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For Carl Fogel to decipher
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For Carl Fogel to decipher
sergio wrote:
http://img408.imageshack.us/my.php?image=geshkl9.jpg Decipher?? It's a normal bike! "bicicletta da corsa in pista" says it all! 28" (singles?) wheels , acetylene lamp and block chain are about all that distinguish it from a modern urban fixie! -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 ** Posted from http://www.teranews.com ** |
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For Carl Fogel to decipher
On Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:48:52 -0800 (PST), sergio
wrote: http://img408.imageshack.us/my.php?image=geshkl9.jpg Sergio Pisa Dear Sergio, It's one of those new-fangled chain-rear-drive safety bicycles. They all look alike, though there are a few details. The 1890 date is probably a little off, more like 1892 or later. Only people like me fuss about exact dates on such things. Skip to the bottom for comments on that particular photo. Around 1817, the running machine invented by Karl von Drais enjoyed a brief vogue--two cart wheels, a backbone that the rider straddled, front steering, and no pedals. Laws were passed to keep the silly things off the sidewalks, and the running machines simply vanished in less than a decade. Their initial appearance was partly due to a terrible winter that led to a severe shortage of horses where von Drais lived. A nice page with photos of the running machine: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p..._id=40616&v=9L Other early claims about two-wheeled contraptions appear in many older bicycle history, but they're no longer credited. New histories either dismiss them as tactfully as possible or else ignore them. The drawing on the back of a pasted page in one of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks is considered a modern forgery (which didn't stop enthusiasts from building a model), the odd church window image at Stoke-Pogis has been explained as a weird example of traditional iconography (and many drawings of it added stuff that wasn't there), the long-accepted claims for 1790's French two-wheelers were found to be made-up in the 1890s, some really obscure Italian claims were shown to be preposterous, and the claims about the Scots machine of Macmillan have been shown to be mostly wishful thinking that ignored the few known details of what was probably a quadracycle--the well-known photos of the Macmillan bicycle are pictures of a "replica", not any actual machine. Bicycles were immensely popular, so national pride was a motive for making fake or simply mistaken claims for the first bicycle. Here are two pages about faked and forged early bicycle claims: http://www.karldrais.de/kd-en-overvi...dd1d7e6e1680ae http://www.jimlangley.net/ride/bicyclehistorywh.html In contrast to all the other pre-1860 two-wheeled claims, the von Drais running machine was patented, produced, and repeatedly mentioned in contemporary accounts. You can see genuine examples at several museums. But the von Drais running machine had no pedals, so historians argue about whether it was a true bicycle. In the 1860s, two-wheelers reappeared with pedals mounted on the front wheel. It's thought that the inspiration was the crank on a grindstone, the kind shown to the right of the photo that provoked this reply: http://img408.imageshack.us/my.php?image=geshkl9.jpg Who first came up with the idea of putting pedals on the front wheel is a hotly debated question in the bicycle history world. A 12-page example in two columns is David Herlihy's "Who Invented the Bicycle--Lallement in 1863 or Michaux in 1861?" in Cycle History 4. (No, you probably don't want to pay that much.) Whoever invented the pedaled bicycle in the 1860s, the idea caught on. Called velocipedes or boneshakers, two-wheelers with front pedals became immensely popular. Without a rider, photos of these front-wheel drive beasts can be deceiving--they're huge, with 36-inch wheels being common, front and rear. The bigger the wheel, the higher the gearing and the smoother the ride. (And the more likely the rider was to have trouble turning the front wheel with his feet on its pedals.) These illustrations show how big the boneshakers we http://i37.tinypic.com/351enpx.jpg http://i35.tinypic.com/21e24o1.jpg Here's a late-model, stylish velocipede or boneshaker: http://utopiaparkway.com/ba/images/bicycles/3.jpg The awkward velocipedes soon morphed into the modern highwheelers, with strange wire spokes and solid rubber tires appearing around 1868, the front driving wheel getting bigger and bigger (52 inches to the top of the tire was common), and the rear balance wheel getting smaller and smaller (14 inches was typical). Here's an 1869 Phantom, hinged in the middle to get around the problem of turning a front-pedal machine: http://utopiaparkway.com/ba/images/bicycles/2.jpg It has solid rubber tires and what might be called vee-spokes that run through little hoops on the rims. "Velocipede" is not a strict term--anything with two wheels can be called a velocipede, including whatever you ride today. Highwheelers soon became known as ordinaries. If you see a highwheeler called a penny-farthing, you're looking at something written after highwheelers vanished--the penny-farthing term wasn't used back when highwheelers flourished. A nice site with detailed highwheeler photos: http://www.eriding.net/media/vintage_bicycles.shtml Go to the very bottom for photos showing how to get up onto a highwheeler and get going. "Ordinary" distinguished the highwheeler from the older and clumsier boneshakers, which were slower, but easier and safer to ride. Even slower and