CHAPTER XVII.

MOTOR VEHICLES.

Bicycles and Tricycles—Evolution of the Motor Carriage—Air as Motive Power—Electricity in Actual Use—Various Electrical Vehicles Described—Gas Motors. Pages 139-143

ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE BICYCLE—EARLY AND MODERN TYPES. Page. Draisine in action—1818 2 “Boneshaker”—1868 3 The “Ordinary”—1878 3 Rear Driver—1893 5 The “Rover”—1878 6 Chainless type, 1898 (bevel-gear) 7 Extreme type of 1898 Chain model, combining all late features 9

CHAINLESS TYPES AND DRIVING GEAR.

Columbia Chainless 10 Columbia Chainless—Mechanism and Frame 11 Spalding Chainless 12 Spalding Chainless—Driving Gear 13 Stearns Chainless 13 Monarch Chainless 14 Humber Chainless 15 Sterling Chainless—Crank Bracket 16 Sterling Chainless—Connecting Shaft 16 Bayvelgere Jointed Shaft 17 Hildick Chainless Driving Gear 18 Crescent Chainless—Driving Gear 19 Featherstone “Change Gear” Chainless 20 Featherstone Chainless Crank Hanger 21 Dayton Chainless—Driving Gear 22 Pine “Square-Tooth” Chainless 23 “English” Chainless 24 “English” Chainless—Driving Gear 25 Bantam Chainless—1898 25 Bantam Chainless—Driving Gear 26 Acatene Chainless—Driving Gear 26 Lloyd’s Cross Roller Driving Gear 27 Geared Ordinary 27

TYPES OF THE CHAIN WHEEL—MECHANISM AND OPERATION.

First Humber model 29 Golden Era—Model 29 Victor—First American Safety—1887 30 Diagram—One-sided Chain Pull 31 First Columbia Rear Driver—1888 32 Defender Midget—1898 34 Keating—Model 37 Union—Model 37 Victor—Model 38 Liberty—Model 38 Cygnet—Model 38 Victor—Single Loop—Model 39 Victor—Racquet Frame—1892 46 Stearns—Model 46 Cleveland—Model 47 Kangaroo—Model 51

FRAMES, FORK CROWNS AND JOINTS.

Three-Crown Frame 39 Chilion Wood Frame 39 Crescent Flush Joint 40 Wolff-American Flush Joint 40 Columbia Fork Crown 40 Crescent Fork Crown 41 Lyndhurst Fork Crown 41 Arch Fork Crown 41 Crawford Fork Crown 42 Humber Fork Crown 42 Monarch Fork Crown 43 Orient Fork Crown 43 Union Fork Crown 43 Liberty Fork Crown 44 World and Adlake Fork Crown 44 Cleveland Fork Crown 45 Eagle Drop-Forged Flush Joint 51 Wolff-American Lapped Joint 47 Remington Flush Joint 47 Working Drawing—Diamond Frame model 49 Working Drawing—Drop Frame model 50

GEAR CASES.

Frost Gear Case 54 Racycle Gear Case 54 Safety Gear Case 55 Rambler Gear Case 55 Cleveland Gear Case 56

SPROCKETS, CHAINS AND CHAIN ADJUSTERS.

Brown Roller Sprocket 58 Chantrell Chain 58 Keating Twin Roller Chain 59 Types of English Chains 59 Diamond “B” Chain 60 Thames Twin Roller Chain 60 Morse Roller Joint Chain 60 Baldwin Detachable Chain 61 Ewart Chain—1888 61 Bridgeport Detachable Chain 61 Liberty Sprocket 62 Crescent Chain Adjuster 62 Victor Chain Test—Diagram 63 Wolff-American Chain Adjuster 64 Crescent Chain and Bolt 64 Lefevre Chain 64 Circular Chain 65 Remington Chain 65 Missing Link 65 Victor Straight-Line Sprocket 66 Humber Chain Adjuster 66

HUBS.

Crescent Hub 68 Columbia Hub 68 Keating Hub 69 Sterling Hub 69 Wolff-American Hub 69 Cleveland Hub 70 Liberty Hub 70

RIMS, TIRES AND REPAIR TOOLS.

Plymouth Rim Joint 70 Plymouth Rim 72 Kundtz Rim 72 Buckeye Rim 75 “M. & W.” Tire 75 Indian Arrow-Head Tire 76 Dreadnaught Tire 77 Straus Protected Tire 77 Kangaroo Tire 78 Goodrich “Jiffy” Repair Tool 79 “Sure Thing” Repair Tool 80

BEARINGS.

Old Double-Row Ball Bearing 83 Lower Half of Double-Row Ball Bearing 83 Four-Point Bearing 84 Four-Point Bearing—“E. & D.” pattern 84 Common Three-Point Bearing 86 Three-Point Bearing—Improved 86 Two-Point Bearing 87

PEDALS.

Extension Pedals—American-Waltham 89 Rat-Trap Pedal—American-Waltham 89 Straus Removable Pedal Rubbers 89 Ramsey Pedal 90 Ordinary Pedal—“Clock” diagram 90 Ramsey Pedal—“Clock” diagram 91

CRANK AXLES AND CRANK HANGERS.

Crescent Crank Hanger, Stages 1 to 5 48 Stearns Crank Hanger Mechanism 71 Wolff-American Crank Axle 92 Gard Crank and Divided Axle 93

SADDLES.

Christy—Men’s model 96 Christy—Women’s model 96 Christy—Racing model 97 Christy—View of under side 97 Safety Poise 97 “Rubber-Neck” 98 Bernasco 98 Garford—Model “128” 98 Tillinghast—and Frame 99 Dr. Richmond “Universal” 100 Brown 100 Gilliam—and Frame 101 La Tulip 102

HANDLEBARS AND BRAKES.

