The Cycle Age and Trade Review, Vol 24, No 107
Articles in this issue
- French bicycle manufacturers launched their annual newspaper attacks against American cycles ahead of the Paris show, but observers noted the campaign backfired by drawing public attention to the American machines, which consumers found more attractive and cheaper than the French product.
- The proprietor of the Austral Cycle Agency in Sydney set out on a six-month world tour to visit the London and Paris cycle shows and travel to America to buy stock on better terms, amid reports that American and Canadian bicycles were steadily displacing British machines in Queensland.
- The Rubber Goods Manufacturing Company formally transferred the Indianapolis Rubber Co. and Indiana Bicycle Co. rubber operations into a single consolidated plant, while discussion of further consolidating western plants in Akron and Peoria remained undecided.
- Two prominent Washington bicycle houses closed as the American Bicycle Company consolidated the Sterling, Featherstone, Western Wheel Works, Columbia, Hartford and Stormer lines into the local Pope branch, aiming for record-breaking sales in 1900.
- The 1899 Stanley Show and National Show opened in London to enthusiastic attendance, with the Stanley show reported as the best ever held and free-wheel mechanisms featuring prominently among the new exhibits, suggesting revival in the British cycle trade despite recent pessimism.
- Buffalo independent bicycle dealers were uncertain which lines to carry for 1900, most preferring their familiar brands but objecting to the A.B.C.'s discount terms, while the Calkins cycle rack patent collector had apparently softened his enforcement efforts after plain-spoken resistance from the local trade.
- The editors urged American bicycle manufacturers to more thoroughly investigate foreign markets in European countries and British colonies, arguing that spreading output across diverse markets was essential insurance against the loss of any single customer base.
- A Buffalo patent attorney examined the Calkins bicycle stand design patent granted in June 1897, finding it a difficult but narrow claim set to expire within a year, concluding that while no mechanical patent covered the rack shape, the design patent remained a troublesome obstacle for the immediate future.
- Brief trade notes reported the Fanning Cycle Co. relocating to the Featherstone factory, Iver Johnson's Denver representative reporting his best sales trip ever, British army experiments with spring-frame bicycles for military use, and the consolidation of Toledo bicycle workers' unions under the International Union of Bicycle Workers.
- Detailed shop-floor guidance covered successful methods for soldering metals to achieve smooth and strong joints, including the correct iron temperature, proper tinning, flux use, and a chemical method for regenerating worn files using a battery and acid bath.
- New patents reviewed included a scheme by L.P. Smith of Chicago for joining bicycle inner tube ends in an airtight yet detachable manner permitting continuous air passage, along with several other mechanical devices submitted to the patent office that week.
- Discussion of motor vehicle design challenges covered the difficulty of combining attractive carriage-like style with practical utility, the unsolved problem of storage battery capacity and weight per pound, and a novel arc-shaped steering gear recently patented by Robert W. Jamieson.
- Pope Manufacturing Co. specification sheets for the 1900 Columbia bicycles described several construction changes, including a new solid single-plate fork crown replacing the old double-plate design, a revised hub with straight-pull spokes bearing a ball at their hub ends, and a new seat post clamp combining wedge and expander clamping principles.
- Madison Square Garden drew over 8,000 spectators for the Saturday preliminary night before the six-day race, filling every seat and the inner rail to watch the debut of a large and strong foreign sprinting contingent competing against American professionals across fifty trial heats and semi-finals.
- Detailed results from the international mile trials and indoor championship events at Madison Square Garden showed Rutz twice defeating the Italian Tommaselli after a disputed foul in the fourth heat, with Meyers winning over Banker and Rutz in the sprint heats.