The Cycle Age and Trade Review, Vol 25, No 141
Articles in this issue
- The Kelly Handle Bar Co. filed simultaneous infringement suits against the Marion Cycle Works and the Cooper Handle Bar Co. on a patent claiming corrugated disc surfaces for quick-adjusting handlebars, with plans to bring similar actions against nearly all manufacturers of adjustable bars in the country.
- A federal court dissolved the temporary injunction that had been granted to the Single Tube Tire Co. against the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., allowing Goodyear to continue selling tires pending a final ruling on whether it had antedated contracts to evade minimum-price royalty obligations under the Tillinghast license.
- The Cycle Trades Protective Association held an enthusiastic general meeting in Buffalo, receiving satisfactory reports on the cross-examination of the trust's expert witness in the bottom bracket suit and electing two new trustees to replace the resigned Manson and Andrae representatives.
- Makers and prospective makers of motor bicycles and other gasoline-powered vehicles were summoned to a meeting at the Iroquois Hotel in Buffalo to plan their collective defense against the Selden patent, whose owners claimed it gave them a monopoly over the manufacture of all types of gasoline-engine vehicles including motorcycles.
- The editorial drew a lesson from E.S. Calkins' bicycle rack patent campaign — that a fundamental patent in a live industry can be very valuable property — while cautioning that the value depends entirely on how precisely the patent is drawn, and advised manufacturers to invest in defensible claims rather than broad, loosely worded ones that would not survive litigation.
- The Cycle Age announced nearly unanimous trade support for its campaign to standardize bicycle spoke count at 32 holes in both front and rear rims and hubs, publishing expressions of favor from manufacturers including March-Davis Cycle Mfg. Co. and arguing that uniform drilling specifications would reduce the tooling costs and inventory complexity that inflated bicycle production expenses.
- A profile of Fred T. Merrill of Portland, Oregon — the best-known bicycle dealer in the Pacific Northwest — traced the remarkable growth of his business from a tent at a state fair through a succession of larger stores covering Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, describing his work as regional sales agent for the G.&J. tire department.
- The patent column described an eccentric rear-end chain adjuster permitting tension correction without tools, an inventive arrangement in which the drive chain doubled as a brake band under back-pedaling, and a novel rear frame design for a chainless bicycle that eliminated the derailleur mechanism entirely.
- A Cycle Age staff member's account of visiting a Chicago repair shop highlighted the contrast between the progressive repairer who reads the trade press and applies its methods to build customer loyalty, and the old-school shop owner too absorbed in routine work to learn what other craftsmen in the trade were doing.
- A description of the Compact Motocycle design highlighted its fire-safety provisions — a carburetter designed not to spill gasoline if the machine overturned, and an explosive charge fired by electric spark within an enclosed combustion chamber rather than by an open flame — along with the placement of the motor near the pedal crank bracket to achieve a low center of gravity.
- A photographic feature illustrated the network of scenic cycle paths around Tacoma, Washington, including the Tacoma Avenue path, the Fernhill path with its cycle bridge, and the seven-mile Water Ditch path winding through old-growth fir forest on special bicycle bridges over deep gullies — paths described as offering an experience only fully appreciated through personal riding.
- The sport section opened with an editorial on the importance of clean sport, predicting that surprise and disappointment awaited McFarland and Stevens on their arrival in Europe given that their conduct had damaged American racing's reputation in ways that European promoters and cycling bodies would not overlook.
- The National Cycling Association Board of Control suspended McFarland and Stevens following a protracted meeting in Hartford and New York, also disciplining Eaton, James Kennedy, Vetter, and Babcock for various rule violations and unsportsmanlike behavior connected with events preceding the Paris world championships.
- Owen Kimble won the half-mile open at Vailsburg despite narrowly losing the two-mile handicap after falling in the sprint, while Frank Kramer also performed well at the meeting, and English amateur Smyth broke flying-start records from the quarter-mile to the mile behind a professional triplet in a record-setting time trial.
- The Joseph Dixon Crucible Co. of Jersey City promoted graphite as a superior lubricant with supplementary advertising demonstrating the power savings achievable through proper lubrication in bicycle manufacture and repair, citing specific examples of reduced friction and extended component life from industrial use.