easier to ride were tricycles and quadracycles, which were very popular--that's why Sharp's 1896 book is called "Bicycles & Tricycles" and why Harry Hewitt Griffin could put out "Bicycles & Tricycles of the Year 1889" with bicycle models covered on pages 1 through 58 and tricycles still taking up pages 59 through 96. No, tricycles and quadracycles didn't look quite like what we expect nowadays: http://flickr.com/photos/51035800994@N01/10112421 http://flickr.com/photos/zheem/10112590/ Various tricks had been tried to make highwheelers safer. Front wheel drive by chain or treadle allowed a smaller front wheel or let the rider sit further back, the two chief methods of avoiding the header accident, in which the rider tipped forward over the huge front wheel. http://www.jimlangley.net/ride/kangaroo.htm The other safety approach was the small-front-wheel highwheeler, in which the rider sat on a big rear wheel behind a small front steering wheel. Treadles let him power the rear wheel, and he sat so far back that there was no real danger of a header over the little front wheel. http://i11.tinypic.com/8ak80wj.jpg In 1884-5, a raft of rear-chain-drive safety bicycles appeared, mostly cobbled together with parts from the tricycle and quadracycle world, where transmissions and steering had been worked out. Here's what the first "modern" bicycles looked like. BSA and Starley Rover: http://books.google.com/books?id=gFM...page#PPA278,M1 Humber: http://books.google.com/books?id=gFM...page#PPA155,M1 Pausey's Pioneer: http://books.google.com/books?id=gFM...page#PPA277,M1 Antelope: http://i35.tinypic.com/21ke7uf.jpg Notice the under-the-seat remote steering on the Antelope. The BSA and the earliest Starley used remote above-the-seat steering. The awkward remote steering is just a sign of the safety bicycle's tricycle origins--like the chain-drive, the steering was borrowed from the tricycles. Nephew John Starley's Rover was a huge success. Strangely, despite our modern notions about safety, Starley later wrote that he designed the Rover for hill-climbing, not to solve the safety problem, which was old hat by 1885. Highwheelers had many fine qualities compared to boneshakers, but they didn't climb worth a damn, so the speedy highwheel riders were often forced to walk up hills and be passed by tricycles. The Irish veterinarian Dunlop produced the first practical pneumatic tire in 1889. Again, our modern notions are mistaken. Dunlop wrote about the speed increase gained by pneumatics, not about comfort. After his 1888 experiments on his son's tricycle's rear wheels (the fork was too narrow for a front air tire), Dunlop put air-tires onto racers and showed the speed advantage. By 1894, it was all over. The dwarf safety rear-chain-drive bicycles ruled, solid tires were quaint relics, and not much has happened since. Here's an 1894 Crescent Wheel Works ad: http://cgi.ebay.com/1894-Crescent-Bi...photoho sting Looks just like the photo that started all this: http://img408.imageshack.us/my.php?image=geshkl9.jpg A few details about that bike . . . Typical moustache handlebar with wooden grips--the modern ram's horn came later. Some early safeties came with spade grips. Left rear axle mounting step--mounting steps from highwheelers survived for years on safeties because they made it easier to get up onto the larger old-fashioned safety frames. Speaking of large frames, look carefully at the head tube. Old bikes were bigger and longer. The angle isn't good, but the fork is probably sticking out much further than anything you ride. Thin round steel cranks--aluminum cranks haven't been thought of. Rear-facing dropouts with chain-adjuster just visible--an improvement over the earliest floating crank-hanger method, where the front crank was moved back and forth to adjust the chain. The floating crank-hanger is another sign of how early safeties borrowed tricycle parts: http://www.auctionflex.com/auctionim..._2BX0TXQOY.jpg http://tinyurl.com/5l4qzy No seat-stay bridge, but the chain-stay bridge is visible. Seat-stay bridges tended to be for fenders. Chain-stay bridges had some theories about strengthening the crank area. No brakes (at least I can't make out any brake arm on the rear)--bad as fixed-gear braking was, it was much better than spoon braking. Wheels with 36 spokes and tangent lacing (x2?)--they might be wood, but they look like slightly rusty steel to me. On old bikes, you have to be careful because it's common for parts to be replaced over the years. There may be a missing spoke on the rear, just below what would be 9 o'clock, but replacement wheels break spokes, too. Same caveats about the chain and sprockets--inch-pitch was typical, but I wonder if it's half-inch chain with half-inch front and inch-pitch rear. I just can't make out if it's half-inch or block chain. The unworn tires are almost certainly modern replacements. Rubber from the 1890s usually has to be taped in place. Normal seat instead of early elaborate seat-spring--the pneumatic tires killed the grotesque seat-springs that saved our great grandfathers' butts. Here's an 1887 solid-tire seat spring: http://tinyurl.com/6o773e Valves front and rear, both just a bit behind the contact patch--no one knows where the hell "presta" comes from. Nice old candle lamp, probably worth more than the bike itself--the long tail identifies it. Here's a page about the various kinds of old lamps: http://www.websolutionswa.com/pwc/candle.asp http://www.websolutionswa.com/pwc/se...ampType=Candle Cheers, Carl Fogel |
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For Carl Fogel to decipher
On 11/18/2008 11:37 AM A Muzi wrote:
