EXIT THE WOOD FRAME.
A difficulty which has hung about wood frames from the first is that of the joints, nor could it ever be questioned that appearance was not in favor of the wood frame, although, on the other hand, it must be admitted that objections to appearance are soon overcome in cycling construction if there is a good balance of points on behalf of a thing. Perhaps the best-looking of the wood frames was that produced by the “Old Tonk” people, who turned to account the beauty which may be had from several layers of wood placed together. The wood frame has succeeded quite as poorly abroad, and it will probably remain forgotten until, some years hence, it comes up again as a novelty of the season. The Bamboo Cycle Company has just failed in London, and the Irish Cyclist expresses surprise that it remained afloat so long as it did. Not a single expert or a single cycling journal, says the writer, ever referred to the bamboo frame except with disapproval, although it was well advertised and the parties interested were ready to pay for opinions. A considerable number of the bicycles were sold, but the rarity of their appearance on the road suggests that even those who bought them did not use them much. Now that the company has failed, this writer says: “It is to be hoped that no one else will be so foolish as to endeavor to accomplish the impossible task of proving that a bamboo stick is as useful as a steel tube.”
The two working drawings of frame are from W. C. Boak of Buffalo, and are reproductions of his blue-print drawings used in designing and drafting 1898 frames, and show on the men’s model the exact drop (3 inches) of the crank-hanger from a line drawn between the front and rear axles. The length of head is five inches, and the wheel base—the distance between front and rear axles—is 41 11⁄16 inches. On the ladies’ model the crank-hanger is dropped 2½ inches, and the head is 7½ inches, the wheel base being 41⅞ inches. The height of both frames is 22 inches. The small numbers in the illustrations show the angles of the frame and indicate the sizes of the tubing used. The designs call for the use of D-shape tubing for the front and rear forks and backstays and round tubing throughout the rest of the frame.
CHAPTER V.
CHAIN PROTECTION.
All through the preceding articles of this series the words “gear case” appear here and there, and with good reason, too, for the year 1898 marks the beginning of the era in this country of enclosed chains by the use of what are called gear cases. They cannot, however, be strictly classed as a novelty, because they have been known and largely used abroad, particularly in England, for some years past. At the New York Cycle Show of 1896 the only bicycle having a gear case on it was one shown by the makers of the “Singer,” a bicycle-making company of Coventry, England, who showed a gear case made of metal, leather and transparent celluloid. Since that time a few returning tourists have brought with them foreign models with gear cases attached, which, unfortunately for the rider’s comfort and pleasure, were received with a great deal of ridicule and derision, so that even the riders of these cycles bearing the imported gear cases, not being made of that “stern stuff” that pioneers should be, surrendered to public criticism, and, while they knew a gear case is a good thing, took it off in order to avoid being used as the butts of the wit of their facetious friends.
The introduction of the bevel-geared cycle, with its neat gear case, has done much and will do more toward enforcing the necessity for a gear case on all of our chain-driven cycles. In England no bicycle is considered complete without a gear case, but, notwithstanding the fact that all the authorities on the sport and mechanics of the trade of this country have approved of it, not until this season has it gained a foothold here. It certainly cannot be because “it is English, you know,” for everything on the American cycle today, excepting the wood rim, originated in England. The imported gear cases are clumsy and heavy, and, being made mostly of metal, are apt to be noisy. The 1898 gear cases of American make are made of a combination of rubber, leather and metal, and are light, noiseless and graceful, and most of the leading makes of the chain cycles for the coming season are built with sufficient clearance to take a gear case. The cases are catalogued and offered as an option at an average cost of $5 extra, and this last item suggests that the case might have been more popular before but that the makers did not care to add the cost of it to their product in the face of a falling market price. Many of the great retailers will, however, place them on their $75 models without any extra charge to the purchaser.