The Wheelmen's Gazette, Vol 2, No 3
Articles in this issue
- Pope Manufacturing Co. takes a measured approach, inviting cyclists to test competitors' claims that their machines equal or surpass the Columbia, noting that after ten years on American roads their machines speak for themselves.
- The Springfield Bicycle Mfg. Co. repeats its advertisement for the Roadster's Yost and McCune clutch, describing its noise-free operation and reliable grip as ideal for downhill coasting.
- The King Wheel Company describes the lever-driven King Bicycle's advantages in power economy, arguing it is the only bicycle in which levers are raised without springs, reducing effort for average riders.
- William Read and Sons promote the New Mail bicycle, pairing the Trigwell Ball Head with the new Warwick Rim that features no outside seam and a thickened bottom for strength.
- William Read and Sons announce they are now New England agents for the Ideal Boys' Bicycle, adding it to their range alongside the New Mail and other high-grade machines.
- The Wheelman journal is advertised as the leading American cycling paper, sold at all newsstands at five cents a copy or one dollar per year.
- W. G. Wilcox of New York presents six Facile bicycle patterns for 1887, ranging from the unchanged Regular Pattern and a hollow-tubed Light Roadster to a new Geared Facile front-driver that won the first road race of the year.
- Sam L. T. Clark and Co. of Baltimore advertise clearance prices on surplus high-grade machines to make room for incoming New Rapid and Quadrant models, with approval trials available.
- "Phoenix" recalls the L.A.W.'s eighth annual meet at St. Louis in loving detail: the Missouri Club's reception, a steamboat excursion to Montesano Springs with fireworks and a dance, and the Saturday parade through Forest Park with Colonel Pope, George H. Day, and hundreds of visiting wheelmen.
- The centerpiece hundred-mile road race at Clarksville, Indiana, won by Robt. A. Neilson on a Victor in 6h. 46m. 27s. over Wm. A. Rhodes and H. G. Crocker, with Whittaker, Hollinsworth, and others finishing behind amid falls, broken wheels, and heavy betting in town.
- A humorous confession that after three seasons riding without ever taking a "header," the author finally gets his wish on an Ariel Wheel Club run from Reading, Pa. to Birdsboro, watching several club-mates crash before taking his own tumble in deep sand.
- A correspondent signing "B. I. Cycle" reports that Union City, Pa. is warming to cycling after a winter riding school stocked with Gormully & Jeffery machines, with new club uniforms just arrived.
- A testimonial letter to William Read and Sons from J. L. Blackmer of Boston praises the New Mail's Trigwell ball-bearing head, calling it as firm and jar-free as a landau after years on other machines.
- A reflective poem, signed "W. H. K.," comparing the ease and freedom of riding a wheel home at twilight to the weary daily walk of toil-worn men.
- "Far D" of Biggleswade reports on England's craze for dwarf rear-driving safeties, a new volunteer corps of military "cyclist guides," and the Catford Cycling Club's fifty-mile open road race won on time by G. P. Mills.
- A reprinted satirical dialogue from the Wheelmen's Record mocks the stock clichés of cycling journalism, from the perennial "death" of the bicycle's inventor to Karl Kron's endlessly forthcoming road-book.
- Signed "J. W.," a Brooklyn correspondent describes an Ilderan Bicycle Club reception, the King's County Wheelmen's upcoming race meeting, and a planned fourteen-hour Ilderan ride to Patchogue and back.
- Ernest W. Smith reports that the French military has established a cycling school at Joinville-le-Pont favoring the bicyclette, and describes new club disputes and Rudge's splendid new Paris shop under M. DeCivry.
- "Chris" defends his earlier chronicle of Philadelphia cycling club history against a critic ("Dixey"), reports on the Pennsylvania Bicycle Club's Decoration Day trip to the Oranges, and previews the season's local racers including Louis Kolb.
- Signed "G. W. N., Jr.," a comic account of four Fort Dayton Club wheelmen from Herkimer, N.Y. touring to Richfield Springs, repeatedly wrecked by the antique machine of the stuttering "Mose," whose wheel collapses three times along the way.
- "Chris Wheeler" traces the Philadelphia Bicycle Club's growth from 1884 through its 1885 incorporation to the building of its Twenty-Fifth and Perot streets clubhouse in 1886 under captain Harold Lewis, describing the finished building's four-story layout.
- A dialect comic poem reprinted from the Boston Globe about a dandy who takes a header trying to kiss his "doodine" while riding beside her tricycle in May.
- Short paragraphs of cycling gossip: Karl Kron's road-book finally at the electrotyper's, Woodside's hour record at Ball's Bridge, Thomas Stevens's dedication of his new book to Colonel Pope, and the Kings County Wheelmen's win over the Ilderans on Decoration Day.
- Reports B. Frank McDaniel of the Wilmington Wheel Club's unprecedented hundred-mile Delaware run to Dover and back on a New Rapid bicycle, reprinting the local paper's account of his road times and two "headers" en route.
- "Stamson" reports lagging local interest in cycling due to poor roads, plans by Captain Will Hurlbutt and the writer for a European tour, and new Facile converts including Rev. A. W. Lightbourn.
- A directory of newly elected officers for dozens of wheel clubs nationwide, from the Allegheny County Wheelmen and Elizabeth Wheelmen to the League of American Wheelmen's own officers, T. J. Kirkpatrick as president.
- The Kings County Wheelmen win the New York and New Jersey Inter-Club Road Race Association's Decoration Day event at Hilton, N.J., scoring 77 points to the Ilderan Bicycle Club's 70, with H. J. Hall, Jr. finishing first.
- A calendar of upcoming June and July cycling fixtures, including the international tournament at Alexandra Palace, London, and division meetings of the L.A.W. in Minnesota, Illinois, California, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.
- Karl Kron compiles years of press notices — flattering, skeptical, and satirical — anticipating publication of his long-delayed 908-page road-book "Ten Thousand Miles on a Bicycle," from American and English papers to Canadian and Australian ones.
- An illustrated book by "Faed" (George Moore), covering a racing trip to Dublin and a touring trip to Killarney, is advertised at 40 cents from the Gazette office, with a deluxe edition available direct from the author in London.