Bicycling for Ladies / The Common Sense of Bicycling; with Hints as to the Art of Wheeling—Advice to Beginners—Dress—Care of the Bicycle—Mechanics—Training—Exercise, etc., etc.

by Maria E. Ward

In a machine properly adjusted, the chain and other gear should run smoothly, the chain be neither too tight nor too loose, and the sprocket-wheels exactly in line. The bicycle wheels should run true and be exactly in line with the frame, and the rear wheel follow the identical plane of the front wheel when in place. The frame should be true and square at all points, and should be examined and tested always after the machine has been travelling by rail or has had a fall. The bearings in all parts of the machine should have their cone-caps in place and so screwed and keyed that the balls run easily without perceptible play. Nuts and washers should all be in place and screwed home. The handle-bar should be tight and square with the front wheel, but only tight enough to turn the wheel on a good surface, not so tight as to prevent it from turning easily if the wheel is caught or held. The proper adjustment for position has to do with the frame, wheel-base, length of crank, height and position of saddle; the curve, width, height, and general adjustment of the handle-bar; the size and number of teeth on the sprocket-wheels, which determines the gear; and the weight, construction, and inflation of the tire.

The saddle is one of the most important, if not the most important, part of the bicycle to study, as it should provide the fulcrum to work from. Any saddle may be adjusted to be comfortable, but saddles seldom remain comfortable after being adjusted. The saddle should be hard enough to act as a fulcrum and should not give or spring under work, for power is lost on each stroke that presses down on a soft saddle; it should also permit of change of position without readjustment, unless it is intended for racing purposes, for the bicyclist should be able to speed, climb, or coast on a saddle properly constructed for general purposes. Each of these different kinds of bicycle work requires a different application of muscular power, and the saddle should permit of a readjustment of position that will at least accommodate the altered tendency caused by a shifted centre of gravity in grade work.

Every individual is differently proportioned, with differing lever lengths and lever power. If people differently proportioned find the same adjustment possible, it would be for the reason, not that their different requirements average the same, but that the average of their different requirements is the same. A higher gear means greater resistance; a lengthened crank causes the foot to travel in a larger circle while gaining in increased leverage in the lengthened arm.

In determining the proper proportion of crank length and gear, it may be calculated that the same amount of resistance may be overcome by using a higher gear and longer crank as by using a lower gear and shorter crank, the difference being in the rapidity of the stroke necessary to cover a given distance in a certain length of time. This adjustment may be considered equivalent to length of pace and rapidity of pace in walking. It is well to have crank and gear selected by some one sufficiently experienced to make an intelligent choice.

In the lever action of the leg, working the bicycle crank, care should be taken to prevent waste of power in carrying the foot back and behind, rendering the lever movement useless behind the line where the power may be made to tell. This loss will occur when the saddle is placed too far forward. The foot in returning should supply the pull, and lift with a push-back. The power here gained cannot compensate for power lost on the forward and down thrust, and the saddle should be placed far enough back to permit of the full power of the forward push and downward thrust. The knee should never fully extend when the pedal is pushed to the point where it is furthest from you, for if it is, there is danger in hill-climbing of straining the knee as well as the tendons and muscles of the back of the leg.

The handle-bars should be adapted to the work to be done, whether racing, touring, or ordinary. They certainly should not be high enough to prevent them from taking part of the weight of the body, nor so low as to cramp any portion of the trunk.

Fatigue, with its various manifestations, cramp, stiffness, and numbness, comes from too long a period of work without change of position. For this reason different muscular combinations should be called to do the same work, or different work should be done with unused muscular combinations, permitting rest or partial rest to muscles that have been taxed.

A bicycle should be fitted with adjustable handle-bar and saddle-post, and in case of fatigue or cramp, a slight change in the adjustment will reduce the tendency at once. Travelling should be done with as little weight on the saddle as possible, working on the pedals and resting on the handles. But when it comes to climbing, the push must be located from a fulcrum, and that fulcrum must be the saddle. All weight must be removed from the handles, and the wheel ridden by balance.

A hill should be coasted with the weight all on the saddle, the feet supported, and the handles held firmly and lightly, a proper average position for continuous work being, however, maintained. To carry weight forward, the weight should be forward of the centre of gravity, and the hands dropped.

The question of handle-bars, with the reason of their many varying curves, may pertinently be discussed here. The bar is a pair of levers finding a common fulcrum in the head or centre bar, and the difference in curve has to do with the distribution of weight and the touch best suited to control the bicycle according to position and individual balance and lever power. A distribution of weight and leverage may be made without altering the wheel base by the use of a different pattern of bar that seems to suit the individual touch.