Points for Cyclists with Training

By F.B. and A. A. Zimmerman189431 chapters44 images

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Contents

• A. A. Zimmerman (opens in a new tab)

  A biographical sketch of world champion racing cyclist Arthur Augustus Zimmerman and the secrets behind his remarkable success.
• Famous Path Riders of the World (opens in a new tab)

  Short biographical notices of leading racing cyclists from England, Ireland, Scotland, America, and beyond in 1892.
• Photographs of Famous Path Riders (opens in a new tab)

  Presents photographs of leading racing cyclists of the world, grouped by country including America, Canada, South Africa, Italy and Austria, accompanied by biographical notes giving each rider's birth, build, racing career and principal championships and records.
• World's Records and American Records (opens in a new tab)

  Sets out tables of cycling records taken from the American Referee of Christmas 1892, covering standing-start records in competition and against time, records paced by running horses, and English and British amateur safety records, with the riders, places, dates and times.
• Training (opens in a new tab)

  Zimmerman's personal training system: diet, sleep, rubbing down, track work, sprinting, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco.
• The Safety and Its Parts (opens in a new tab)

  Practical guidance for cyclists on the safety bicycle, its components, maintenance, and correct use on road and track.
• Points for Cyclists (opens in a new tab)

  Detailed advice on every aspect of competitive and recreational cycling, from tyres and gear to clothing and race tactics.
• Learning to Ride (opens in a new tab)

  Step-by-step instructions for a beginner learning to balance and mount a safety bicycle or tricycle with a friend's help, including how to start and dismount alone.
• Lady Cyclists (opens in a new tab)

  Addresses the social prejudice (invoking 'Mrs. Grundy') facing women who take up cycling, quotes the Gentlewoman on learning to ride a safety, and gives instructions for mounting and dismounting in a skirt.
• Choice of a Cycle (opens in a new tab)

  Advises buying from a reputable agent or established maker rather than 'catch-penny' cut-price advertisers, mocking sham cheap machines sold by a fictitious 'Bunkum Cycle Company.'
• Safeties (opens in a new tab)

  Warns against cheap mass-produced safety bicycles built from gas-pipe tubing and rough iron balls but sold at inflated prices, contrasting them with genuine first-class machines built by reputable makers.
• The Geared Front Driver (opens in a new tab)

  Critiques the 'G.F.D.' (Geared Ordinary) and the lever-driven geared facile, noting racer Frank Shorland's mixed results on the machine and arguing the safety remains the better design.
• Tricycle (opens in a new tab)

  Recommends the bicycle-steering Cripper-pattern tricycle with 26- or 28-inch wheels as best for less agile riders, and compares solid, cushion, and pneumatic tire options for it.
• Tandem Tricycle or Tandem Safety (opens in a new tab)

  Weighs the pleasures and difficulties of tandem riding for couples, describing how the Irish club 'Ohne Hast' tows a tired partner with a rubber-cushioned rope.
• Pneumatic, Cushion, and Solid Tires (opens in a new tab)

  Traces John Boyd Dunlop's 1888 invention of the pneumatic tire and its rapid rise from ridicule as 'German Sausage' or 'Pudding Bag' wheels to universal adoption by 1893.
• Handles (opens in a new tab)

  Compares handlebar grip materials -- horn, vulcanite, cork, and rubber -- for comfort, weight and durability, recommending cork or Pneumatic Handles.
• The Chain (opens in a new tab)

  Recommends the open-link roller chain for roadsters over the block chain, and explains the lubrication and alignment needed to stop a chain mounting the cogs at speed.
• Gear Cases (opens in a new tab)

  Describes Harrison Carter's oil-bath gear case and other detachable dust-guard designs, with step-by-step instructions for changing gear and removing the rear wheel.
• Mud Guards (opens in a new tab)

  Quotes F. T. Bidlake on the aerodynamic drag caused by close-fitting mudguards, and describes lightweight, detachable wire-framed guards with rubber cloth covers.
• Cranks (opens in a new tab)

  Notes that seven-inch cranks suit only very tall riders, recommends shorter cranks for general road work, and describes slotted cranks that can be adjusted to catch a following wind.
• Gearing (opens in a new tab)

  Explains how to calculate a cycle's gear from sprocket and wheel size with a worked example (9:18::28=56 inches), and quotes T. A. Edge of British Sport on Zimmerman's low 64-inch racing gear.
• Elliptical Sprocket (opens in a new tab)

  Reports personal trials of the elliptical sprocket popularised after John S. Johnson's record ride, concluding it disrupts pedalling rhythm and noting it was dropped by Zimmerman after one trial.
• Brakes (opens in a new tab)

  Surveys spoon brakes, rubber-block brakes, and band brakes, warning that a spoon brake jammed on suddenly can tear a pneumatic tire or bend the front forks.
• Bearings (opens in a new tab)

  Instructs readers to flush ball bearings with kerosene to clear grit, and gives a step-by-step procedure for adjusting the driving-wheel cones and crank-axle bearings.
• Cleaning (opens in a new tab)

  Recommends Silico enamel and rust preventive to protect a machine's bright parts from rain and mud, with polishing methods using plate paste, whiting, and chamois leather.
• Oiling (opens in a new tab)

  Sets an oiling schedule -- roughly every 100 miles in good conditions, more often in mud or dust -- covering bearings, hubs, pedals, and steering joints.
• Touring (opens in a new tab)

  Praises the Cyclists' Touring Club (C.T.C.), naming secretary E. R. Shipton and Continental consul T. A. Stead, and describes the club's hotel-tariff discounts and handbooks for touring members.
• The Clothing (opens in a new tab)

  Advises all-wool clothing in summer and winter, and lists the kit for a spring or summer tour -- a gossamer waterproof cape, spare underclothing, and celluloid collar and cuffs -- packed in a home-made hold-all.
• Drink and Diet (opens in a new tab)

  Recommends bouillon, lemon squash, ginger beer and milk, tea, or coffee over alcohol while riding, and describes the author's French-style touring diet of rolls, bouillon, and a table d'hote dinner each evening.
• The Laws and Regulations (opens in a new tab)

  Summarises English cycling law on warning bells, lamps after dark, and footpath riding, contrasting the English rule of the road with American and Continental practice.
• Cycling for Health (opens in a new tab)

  Cites Dr. Oscar Jennings' 'Cycling and Health' and testimonials from several doctors that cycling relieves rheumatism, gout, and varicose veins, prescribing moderate riding for middle-aged and delicate readers.