Kelly Adjustable Bar 103 Plymouth Wood Bar 103 Lyndhurst Adjustable Bar 104 Barret’s Detachable Brake 104 Detachable Rear Brake 105 Stewart Roller Brake 105 Back-Pedalling Brake (Hay & Willits) 106 Back-Pedalling Brake (“New Departure”) 107 Duck’s Roller Brake 107

LAMPS AND LAMP BRACKETS.

Bridgeport Searchlight (oil) 110 Twentieth Century (oil) 110 “M. & W.” (Mathews & Willard) (oil) 110 Bragger (oil) 111 Columbia (oil) 111 “X Rays” (oil) 111 Manhattan Brass Co. product (oil) 112 Acme (electric) 114 Klondike (oil) 114 Solar (carbide)—Interior view 115 Electro (carbide) 115 Electro—Interior view 116 Helios (carbide) 116 Calcium King (carbide) 117 Combination Bracket 113 U. S. Detachable Bracket 113

CYCLOMETERS.

Twentieth Century Cyclometer 118 Veeder Cyclometer 118 Shepherd Cyclometer 119 Standard Cyclometer 119 New Departure Cyclometer 119 Trump Cyclometer 120

BELLS.

Lord Bell 120 Bevin Bell 120 L. A. W. Bell 121 Combination Bell and Brake 121

TOE CLIPS. CARRIERS AND SUNDRIES.

Howard Toe Clip 122 Combination Toe Clip 122 Kalamazoo Carrier 123 Lamson Carrier 123 Fairy Child’s Seat 123 “Ideal” Foot Pump 124 Lubricants—“Pacemaker” and “Three in One” 124

FREAKS AND ODD INVENTIONS.

Weight Driven Model 126 The “Sweeper” Idea 127 A Notion of 1881 128 Mahoney’s Model, 1893 129 A “Dream” Motor 130 Wind Driven Model 130

MULTICYCLES.

Stearns Septuplet 132 Stearns Convertible Tandem 133 Tinkham Tricycle 133 Wolff-American Triplet 134 Cleveland Tandem 135 Wolff-American Tandem 135 Tinkham Cab 136 Andrae Tandem 136 “Oriten” 136 Wolff-American Duplex 137 Tinkham Carrier 138

MOTOR VEHICLES.

Motor Tricycle 140 Pope Electric Phaeton 141 Pope Electric Phaeton, under test 143 Bicycle with Motor Attachment 142

PREFACE.

To the Cyclist who appreciates the advantage of understanding his wheel, its mechanism and its construction, for the same reason and because of the same interest felt by a horseman in his roadster, an engineer in his locomotive, or a yachtsman in his boat, the following pages can scarcely fail to be of interest and value.

Bicycles without number have been consigned to the scrap heap or discarded for new mounts, as the result of abuse and the lack of proper care, due solely to the ignorance of riders as to a wheel’s construction and requirements, while disappointments have resulted, in many instances, because the same lack of knowledge has prevented the wise selection of a well constructed and properly adjusted mount at the outset.

A bicycle can no more be expected to run smoothly without a proper adjustment of its parts and their maintenance in perfect running condition than can any other piece of machinery, and while the chain and chainless productions of 1898 are admirable for their simple mechanism, such points as the bearings and running gear require periodical inspection and attention to insure satisfactory service. This cannot be adequately given by a rider who has no conception as to the details of construction of his machine, and so it frequently happens that a bicycle sinks into an early grave because its rider persists in calling upon it for continued service, while utterly indifferent to its construction and requirements.

“Know thy wheel” is an excellent maxim for every rider to follow; for those who heed it the matter of emergency repair will be a simple thing, a smooth running wheel will be assured, the chance of accident reduced to the minimum, and the life of the machine extended throughout its fullest period. It is partly with a view to bringing about a better acquaintance between the average rider and his wheel that the following pages are presented.

To the bicycle manufacturer and to the repair man and dealer—who are frequently called upon for advice and service concerning any and all makes of wheels—to the student of cycle construction, and to the mechanical expert, the volume will scarcely fail to be regarded as a valuable reference book for many years to come.

The idea of presenting to riders—through the columns of “The Commercial Advertiser”—an illustrated description of the lines, parts and improvements of the bicycle for 1898 was conceived chiefly because of the absence during the winter of 1897-98 of a National Cycle Show. Just prior to the opening of preceding seasons tens of thousands of riders throughout the country were able to see at the annual shows, and at those held under the auspices of the various local cycle trade organizations, all that the maker had to offer in changes and improvements for the new year. This opportunity was also furthered by the columns of descriptive matter published by the daily press and cycle trade journals in their reports of these shows and their exhibits. Riders were to have none of these advantages for the season of 1898, however, and “The Commercial Advertiser” accordingly began the work of collecting and presenting the information which appeared in its columns in serial form during February, March and April of 1898, and which is now presented in this volume.

It is not claimed that all of the new features and changes evolved by the master mechanics of the cycle building industry have been embodied. It is believed, however, that none having an important bearing upon, or any way likely to cause material changes in, the methods of bicycle construction have been overlooked. Further than this, the gradual processes through which these changes and improvements have been evolved are shown throughout the periods of distinct advancement, also those of reversion, as they have followed, one upon the other, until the present state of the industry is reached, and its product set forth as the most advanced, from every standpoint, in the history of bicycle building.

Likewise the progress and improvement made in the manufacture of tires, saddles, lamps, bells, brakes, and the many other articles common to the well-equipped modern bicycle, have received careful attention, with the result that the work of presenting this amount of information to the readers of “The Commercial Advertiser” has, we believe, been as complete and thorough as it has been practicable to make it.

THE PUBLISHERS.