The Cycle Age and Trade Review, Vol 21, No 31
Articles in this issue
- A Paris correspondent described the Thames Embankment motorcar meet, where steam omnibuses capable of carrying 28 passengers at one-fifth a farthing per mile per passenger competed alongside petroleum-powered cabs and omnibuses, while Paris police struggled to enforce speed limits on automobiles.
- Consular reports warned that American bicycles sent to Denmark were praised for their construction but were losing market share because importers were fitting them with domestic tires that failed quickly, damaging the reputation of American machines with Danish riders.
- A prominent New York retailer argued that the fundamental problem in the trade was chronic overproduction by too many makers, which forced dealers to absorb excess stock and allowed buyers to dictate terms, while auction houses and department stores exploited the resulting price instability.
- National Bicycle Wood Rim Manufacturers Association president Mead called a convention in Chicago to address threatened overproduction of wood rims, aiming to prevent another price-cutting episode before it started.
- The wood rim manufacturers' association announced a three-day Chicago convention to coordinate production levels, with the overproduction of rims seen as an emerging threat to profitability in one of the few parts categories still returning acceptable margins.
- Chicago wholesale sundries houses agreed with the Associated Bicycle Dealers not to sell goods at retail prices or trade discounts to individuals, resolving a threatened syndicate-buying boycott; the reform, to take effect with next season's catalogues, would prevent wholesalers from undercutting repairmen and shopkeepers.
- Conflicting court decisions in separate saddle patent infringement cases produced mixed results for rival claimants, illustrating the unpredictable state of bicycle patent litigation in 1898.
- The issue addressed the evolving conventions around appropriate cycling attire for men and women, considering both practicality and social acceptability as cycling moved from a sporting novelty toward everyday transportation.
- The Boston Woven Hose Co., maker of Vim bicycle tires, failed with liabilities exceeding $1,200,000; the column also reported the insolvency of the Maumee Cycle Company of Toledo, where a receiver was appointed and the First National Bank sought to hold stockholders liable for debts aggregating $27,000.
- The U.S. circuit court in Baltimore ruled against the Christy Saddle Company—backed by A. G. Spalding & Bro.—in its patent infringement claim against the Hygiea Pneumatic Bicycle Saddle Company, finding that saddles with a depressed horn and elevated seat pads did not infringe the Christy patents; an appeal was anticipated.
- An editorial essay argued that modern commercial competition, born of the mid-century industrial awakening, creates relentless pressure to underbid rivals by reducing quality, making businessmen tricky and ultimately demoralizing the buying public.
- The article described the growing repair-shop practice of frame cutting—converting old high frames to the now-standard low frame—to meet public demand for modern-style bicycles, detailing the technical challenges the procedure posed to shop workers.
- Trade anecdotes recounted a notorious practical joke in which cycle-trade pranksters spread an elaborate fabrication about the Chapman hollow-ball bearing construction, duping colleagues who should have known better; the column also revealed the process for drawing taper-gauge tubing.
- A technical article described the design and use of truing jigs for ball-bearing adjustments, offering guidance to repair shop workers on maintaining consistent bearing preload and alignment across bicycle wheel rebuilds.
- A technical article examined a new compound ball bearing that converts sliding friction into rolling friction, explaining that while bearing friction is only a small fraction of total rider resistance, the design claimed further gains by addressing chain friction and opening new lines of minimal resistance.
- A survey of recent bicycle patents described several new back-pedaling brake designs—including one using a spring-steel plate with a roller that engages the tire under foot pressure—alongside new patents covering changes in tire and saddle construction.
- The fourth installment of a continuing lamp test series evaluated commercially available acetylene lamps, noting that nearly 2,000 patent applications had been filed; the installment focused on large-size lamps using lump carbide, with construction suited to carriages as well as bicycles, and discussed the wasteful use of unnecessarily strong light in many designs.
- The article contrasted the English and American patent systems—English patents renumber from No. 1 each January while American patents now exceed 604,000 consecutively—then surveyed recent English motocycle patents covering foreign gas and steam motor types, change gears, gear casings, and rear exhaust arrangements.
- The article argued that the fate of the motocycle industry hinged on whether mechanical plowing could replace the farm horse; if farmers could plow without horses, their resistance to road improvement would disappear, removing the chief obstacle to widespread motocycle adoption.
- The feature spotlighted Dr. Hutchinson's electric carriage as ideally suited to physicians' use, praising its cleanliness, freedom from annoyance, and instant readiness without the need for a stable, in contrast to horse-drawn or gasoline-driven vehicles that are impractical in residential quarters.
- The weekly events column reported on financial difficulties and the public airing of internal disputes in the New York Division of the League of American Wheelmen under President Isaac B. Potter, alongside racing results covering Major Taylor's track performances.
- Tom Linton, the Welsh miner, defeated French teenager Edouard Taylore by about half a mile in a thirty-mile paced race at Manhattan Beach—thirty-two pacemakers a side—riding close to world's record time despite a stiff cold wind; the column also reported Major Taylor's victory over Jaap Eden in two of three one-mile heats.
- European race results included the Englishman Palmer's victory over French champion Lesna in a 100-kilometer match at Calais, where tire trouble and pacer mishaps cost Lesna several laps; the column also noted Italian rider Pontecchi being ruled off at Munich, Parlby's performance at Marseilles, and Champion's win over Fischer.