A Catalogue of Safety Bicycles and Accessories Manufactured and Sold
Contents
- George R. Bidwell Cycle Co. introduces its 1892 catalogue, explaining that the Tourist safety bicycle — originally brought out in 1891 with Wm. Bown of Birmingham — has been redesigned for 1892 as a wholly American product, now manufactured at Colt's Fire Arms Co. in Hartford, Connecticut. The preface also announces two new $100 wheels, The Student and The Ladies' Student, and cautions buyers against cut-price wheels from unreliable makers.
- Bidwell warns intending purchasers against so-called bargain bicycles sold at deep discounts, arguing a bicycle is worth exactly what it costs and that cheaply built wheels from fly-by-night manufacturers carry guarantees not worth the paper they are printed on.
- The company's one-year guarantee covers all imperfections in material and workmanship, with defective parts to be returned for inspection and free replacement; it explicitly excludes wear, misuse, or neglect, and urges owners to keep nuts tight, bearings lubricated, and chains adjusted.
- The flagship 1892 Tourist safety bicycle features a brazed True Diamond Frame of cold-drawn weldless steel tubing made at Colt's West Armory, a lengthened ball head and extended wheel base, and Bidwell (Thomas) Pneumatic Tires giving a total equipped weight of 42 pounds (39 lb. without mud-guards).
- The Tourist's 30-inch wheels use Swedish-stock felloes thickened at centre for rigidity, and swaged (not upset) tangent spokes that are drawn rather than crystallised at the ends to prevent breakage; extra-long closed-head nipples allow spoke replacement without removing the tire.
- All cones, races, and balls are gauged to the thousandth of an inch for perfectly even wear; the crank-hanger is proportioned to give identical crank-shaft overhang on both sides of the frame, eliminating the unequal strain found on most contemporary bicycles.
- After exhaustive tests Bidwell adopted the Abingdon-Humber pattern chain (one-inch pitch), manufactured under its own supervision with every side link and centre block gauged by standard test gauge and riveted by special machinery so the chain fits the sprocket without riding.
- The new Tourist pedal features a stay pin projecting from the shaft shoulder to prevent incorrect assembly and reduce nut strain; all pedal parts are steel forgings gauged to the thousandth of an inch, matching the precision standard of the rest of the wheel.
- Bidwell endorses the genuine Bidwell (Thomas) Pneumatic Tire in preference to built-up inflated cushion or air-cushion imitations, noting that all Tourist cycles are equipped with 2-inch pneumatics and that a cushion tire is only supplied on special order.
- The Tourist frame is finished in black enamel applied over a perfectly smooth surface, with bolts and nuts given a case-hardened firearms finish rather than nickel-plating, and all bright parts and spokes in "Hard Nickel" on copper — the same grade used on fine revolvers.
- Bidwell notes that gun steel — subjected to greater tests for strength and toughness than ordinary bicycle steel — is used throughout the Tourist, and that all ball-races are interchangeable, all set screws standardised, and all bolt heads and nuts tempered to resist rounding or twisting.
- Full specification for the 1892 Tourist: true diamond frame, 30-inch wheels with No. 11 swaged spokes (32 front / 40 rear), 2-inch Bidwell (Thomas) Pneumatic tires, aluminum-bronze front sprocket, case-hardened gun steel rear sprocket, Tourist chain, 6½-inch cranks, Tourist ball pedals, plunger brake, Garford saddle; weight 42 lb., standard gear 54 inches. The Tourist Road Racer variant — stripped of guards and brake, fitted with Scorcher bars and saddle, rat-trap pedals, and road-racing pneumatics — weighs 35 pounds, is geared to 60 inches, and is priced at $150.00.
- The Student is a $100 (cushion tires) or $125 (pneumatic) men's safety bicycle on a cold-drawn weldless steel true diamond frame with 30-inch wheels, Abingdon-Humber 1¼-inch chain, Psycho chain adjustment, 54-inch gear, and Garford saddle; weight 49 pounds, finished in four coats best black enamel.
- Sharing the Student's materials and workmanship, the Ladies' Student has a drop frame patterned after the Ladies' Psycho with a detachable brace rod, 28-inch wheels, and ladies' Garford saddle; weight 48 pounds, priced at $100 with 1½-inch cushion tires or $125 with 2-inch Bidwell (Thomas) Pneumatic Tires.
