The Wheel World, Vol 2, No 9
Articles in this issue
- Editorial arguing the Bicycle Union and Bicycle Touring Club are complementary rather than rival bodies, tracing the friction back to a bi-annual meeting at Anderton's and a proposal from Mr Rücker, and urging both to work side by side.
- Urges clubs to use the close season productively, citing the Metropolitan Club House scheme and the Pickwick's proposed county-team scheme, and noting Canonbury club members' boxing and tug-of-war meets and amateur dramatics from the Stanley and the B.A.D.S.
- Reviews the Wheel World's own "Icycles" annual, with contributions from Arthur Matthison, Henry Sturmey and "Faed", alongside rival Christmas numbers from the Cyclist featuring Lacy Hillier's illustrated "Burlesque on a Bicycle" and H. T. Round's spoof county-authority rules.
- A correspondent signed "M.C." complains that club dinners have grown stiff and over-formal, with an endless toast list replacing the old free-and-easy speech-making of earlier years.
- Reports the Civil Service B.C.'s annual meeting (H. S. Thompson elected captain in succession to W. W. Rishworth, prizes to A. P. Shaw and F. Rendell), plus meetings of the Mildmay B.C. and London Scottish B.C. and dinners of the Kent B.C. and Tynemouth Amateur.
- By W. C. Flegg of the Temple B.C.: a comic sketch contrasting the vain, self-important club captain, the fictional "Brown of the Primus B.C.", with the quietly capable "Robinson of the Tertius B.C."
- Reader letters signed "Rotary" and "Barnet Hill" debate what makes a "practical tricycle," weighing wheelbase width, steering and braking with reference to the Devon, Flying Dutchman, Otto and Humber machines.
- Condemns the spread of betting and "roping" at bicycle race meetings, recalling a welsher who was boycotted by his own clubmates after a meeting at the Alexandra Palace track, and welcomes the Bicycle Union's new £10 10s. cap on open-race prizes.
- By Harry J. Swindley: a comic ghost story in which a magistrate hostile to cyclists is seized by the spectral "spirit of the Wheel" and forced on a nightmare ride to witness the pleasures of touring he has always condemned.
- A column of bicycling puns and riddles contributed by F. Severn, followed by a note on Mr C. G. Squintani's newly patented tricycle.
- A letter from the captain of the Eastbourne B.C. assures the "W.W. Special Scrapist" that the club is thriving despite winter mud, and reports race-meeting medals won by L. Adams, C. Wadey and T. Knight.
- Discusses the "Linden Gardens" test case and the Bicycle Union's dealings with a Hammersmith stipendiary hostile to cycling, and reports H. L. Cortis's defeat by C. D. Vesey in a track match at Edinburgh's Waverley Market.
- Continued touring diary by John H. Mellor, captain of the Eglinton B.C., Dublin, describing a ride and drive from Dublin to the Giant's Causeway, including crossing the rope bridge at Carrick-a-rede.
- By "H.B." of the Temple B.C. and B.T.C.: an account of a bicycle tour from Dieppe to Paris via Rouen with companions "W." and "A.", meeting Vélocipède Club Dieppois members Parkinson and Hoffman along the way.
- By "Rusty Spoke": comic reminiscences of old boneshaker-era spills, including a friend pitched into a ditch near Portsmouth and a rider who careered into the back of a wine merchant's van near Guildford.
- A whimsical editorial reflection on the magazine's first year in print, accompanying a comic cartoon of the staff, thanking subscribers for the paper's growing circulation since its launch in May.
- Reprinted from the American Bicycling World and Archery Field: practical advice on club uniform material, cut and colour, recommending snug woollen knickerbockers and a felt helmet over the "pill-box" cap.
- Previews the Stanley Bicycle Club's exhibition at Holborn Town Hall on 22-24 February 1881, noting heavy demand for exhibitor space and tricycles to be shown in the basement.
- A poem by "Tommy B." of the Highbury B.C., after Eliza Cook, celebrating the tireless bicycle as an untiring "charger of metal."
- Gossip column by "Montaignard" touching on H. L. Cortis's defeat by Vesey, a mysterious new chainless Arab tricycle, and A. H. L. Winter's amateur dramatic troupe of wheelmen.
- Notes that French professional Charles Terront, once a Paris telegram-carrying cyclist, is now serving out his conscription in the army of the Republic.
- Reviews new equipment including James Wood's bicycle springs, praised by Mr St. Leger of the Trafalgar B.C., and the "Royal" bicycle sold by S. Peake of Princes Street, supplier to H.R.H. Prince Albert Victor of Wales.
- Reviews the hub lamps made at Hillman, Herbert and Cooper's Premier works in Cheapside, praising a redesigned fastening that fixed an earlier breakage problem.
- Notes on the Humber tricycle's suitability for elderly riders, a lady tricyclist seen on Wandsworth Common, and a 60lb Coventry Rotary built by the Tangent Company.
- A short verse by "C.W." answering the magazine's ongoing definition debate, judging the "R.A." tricycle a genuine "bona fide tri."
- Reprints favourable press notices of the "Icycles" Christmas annual from the Sporting Life, the Cyclist, the Referee and the Sportsman.
- American notes reprinted from the Bicycling World, including a runaway bicycle mishap in Peoria, an accident at a Montgomery A.C. handicap in Jersey City, and A. J. Philbrick's three-rider machine.
- A short comic poem by "Tommy B." of the Highbury B.C. listing a boy's wishes for a fine Christmas Day with good roads and no hills to climb.
- An editorial notice announcing an enlarged magazine for the coming year with monthly cartoons and illustrations, and A. J. Wilson ("Faed") joining the editorial staff.
- Brief editorial replies to readers including Charles Edwards on visitors' books for club headquarters, and correspondents writing from Cape Town and Melbourne.