The Modern Bicycle and Its Accessories

by Alex Schwalbach; Julius Wilcox

The Windsor hub is of the corrugated pattern, having a double flange in which the spoke holes are drilled, and with a buttonhole device for inserting the same.

The [Crescent hub] is built with a straight flange over the body of the hub, and this hub flange is turned over, forming a wide bearing surface, which is drilled for the spoke holes, and underneath this outer edge a buttonhole device is placed in the body of the flange by which the spokes can be easily removed and replaced, and without the removal of the rear sprocket.

The [Columbia hub] has a series of studs inserted in the body of the hub and through these studs holes are drilled, and the direct tangent spokes are inserted therein.

The Eclipse hub is turned from the solid bar of steel and has two flanges at each end; these flanges have alternate slots and holes. A T-head spoke is inserted by passing the head down the slot and pushing it sideways down the opposite hole in the adjoining flange.

The [Wolff-American hub], which was one of the first large tubular hubs shown in this country, is made of steel tubing without either projection or flanges, but has a buttonhole device which greatly simplifies the replacing of spokes. Inside the hub and underneath the spoke holes is placed a dust-proof ring which prevents the intrusion of dust into the bearings. They use a hollow axle containing an absorbent wick saturated with oil. In the axle over the wick is a minute hole on each side, through which the oil is drawn by centrifugal force by the revolving of the balls, and thus is supplied to the bearings in the crank-hanger in the same way and automatically the supply is regulated by the demand.

The makers of the [Cleveland] also have an automatic oiling device on their hubs. The wheel and crank axles are tubular and hollow. This space forms an oil receiver. In order to prevent the oil from escaping from the hollow axles the end is plugged with a screw; under the head of the screw is a piece of packing, making the joint perfectly tight. The flow of oil is regulated by wicking drawn through small holes drilled in the axles close to the bearings. These holes are plugged so tightly that the oil will not escape when the bicycle is not in use. The moment the wheel begins to revolve capillary attraction produces a drop of oil at the end of the wicking.

There is this to be said in favor of both the [Wolff-American] and [Cleveland] devices that there is no danger of losing any oil cups, and that after a long, dusty ride oil has not surrounded the hubs and crank hanger bracket to which the dust can be attracted, and the bicycle is therefore very much easier to keep clean. The makers of these styles of automatic oiling devices claim that they will carry a season’s supply of oil, but even if this should not prove to be true, it is only necessary to lay the bicycle on its side, remove the plugs in the ends of the axles and pour oil into the reservoir.

WOOD RIMS.

As has been already noted in the article on tendencies, the wood rim has undisputed possession of the field, not a single American maker cataloguing a steel or other metal rim. Even the makers of the Eagle, who formerly used an aluminum rim, now offer it as an option only, and show all their samples with wood rims, and this may again be regarded as a reversion, the original type of the old “Dandy Horse” velocipede having been built with wood rims and shod with iron, the only difference now being that we use wood rims shod with air, and when the “[good old ordinary]” came in vogue steel rims were introduced. On the ordinary, however, which had only small solid tires, the rim was a narrow grooved one, and possessing, as it did, very little lateral strength, it had a great tendency to buckle under the force of a blow or a collision, and when the safety came in vogue this same idea of rim construction was carried into it. An improvement was made, however, in their construction in making them of a double hollow construction which increased its lateral resistance, but in case of accident made them extremely difficult to repair. A little later, when the cushion tire arrived, the single rim and the double-hollow rim were used, making them, of course, of a larger cross-section to fit the tires used, and when the pneumatic tire was invented the steel rims first used very much resembled a band of hoop iron used on an ordinary washtub. Afterward double-hollow rims were used on bicycles with pneumatic tires, and single rims which were fluted or corrugated in order to give them additional stiffness were also used. In 1891 McKee & Harrington of New York City, the makers of the Lyndhurst, introduced a bicycle having wood rims. These rims were made of second-growth white ash and were of the single-piece variety, joined together with a long, tapering “skive,” and the entire rim and joint were covered with natural color Pongee silk, which was glued on, producing a watertight rim. This rim was the production of Mr. Charles Harrington of this firm, who for many years before entering the bicycle business had been known as a practical wood worker. Makers and riders were very skeptical of the value of the wood rim, but after a few well-known racing men had won a few track and road events on them and the wood rim had shown its utility and value by its increased resiliency and speed, and that it was stronger across its lateral plane than a steel rim of any type could ever hope to be, and with its non-liability, therefore, to buckle in a collision, it became a popular thing, and in less than two years, as has been seen, it has completely routed the steel rim out of the American market. In England, however, owing to the large use of the detachable tire and the moist climate, its advance has not been so rapid, but it is coming along even there, and it bids fair to supplant the steel rim there in another season or two. One-piece rims are not so largely used as heretofore. The laminated rim as now made, which was originated in 1893, seems to be the most popular one on a majority of the high cost bicycles on the market. It is to be noted, however, that the rims of this season, almost without exception, are broader across their face and thicker through in section, which is an especially good feature, inasmuch as it gives the tire a larger and firmer bed to rest upon, so that it is not so liable to be cut by the edges of the rim. Of course, making the rim broader and thicker and heavier takes away some of the points which were formerly used in its favor, notably those of light weight and resiliency. The up-to-date wood rim more closely approaches in weight the lightest possible form of steel rim, and it is a notable fact that the wood rim is the only prominent contribution in bicycle construction that America has presented to the world, and there is good reason for this, however, because our Yankee and our Western wood workers have long been famous for their progress in the art of wood working and wood bending. One of the most famous wood benders is Mr. H. H. Shepard of New Haven, Conn. In 1889 he had the temerity to send to the Paris Exposition, in the care of a French exhibitor, not wishing to go to the expense of a personal representation, some samples of his wood bending. These samples came in direct competition with the great Vienna, German and French wood benders, and although Mr. Shepard, as before stated, was not personally represented, to his great surprise the Commissioners unanimously awarded him the only solid silver medal for superior excellence in that department.