- Manufactured at Coventry by Starley Bros., the Ladies' Psycho features a patented one-piece seamless U-frame, 28-inch wheels with direct double butt-ended spokes, 6-inch ball-bearing head, half-circle seamless steel handle-bars, and Bidwell (Thomas) Pneumatic Tires; weight 42 pounds, gear 54 inches, priced at $155.00.
- Bidwell explains how it acquired the Thomas Pneumatic Tire patents in spring 1891 and distinguishes the genuine pneumatic — with a non-leakable vulcanised valve, seamless non-expansible linen jacket, and endless rubber shoe — from inferior air-cushion imitations; the tire is guaranteed against bursting or air-valve leakage and by 1892 was adopted by nine-tenths of American manufacturers and importers.
- A detailed layer-by-layer build description: canvas strip (F) cemented to rim, rubber air tube (A) encased in seamless linen jacket (B) with linen flaps (CC) cemented under the rim, reinforcing linen strip (DD) over the junction, and rubber wearing shoe (E) on the outside, with a non-leakable valve vulcanised into the tube; replacement parts range from $0.10 for a soft rubber valve jacket to $6.50 for the outer shoe.
- Riders are instructed to keep the tire fully inflated at all times, never riding it deflated; inflation and deflation procedures via the numbered valve parts are described, and care instructions for cleaning the valve rubber to prevent air loss are given.
- Step-by-step puncture-repair instructions: locate the cut (or find it by spinning the wheel in shallow water), deflate, loosen friction cloth and shoe, patch the rubber tube with cement and a small round patch, canvas-patch the jacket, re-cement shoe and friction cloth, and re-inflate; repair materials are supplied with each set of tires.
- Made by William Bown of Birmingham (maker of Æolus ball bearings), the Tourist Lamp features an Equipoise ball-bearing attachment that keeps it level when the bicycle tips, locomotive reflectors, a double-convex lens, and Saulsbury unbreakable side lights; supplied in two sizes (A and B) in enameled ($7.00–$7.50) or nickeled ($8.50–$9.00) finish.
- A simpler lamp by William Bown, formerly listed as the Bidwell Lamp, with removable reflector and reservoir and a sliding side light; imported in enamel finish only, with Equipoise bracket at $4.50 (No. 308) or without at $3.50 (No. 310), alongside the Rob Roy Lamp — the economy version at $2.75 (No. 312).
- A nine-year-established spring-powered bicycle alarm that attaches to the brake spoon or handle bar; the spring is wound by a button on the gong and released by lever pressure for a single stroke, succession of strokes, or continuous alarm; priced at $2.50.
- Made by Colt's Patent Fire Arms Co. to the same gauge precision as the Tourist bicycle, with diamond-cut square Para rubber blocks, priced at $10.00 per pair; also listed are Bown's Æolus 1891 Tourist ball pedal with triangular rubbers ($9.00/pair), Tourist Rat Trap Racing Pedal ($10.00/pair), and Full Roadster Pedal ($8.00/pair), alongside Garford Scorcher and standard saddles at $6.00 each.
- First sold in 1891, the Bidwell Cyclometer is a cam-free, spring-free instrument that records distance from one to one thousand miles, readable from the saddle, made for 26, 28, 30, and 32-inch wheels, and priced at $10.00 nickel-plated on copper; also described is the Perfection Tire Heater ($1.00, polished brass), an alcohol-fuelled device for re-cementing loose tires in the field.
- A nickel-plated metal bicycle oiler with a dust-free covered spout at 25 cents; also described are the "Perfect" Pocket Oiler (50 cents) with a patent tip delivering oil one drop at a time, and Plumbago chain lubricant in a Blizzard Gun applicator at 25 cents.
- A comprehensive accessories price list covering bells (Perfection Automatic $2.50 to single stroke $0.50), carriers, cement, chain cleaners, cyclometers, lamps, L.A.W. badges ($2–$10), padlocks, pedals, saddles (Garford Scorcher and standard $6.00 each, Fish with bag $7.00), stockings, shoes, tire heater, tool bags, whistles, and wrenches (Majestic, B. & S., Victor, Acme ranging from $0.50 to $1.00).