MECHANISM AND FRAME OF COLUMBIA CHAINLESS.
The regulation equipment of the [Columbia] Chainless is: 24 inch frame, of 5 per cent. nickeled steel tube; nine inch steering head; outside joints, 2½ inch crank-hanger drop; 5¼ inch tread; 66 and 72 inch gear; weight 26½ pounds; Hartford tires.
The model made for ladies’ use is the well-known double loop drop frame pattern; 5¼ tread, 6½ round cranks, 66 or 72 gear, and weighs, without brake and rear guard, 26½ pounds.
An illustration of the great simplicity of the [Columbia bevel-gear] construction is the fact that when a League wheel was entirely dismembered as to its driving portion only a skilled mechanic was able to reassemble the parts satisfactorily, and that after hours of the most careful work, while a [Columbia Chainless] can be taken apart and put together by any person of ordinary intelligence in less than twenty minutes. The entire absence of back lash in the [Columbia Chainless] is very marked. In response to the slightest motion of the pedals the bicycle begins to move; whether forward or backward this is equally true. The marvel of this construction becomes more and more apparent as tests are varied. Lift a bevel-gear bicycle free from the ground, give one of the pedals a sharp push, and the wheel spins with such ease, rapidity and smoothness that the novice is always surprised. There is no swaying and jump; there is no noise. Even neglect can have no influence on the effectiveness of the bevel-gear wheel, but will simply concern its appearance.
It should be said here that the [Columbia] pattern is distinctive—as the cuts show—in a very novel method of attaching the rear wheel to the frame and providing for its easy removal and replacement.
THE SPALDING CHAINLESS.
In the [Spalding Chainless] the mechanism consists of a series of four bevel-gears used in conjunction with a tubular gear shaft. It is simple in construction and can be readily taken apart and reassembled whenever necessity requires.
