The Modern Bicycle and Its Accessories
Contents
- Surveys bicycle development from the 1816 draisine through the safety bicycle's 1898 refinements in quality and chainless designs.
- Describes the various bevel-gear and shaft-drive chainless bicycles introduced by American and European makers for 1898.
- Compares the mechanical advantages and commercial prospects of chainless drive against the established chain-driven safety.
- Examines diamond and drop frame designs, flush joints, fork crowns, and the adoption of sheet-steel stamped parts.
- Reviews the gear case as an English-origin device improved by American makers to protect chains from dirt and wear.
- Explains chain evolution, roller designs, friction causes, and the practical care needed to maintain reliable chain drive.
- Describes suspension wheel construction, hub designs, spoke types, and the competition between wood and steel rims.
- Traces tire development from solid to cushion to inner-tube pneumatics, with repair methods and practical rider hints.
- Analyses bearing designs, ball manufacture, cup-and-cone adjustment, lubrication, and dust exclusion methods of 1898.
- Reviews crank geometry, gear ratios, pedal evolution from rat-trap to swinging designs, and divided-axle construction.
- Surveys saddle designs from rigid leather to spring-mounted models, assessing comfort, spring use, and seat posts.
- Compares handlebar shapes, rubber and cork grip materials, and front versus rear brake mechanisms in use for 1898.
- Reviews kerosene oil lamps, electric lamps, and the new acetylene carbide lamps, with bracket mounting methods.
- Catalogues cyclometer dial and barrel types, contact bells, toe clips, luggage carriers, pumps, and rider accessories.
- Mocks perpetual-motion schemes, drop-frame crazes, and various futile patented inventions cluttering the cycle trade.
- Describes the growing tandem market, multiple-rider multicycles, tricycles, and juvenile tandem designs.
- Surveys motorised bicycles, tricycles, electric vehicles, and gas-motor carriages as emerging competitors to the pedal cycle.