The Cycle Age and Trade Review, Vol 25, No 151
Articles in this issue
- The first annual meeting of the American Bicycle Company showed a net profit of $605,579 for the ten months ending July 31, 1900, with total assets of $41.9 million including $30 million in plant investments; the directors voted to pay no dividend, and the Cycle Age commented that the company remained heavily over-capitalized with its plant values needing reduction to roughly one-third of book figures.
- The Cycle Age editorial argued that the bankruptcy law, while imperfect, deserved a fair trial before repeal, focusing on its failure to compel adequate disclosure of assets and the ambiguity of its preferences section — problems illustrated concretely by the cycle trade's recent bankruptcy proceedings.
- The Leland & Faulconer Mfg. Co. announced it could freely supply bevel gear chainless bicycle fittings, ending a potential legal dispute after the Pope Mfg. Co. and the A.B.C. clarified the scope of their respective patents and confirmed no conflict with the Leland & Faulconer system.
- The week's bicycle patent batch was criticized as commercially near worthless, including a lever-movement driving gear that required impossibly precise pedaling, an impractical handle bar design, and a brake of English type; the column used the examples as an object lesson about the primacy of manufacturing cost in any successful invention.
- Cleveland correspondents recalled that the Standard Tool Co. had years earlier successfully experimented with electric welding to produce a one-piece bicycle frame, arguing that this prior experience demonstrated brazeless frame construction was technically feasible and awaited only commercial development.
- The three members of the Inventors' Club, having spent sessions critiquing others' bicycle patent ideas, decided to try inventing themselves, but immediately ran into the same practical difficulties — poor fit with existing components and lack of commercial appeal — that they had identified in others' work.
- With outdoor racing practically concluded for the season and sprinters making arrangements for indoor winter campaigns at cities with coliseum tracks, the column reviewed the final outdoor results and noted the key riders' plans for the coming months.
- Jack Prince announced a paced race meeting at the new Chicago Coliseum for the week beginning October 15, with middle-distance contests between Michael, Nelson, McDuffie, and Fisher as the main features, alongside two amateur events each night and other supporting program items.