sergio wrote: http://img408.imageshack.us/my.php?image=geshkl9.jpg Decipher?? It's a normal bike! "bicicletta da corsa in pista" says it all! ... acetylene lamp ... Really? I see a candle in there. My vote is that the long hangy-down tube houses a candle and a spring. I like the knife-sharpening wheel. We were just talking about bike-powered sharpening wheels. -- Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Bend, Oregon |
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For Carl Fogel to decipher
sergio wrote:
http://img408.imageshack.us/my.php?image=geshkl9.jpg A Muzi wrote: Decipher?? It's a normal bike! "bicicletta da corsa in pista" says it all! ... acetylene lamp ... Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote: Really? I see a candle in there. My vote is that the long hangy-down tube houses a candle and a spring. I like the knife-sharpening wheel. We were just talking about bike-powered sharpening wheels. As Carl elucidated, candle not acetylene. I learned the differences! -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 ** Posted from http://www.teranews.com ** |
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For Carl Fogel to decipher
On 18 Nov, 22:01, Mike Rocket J Squirrel
wrote: Really? I see a candle in there. My vote is that the long hangy-down tube houses a candle and a spring. I like the knife-sharpening wheel. We were just talking about bike-powered sharpening wheels. Good point, Mike. There is supposed to be a candle in there. About the other little machine on the right, I also thought I was seeing a sharpening device, but the guy who had posted this picture on it.sport.ciclismo corrected me and said that it is to separate the grains from a corn cob (???). Sergio Pisa |
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For Carl Fogel to decipher
On 11/18/2008 2:56 PM sergio wrote:
On 18 Nov, 22:01, Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote: Really? I see a candle in there. My vote is that the long hangy-down tube houses a candle and a spring. I like the knife-sharpening wheel. We were just talking about bike-powered sharpening wheels. Good point, Mike. There is supposed to be a candle in there. About the other little machine on the right, I also thought I was seeing a sharpening device, but the guy who had posted this picture on it.sport.ciclismo corrected me and said that it is to separate the grains from a corn cob (???). Now all we need is a picture of an itinerant Italian corn kernel separator separating corn kernels from corn cobs in the streets of old Italy. Ah! I remember the traditional corn kernel separator song he always sang as he pedaled down the street on his bicycle/corn kernel separator, "Corn separated! Why use-a your teeth? Fast and inexpensive! I separate it for-a you!" Wasn't much of a song, now that I think about it. Mama always closed the blinds when he rode by. "That guy's an a$$hole," she always said. -- Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Bend, Oregon |
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For Carl Fogel to decipher
On 11/18/2008 2:52 PM A Muzi wrote:
sergio wrote: http://img408.imageshack.us/my.php?image=geshkl9.jpg A Muzi wrote: Decipher?? It's a normal bike! "bicicletta da corsa in pista" says it all! ... acetylene lamp ... Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote: Really? I see a candle in there. My vote is that the long hangy-down tube houses a candle and a spring. I like the knife-sharpening wheel. We were just talking about bike-powered sharpening wheels. As Carl elucidated, candle not acetylene. I learned the differences! No worries, man. You kick my ass any day when it comes to matters two-wheeled. I just happen to have been introduced to acetylene mining lanterns by my late father, who used them when he was a kid exploring caves in Missouri. Took me in one when I was a tad and showed me where he'd written his name on the rock wall with the soot from the flame. I also used acetylene lamps during backpacking trips back in the 70's for reading light. A small bottle of calcium carbide chunks provided more hours of reading time than the equivalent weight in batteries. Nowadays LED lighting is the gold standard of lightweight lighting. -- Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Bend, Oregon |
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For Carl Fogel to decipher
sergio wrote:
http://img408.imageshack.us/my.php?image=geshkl9.jpg Nice photo. What is the purpose of the "peg" sticking out from the left side of the rear axle? I doubt this bike was used for a lot of grinding on curbs, etc. -- Dave dvt at psu dot edu |
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For Carl Fogel to decipher
On Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:34:29 -0500, Dave wrote:
sergio wrote: http://img408.imageshack.us/my.php?image=geshkl9.jpg Nice photo. What is the purpose of the "peg" sticking out from the left side of the rear axle? I doubt this bike was used for a lot of grinding on curbs, etc. Dear Dave, Mounting peg. Absolutely necessary for getting up onto a highwheeler. Useful for getting on early dwarf safeties. Eventually they died out. Here's a dangling mounting peg on an early safety: http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/r...g=2&imagepos=8 The dangling kind were replaced by a knurled stub sticking straight out from the axle: http://www.nostalgic.net/pictures/1659.htm http://www.nostalgic.net/index.asp?S...EZ+hub+2%2Ejpg Starley's early Rover had an axle-style mounting peg on the wrong (shudder!) side--here it is in use: http://i13.tinypic.com/4v67a5z.jpg There it is, brazenly sticking out on the right: http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/r...2&imagepos=135 Cheers, Carl Fogel |
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