SADDLES.
Saddles may be divided pretty accurately into three classes. First are those having a fixed and unyielding metal base and a short pommel, which is not intended to be touched by the rider’s body, the seat portion being fitted with raised pads; second, saddles with a fixed base of either wood or metal, the edges being inflexible but the ease of use depending upon a more exact shaping of the whole, this form of saddle being sometimes varied by being slightly padded near the cantle or back edge, or either padded or inflated at the pommel; third, the saddles which are made by lacing firmly from cantle to pommel, the lacing being then provided with a flexible leather cover. The last named, which is a popular type, is also varied by having pads built on it, and the varieties of saddle under these three types are so great and so different that almost every peculiarity and whim of the rider ought to be met and satisfied this year.
TRICYCLES AND MULTICYCLES.
Tricycles are largely made by only one maker, and there is no apparent reason why they should not be more largely used by those who will not or can not venture to use the two-wheeler.
All the makers are producing tandems, and the peculiarities noted in constructing single models are carried into these also. Variations in tandems, however, consist of a diamond frame in front and a loop frame in the rear, or loop frame in front and diamond frame in the rear, but some have two loop frames so that two ladies can ride them.
Multicycles, such as triplets, quads quintuplets and sextuplets, cannot strictly be said to be for popular use, the makers only building a few of these yearly for advertising and racing purposes.
PRICES AND VALUES.
In concluding this review of the mechanical tendencies of the trade for 1898 the irresistible conviction is forced upon the mind of the critical observer that noblesse oblige evidently seems to have been the motto of every cycle maker for 1898, for never before have cycles been produced so good in design, style, finish, workmanship, material, stanchness and running qualities. Even the lowest-priced models quoted are superior in these respects to those offered in some previous years, and listing from $100 to $125 and $150, and the riding public is to be congratulated on this fact, because it places the bicycle, the vehicle of modern democracy and personal rapid transit, in the hands of the masses, at a popular price, and thus relegates the gaspipe cycle and its maker to well-deserved oblivion.
Undoubtedly the great reduction in price and the great increase in quality, a seeming paradox indeed, are due to what is known as fixity of pattern. Close observers of the trend of the trade and sport say, in addition, that the present conditions and popular prices are caused by the bicycle being no longer a fad of the classes, but a necessity of the masses; that their demand for a well-made and well-known product to meet their wants and purses, has caused this reduction to popular price, and that the needs of the makers in order to meet this want have been fulfilled by improved processes of manufacture, increased efficiency of the labor employed, lessened cost of component parts, and other economies of making and marketing, as well as by the increased quantity of the output. This is true of not only the cycle-making industry, but is also the history of every great American product of manufacture for which there is a great popular demand that leads to competition for popular favor.
On the other hand, the makers have also well provided for that class of the riding public who will be satisfied with nothing less than what might be termed a model de luxe, and who are willing to pay an increased price for this extra finish in construction and detail, so that the mechanical tendencies of the trade may well be summed up by quoting that epigram of Macaulay’s—“in every experimental science there is a tendency toward perfection.”