheel running free. When travelling in a straight line or round a corner, the differential tricycle has an advantage in that both rear wheels take the drive.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

34. Path Racing Bicycle

Used exclusively for high-speed racing on concrete, asphalt or grass tracks, this type of bicycle weighs about 18 lb. and costs approximately £14. The path machine is a stripped job and track racing rules do not permit brakes to be used.

The frame is of upright design, allowing the rider to sit more forward over the pedals, so that he can “jump” into a sprint by thrusting and “clawing” at the pedals. A sprinter may jump from a pace of 15 mph to 40 mph within 100 yards.

Lightness is essential in these racing mounts, and to this end they are precision built by hand of aeroplane steel with aluminium alloy fittings, wood rims and fine silk and rubber tubular tyres.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

35. Light Roadster Bicycle

This is a light general-purpose bicycle, admirably suitable for the young and middle-aged for riding to work, to the allotment or to school.

Fitted with sturdy tyres, a variable gear (in the illustration a 3 speed hub gear is shown), dynamo lighting and a sensible touring bag, the Light Roadster Bicycle is probably the most popular type of machine used in this country today.

The prices range from about £5 to the super all-weather models costing up to £10.

Built with 26 in. wheels and a low bottom bracket, this type is particularly suitable for town cycling as the rider can easily place one foot on the ground in traffic without having to dismount.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

36. Horizontal Bicycle

Introduced into this country from the Continent in 1933, the Velocar, or Horizontal Bicycle, did not attract very much attention, and British firms who experimented with them now build a few models to special orders only.

The advantage of the recumbent position is that the back muscles aid the legs in propelling the machine. Greater speeds are, therefore, possible with the Velocar, but the rider tires more quickly It is, therefore, not a suitable touring mount, especially as the rider, because of low position, gets more of the dust from the road.

When the world’s Velocar track records were first established in 1933 they were faster than the normal bicycle figures throughout almost the whole series.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

37. Road Time Trial Bicycle

The genuine “speed iron” is a revelation in ease and liveliness compared with the normal utility mount.

The road rider usually has his machine “made to measure” and, in addition to specifying the lightest aeroplane steel for the frame, aluminium alloy fittings, wood or alloy rims and light silk and rubber tubular tyres, some speedmen have been known to saw nuts to half thickness and riddle the seat pillar with holes in the quest for ultra lightness.

While lower-priced road machines may weigh up to 25 lb., the hand-made thoroughbreds scale 20 lb. or under.

Road time trial bicycles are usually equipped with a variable gear, either derailleur (as in the illustration) or of the hub type.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

38. American Bicycle

America has the largest motoring population of any country in the world, and cycling in towns and on the highways as we know it in Britain is virtually non- existent.

Hollywood has taken to the bicycle as a “stunt”; cycling in parks and specially reserved places is becoming popular again for health reasons, but the majority of American bicycles are still sold to boys bred in the belief that travel means going by car, hence the “motorbike” bicycle we illustrate, a typical product of Uncle Sam’s cycle factories.

On it the rider never “goes places”, but enjoys only the pretence of being a “speed-cop”.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

39. Saddles

The importance of saddle comfort on a bicycle needs no emphasis. The illustrations show two popular types, one of leather and the other known as the mattress-top saddle.

Leather is generally preferred by the racing club riding and long-distance touring cyclist, whereas the majority of utility mounts are fitted with the springier seat.

The advantages of the mattress saddle are ready-made comfort and easy tension adjustments. Leather is long wearing, moulds to the rider’s body but, most advantageous of all, it “breathes” and does not, in consequence, overheat when ridden for long periods.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

40. Family Tandem With Side-Car

Thousands of cycling mothers and fathers became acquainted and enjoyed their courtship on “a bicycle made for two”. And they do not forgo the pleasures of cycling after marriage.

When the little one comes along, the happy couple wait only the passing of the baby-in-arms period before the addition of a side-car to the tandem makes possible healthy and enjoyable week-ending and holiday touring for the family trio.

Many tandem side-car clubs have been formed and family rallies are held.

Houghton Mill Youth Hostel in Huntingdonshire forms the background to this cycling scene.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

41. Cyclists and the Y.H.A.

Cyclists and walkers of both sexes may join the Youth Hostels Assocation (England and Wales) for 2/6d a year under the age of 25, or 5/- for those 25 and over. The same subscriptions apply to the Scottish Y.H.A., but the age limit for 2/6d is 20.

There are nearly 300 hostels in England and Wales and over 50 in Scotland where members can stay for 1/- a night, cooking facilities being provided for those carrying their own food. The wardens of many hostels also supply cooked meals, average prices being 1/- per meal.

We show Hartington Hall Hostel, Dovedale, in the Peak District.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

42. International Cycle Touring

More and more cyclists are touring abroad each year. A cycling holiday in a foreign land amidst strange scenes, peoples and customs, is a fascinating experience and costs little more than a tour at home; in some countries, indeed, the rate of exchange is favourable.

In 1938 the Cyclists’ Touring Club supplied 1,139,000 miles of routes to members touring abroad and issued 5,686 Triptyques, or customs tickets, to facilitate the passage of bicycles from one country to another without customs deposit.

