The Cycle Age and Trade Review, Vol 21, No 44
Articles in this issue
- New York underwriters ruled that storing calcium carbide on insured premises could void fire insurance policies, prompting Ingersoll and Bro. to stop carrying it and calling for the trade to negotiate with insurance companies for specific storage conditions under which carbide would be sanctioned.
- Denver's Bicycle Repairers' Association was vigorously policing its members against selling to non-members and admitted a new commission house to membership only after negotiating strict forfeit bonds, while the city's festival season brought country buyers in to stimulate both new and used bicycle sales.
- A Swedish correspondent described a stable domestic market little affected by the American trade recession, with steady demand for imported bicycles and growing interest in American tires among riders who could find someone to explain the repair procedures.
- Cleveland sources reported that Walter Gregg and associates were attempting to found a tube mill using Ellwood-Ivins taper-gauge patents whose low production costs would undercut all existing tube makers, with a court test of the patent's validity expected before any large-scale production began.
- A large Buffalo department store announced plans to manufacture its own bicycles to supply its own retail floor during the coming season, a development the trade viewed as a new and more threatening stage of the department store invasion of the cycle business.
- American exporters reported that Russian agents were buying American bicycles and re-selling them under misleading Russian trade names, depriving American makers of the brand recognition that would have built long-term market position.
- The editorial argued that dealers who successfully added winter side lines were not merely earning off-season income but were keeping their stores active and their customer relationships warm, making their bicycle sales stronger in spring than those of dealers who closed or went dormant.
- Small builders and repairmen were shown how to change the angles of standard frame lugs using home-made mandrels and controlled heating, allowing them to adapt off-the-shelf parts to custom frame geometries without specialized factory tooling.
- Repair shops were advised on the seasonal pattern of fall repair demand, including the types of damage common after a summer of heavy use, how to prioritize the backlog, and what parts to stock in anticipation of the most frequent needs.
- Retail dealers continued to submit letters describing the trade's requirements, covering failures in parts quality, shortcomings of guarantee administration, and suggestions for how manufacturers could better support agents in the face of department store and auction-house competition.
- A review of the fourth edition of a standard bicycle repair manual found it behind current practice on the economic side of the business, too focused on describing appliances that repairers would need to fabricate themselves, and insufficiently attentive to the labor-saving methods that had transformed the better repair shops.
- The issue recommended roller skates as a natural winter side line for bicycle dealers, noting that the same athletic customer base, the similar mechanics of bearing maintenance, and the seasonal complementarity made the combination a logical choice.
- New patents included an English coaster brake design in which the stopping mechanism operated within the rear hub shell, keeping the braking components clear of road dirt, and a self-cementing rubber-band repair tool intended to simplify roadside puncture mending.
- Details of a new Duryea motor carriage design were described, covering its engine configuration, steering, and claimed improvements over earlier models, in the continuing series on motorized vehicle development within the cycle trade context.
- The Artemis Plating Works of Chicago introduced a new hub and pedal combination for the 1899 season, with a disk-adjusting hub offering convenient bearing access and a matching pedal construction designed to complement the hub's maintenance-friendly design.
- The Eclipse Bicycle Co.'s coaster brake, initially greeted with skepticism from a trade accustomed to hand-lever brakes, had by season's end achieved genuine public acceptance on its merits, with agents reporting that customers specifically requested the coaster feature and were willing to pay a premium for it.
- Racing news covered the wholesale suspension of leading tracks following disputes with the League, the resulting chaos in the circuit schedule, and the uncertain prospects for the season's remaining championship contests, alongside results from the tracks still operating.
- Ohio's progressive cycle path legislation, enacted earlier in the year, was beginning to show results, with many new paths under construction and the law proving a model for other states contemplating similar measures to separate cycling from heavy road traffic.
- New York racing correspondents reported on the widespread track blacklistings ordered by Chairman Mott, the resulting fragmentation of the professional circuit, Teddy Edwards's improving form, and the uncertainty surrounding the season's final championship totals.