The Bicycling World, Vol 12, No 8
Articles in this issue
- The Christmas editorial reports on the National Cyclists' Union meeting of December 10, which rejected the proposal to recognise records made on Sundays and saw J.R. Hogg withdraw his motion to abolish the amateur-professional distinction entirely.
- Daisie's Christmas column reflects on the season of goodwill and the self-sustaining institution of Christmas, then asks the 'Lady Rider' correspondent to describe her lever steering, invites ladies' experience of handle-bar versus side steering, and enquires whether anyone has tried the League outfitters' ladies' weight cloth.
- The Big Four's contemplated 1886 pilgrimage runs from Niagara Falls through Rochester, Watkins Glen, Elmira, the Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, Gettysburg and the Shenandoah Valley to Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia, with a proposal to wind up at Springfield in time for the tournament.
- A full report of the Massachusetts Bicycle Club's mid-winter carnival at the Mechanics' Fair building, drawing 3,000 spectators, with a fancy-costume parade (prizes to Bert Thayer's Golden Prince and John T. Williams's Mercury), a drill by the Brockton City Bicycle Club, Wilmot's fancy riding, Star-bicycle polo between Sherman and Cain, and an obstacle race won by C.H. Ellison.
- A list of recently issued bicycle and tricycle patents furnished by Boston patent solicitor Henry W. Williams, including E.G. Latta's steering-head spindle, Charles F. Hadley's handle-bar patent assigned to the Overman Wheel Company, and Charles E. Buell's compressed-air tricycle.
- Henry Williams sends his year-by-year mileage from 1880 to 1885 — 2,440 miles in 1885 and an average of 2,994 miles per full year — with 1,277 of the miles ridden on a tricycle, tabulated by riding days.
- The second instalment of the illustrated velocipede patent series, featuring cuts of a unicycle, a tandem propelled from both ends, a rocking-chair powered machine, a lever-operated bicycle, and a foot-sleeve grinding machine, all drawn from U.S. Patent Office records.
- IxiON describes his experiment substituting a 24-tooth chainwheel on a 36-inch Cripper racing tricycle to achieve 86.4-inch effective gearing, finding it climbed hills and reached high speeds with less effort than expected, though the ability to sprint from a standing start was lost.
- Faed writes from London with an outlook on the 1886 cycling season, noting that long cranks and safety bicycles are attracting more attention, the Rover is proving itself on the road, and new machines from leading makers are expected to revive trade after a slow year.
- Bown of Birmingham, the ball-bearing patentee, brings out bearings and crank gear-wheels for the bottom forks of dwarf safeties on the Kangaroo or Rudge pattern, combining cranks, gear-wheel and bearing-case in one piece with his universally adjustable patented method, supplied to the trade for any two-chain dwarf.
- A trial of the new Whippet tricycle, a 36-inch central-driver machine resembling the Humber safety, whose saddle, handle bar and cranks are mounted on a secondary spring-supported frame so the whole rider position gives to road shocks, promising vibration-free riding for nervous riders without abnormal weight.
- Harrington patents two improved cradle springs, No. 7 for bicycle backbones and No. 8 for tricycle T rods, with parallel scrolls that make the spring as narrow as the ordinary bicycle spring.
- Lloyd Brothers put on the market the three-wheeled Quadrant tandems first ridden by Mr. Hodges's party of American visitors, in No. 11 and No. 12 patterns with 44-inch drivers, while Sparkbrook and Cunard promise Cripper tricycles with 24- and 26-inch steering wheels.
- A Rudge Rotary tricycle is seen fitted with a novel steering arrangement in which a grooved wheel and a short length of miniature chain replace the usual rack-and-pinion.
- The Otto Company brings out a new Otto bicycle with central gearing and a chain in place of side gearing, reducing weight and simplifying the steering since the brakes no longer affect it.
- Faed deplores The Cyclist's precedent of letting advertisers pay extra to inset advertisement pages amongst the literary matter of its Christmas number, arguing readers tear such pages out and the legitimate positions reap the permanent value.
- Grey's Hand Power Gear is offered for fitting to ordinary tricycles, Starley & Sutton despatch the first Coventry Chair to the United States, and English makers circulate a scheme for an exhibition independent of the Stanley Club, for which Faed predicts failure.
- Holiday letters include J. Parke Street's 'A Knee Question' on gearing up his 40-inch tricycle, 'Galled' objecting to the paper's spelling of 'gaul', M.D. urging longer cranks, L.H. Johnson on the Lever-Steering Humber and Mrs. Allen's 200-mile Cripper ride, J.S. Dean on winter riding with the ladies, A.E. Pattison defending McCurdy's 24-hour record against Joseph Butcher's fraud charge, and (continuing on the next page) Duffer on class racing and J. Jones on makers' amateurs.
- Christmas paragraph notes: C.E. Kluge climbs Eagle Rock Hill in the Orange Mountains on a 51-inch Star, Dr. W.G. Kendall of the Boston Bicycle Club logs 4,840 miles for the season, Rudge & Co. incorporate after selling twenty thousand machines in three years, and the Boston Club engages steward A.H.A. Mortimer for a table d'hote dinner.
- Woodside defeats roller skater J.W. Alexander in a three-mile race at Minneapolis, Eck arranges a fifty-mile Prince-Woodside match, the North Shields Bicycle Club of England hopes to attract American riders to its April races, and the Ramblers plan weekly races at the Globe Rink opening with Percy Stone against Felton the skater.