The Cycle Age and Trade Review, Vol 24, No 110
Articles in this issue
- The American Bicycle Company announced it would file a bottom bracket patent suit shortly after the new year against a non-member of the Cycle Trades Protective Association, while independent makers like the Eagle Bicycle Mfg. Co. publicly declared they would contest the patent's validity and protect their customers from any resulting claims.
- Chicago retail dealers reported holiday bicycle sales roughly matching the previous year, concentrated in juvenile machines, with many post-Christmas exchanges required because parents bought bicycles as surprises without knowing the correct size for their children.
- The Indianapolis Chain and Stamping Co. was formally transferred to the American Bicycle Company with a new manager installed, and the plant was to supply all chains for the A.B.C. and outside customers, aiming to produce three million feet of chain in the coming year.
- After the A.B.C. consolidated its Milwaukee bicycle factories, the former Milwaukee Engineering Co. plant was to be operated as the Milwaukee Automobile Co., shifting from bicycle production to manufacturing motor vehicles.
- Victoria, Australia had an estimated 250 to 400 small concerns engaged in assembling bicycles from imported parts, outputting about 300 machines a week, with American component parts steadily gaining ground against English and German alternatives.
- The Buffalo pass book system for retailing bicycles was explained in detail, including the contract form used by Finn and Sullivan, which required purchasers to make weekly deposits equal to one-third the purchase price before delivery, with continued payments of two dollars per week until the machine was fully paid for.
- The editors analyzed how exclusive bicycle dealers had successfully countered competition from department stores and catalogue houses by stocking low- and medium-grade machines alongside premium lines, educating customers about quality differences rather than simply trying to match the cheapest prices.
- A proposal to consolidate the sixteen retail bicycle houses in Washington, D.C. into a single company was described in detail, including the reasons why the plan ultimately failed despite initial interest from several dealers who recognized the potential economies of scale.
- A collection of dealer complaints about poorly cemented tires that crept on the rim during use was assembled, with the problem found to be far more widespread than previously known and attributed to inadequate cementing practices by tire manufacturers working to extreme cost limitations.
- A windmill-powered mechanical bicycle display mounted in a repair shop show window was described in full constructional detail, combining a small fan on a tall pole with a series of crank and connecting rod mechanisms to produce a continuously pedalling dummy rider that attracted large crowds from the street.
- Recent patent applications were critically assessed, including an elaborate fly-wheel crank scheme promoted as a friction reducer but found to increase the number of friction-producing parts, along with several chainless gear variations whose practical merits were questioned.
- Sipe and Sigler of Cleveland issued a catalogue for the Willard storage battery intended for motor vehicles, claiming a 45-minute recharging time at low temperature, while a steam-gas compound engine of novel design was reported from a French inventor who combined both combustion types in a single cylinder.
- The Fredrick Manufacturing Co. responded aggressively to a competing handle bar maker's infringement threats by issuing a formal guarantee to all its agent-customers that the company would fully indemnify them against any claims and defend any actions brought under the disputed patent.
- The League of American Wheelmen was widely expected to surrender all pretense of controlling professional bicycle racing at its forthcoming Philadelphia national assembly, with the I.C.A.'s special meeting postponed until after the league convention, making N.C.A. recognition virtually certain.
- All of the American bicycle racing champions of the past decade from Zimmerman and Bald to Tom Butler and Major Taylor were announced as planning to compete in Parisian and other European races in 1900, along with foreign stars Tommaselli, Meyers, and the German champion Schinkel.