The picture shows a frontier post between Yugoslavia and Germany.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

43. Six-Day Racing

Six-day racing, in which the star professional riders of the world may be seen in action, is a most spectacular indoor sport.

The small-lap steeply-banked wooden bowl under the glare of the arcs, provides an intimacy between riders and spectators that quickly turns the amazed onlooker at his first visit into a six-day fan. The race goes on continuously for six days and six nights, the contestants being paired in teams of two, one of whom must always be on the track.

During the afternoon and evening sessions (lasting until about 3.00am!) the thrills are in the sprints, when teams race for points, and in the “jams” when the pairs, relieving each other with breath-taking speed and skill, endeavour to gain laps.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

44. Massed-Start Racing Position

Road racing from a massed start is not permitted by law on the public highways of Britain, but it is very popular on the Continent, especially in France where the most gruelling road race in the world, the Tour de France, is decided annually. This 2,700 mile circuit of France lasts nearly a month.

The road rider sits further back behind the pedals than a track sprinter, more like the easy-pedalling position of the tourist but with deep-dropped bars for “streamlining” his body when flat out.

Massed-start racing is now being encouraged in this country, the Brooklands and Donnington motor-racing road circuits being principally used.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

45. Track Tandem Position

The riders’ positions on a racing tandem are concerned almost exclusively with achieving simultaneous pedalling action. This is known as “nicking”. Unless two riders “nick” well together, they will never make a fast tandem pair.

The riders illustrated, E.V. Mills and W.G. Paul, who hold most of the British and world’s records, are a poem of motion.

Experiments have been tried of setting one pair of cranks a little in advance of the other pair so that one or other of the riders is always pushing, but the loss of rhythm in the pedalling rules out any advantage there may be in the staggered crank idea.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

46. Touring Position

Ball of the foot on the pedal; knee very slightly bent when pedal is at lowest point; saddle peak (pointing very slightly upwards) about 3 inches behind vertical line through bracket centre; bar tops approximately level with saddle height; comfortable reach to grips with arms slightly bent and back at angle of 45 degrees; bars not a lot narrower than width of shoulders – these are the main things to watch in finding the ideal touring position.

The rider is “Billie” Dovey, who during 1938 covered nearly 30,000 miles to demonstrate the ease and health benefits of daily cycling for women. In the background is Ardgartan Youth Hostel in Britain’s first National Park, near Loch Long, Scotland.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

47. Road Time Trial Position

The road time trial rider who has to average 20 mph for 12 hours, and nearly 24 mph for 50 miles, must be correctly positioned on his machine, and riders will experiment for months before they are finally satisfied.

There are three contacts between rider and bicycle: the saddle, the handlebars and the pedals, and adjustments can be made to the saddle and the handlebars. In theory the rider’s weight should be distributed equally at these three points.

The roadman (having to cover greater distances than the track rider) positions his saddle further back so that he can pedal smoothly with an ankle action.

We show Reuben Firth, a great Yorkshire road rider.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

48. Track Racing Position

The position of a track rider is planned to enable him to jump suddenly from a walking pace to 40 mph and the handlebars are deeply dropped in order to streamline the body as much as possible. The full benefit of the careful adjustment of saddle and handlebars is therefore only secured when a rider is absolutely “flat out”.

Each rider’s position varies according to his physical and muscular characteristics, but normally the peak of the saddle is over the bottom bracket, and the handlebars a few inches higher than the front wheel. Crank length is also a factor to be considered by the expert track rider when finding his ideal position.

The rider depicted is W.W. Maxfield, British Empire 10 mile champion.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

49. Road Records: S.H. Ferris

Fifteen record distances on four types of machine (bicycle, tricycle, tandem bicycle and tandem tricycle) are recognised by the Road Records Association.

They are: 50, 100 and 1,000 miles; 12 and 24 hours; London to York; York to Edinburgh; London to Liverpool; Liverpool to Edinburgh; London to Edinburgh; Land’s End to London; Land’s End to John o’ Groats; London to Bath and back; London to Brighton and back, and London to Portsmouth and back.

We show S.H. Ferris starting from Land’s End on his 1937 record ride of 866 miles to John o’ Groats in 2 days 6 hrs 33 mins. He then continued to complete 1,000 miles, setting up another current record of 2 days 22 hrs 40 mins.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

50. Bicycle Polo

Bicycle Polo was invented in Ireland in 1891 and follows fairly closely the rules of pony polo.

It was revived in 1930, and now under the control of the Bicycle Polo Association, there are 17 leagues in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and 160 teams (representing 109 clubs) play the game. The B.P.A. has 1,000 registered players.

There are six players in each team but only four are on the field at a time. A game consists of six 15-minute chukkers. Bicycle Polo calls for football team- work, accurate ball hitting and cycle sprinting. The ball, 3 ¼ inches in diameter, is made of bamboo root.

Cycling History – Your Passion In Pictures

Conclusion

We sincerely hope you have enjoyed exploring the origins and development of cycling through the years as much as we have enjoyed putting it together.

We wish you safe and happy cycling at all times.

Best wishes,

Prime Publishing