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The religious wars continue…
The Daily Volk has been whingeing about bicycles a lot recently but their latest moan is about speed bumps to slow down bicyclists on a back alley in Islington. Apparently local pedestrians have complained about the danger posed by “speeding cyclists rampaging” down the street. Apparently.
from The Daily Mail, 25th Sept 2009
Hells teeth…! Just look at them, would you? Pedestrians and cyclists battling for space on a thronging suburban thoroughfare… LOOK! Look at those “rampaging” cyclists!
Can “throng” be used as a verb?
r:B
Entire frame, without any attachment, F, fourth line, F clef; handle-bar Bflat under first ledger line, G clef; a piece of tubing C; brake handle, D; front fork, Eflat; right crank with a portion of attachment to sprocket wheel, Esharp; left crank only, F; handle-bar post, G; saddle post, A; brake-rod with brake, Bflat; sprocket wheel, C; front hub, D; spokes, E on the first line and its octave above; step F; front axle, G.
“The Music of the Bicycle”,
Musical Standard, November 1897
r:B
I remember having a leather hub cleaner on my three-speed bicycle some years ago, before it eventually rotted and fell off along some country lane. I’ve never seen them for sale anywhere – even the ugly, modern, toilet brush alternative is difficult to track down. So I made some…
I was so pleased with the results that I drew up a pattern (PDF) for public dissemination…
Simply find an old leather belt, cut some straps, lube them lightly with machine oil and affix them to your hubs. Job done…
r:B
Whilst perusing some fascinating 19th century material on chainless bicycle solutions, I happened across this drawing of the Hildick Chainless Bicycle Gear.
The Hildick Chainless Bicycle Gear (1898)
Given the main reason for replacing the bicycle chain is to obviate a messy, potentially dangerous and fragile drive system, the decision to opt for a large, open gear and all the greasy, moving parts that entails seems somewhat eccentric. In case you haven’t worked it out, the inner ring of the mechanism is fixed and the outer ring runs on bearings, something like a giant freewheel. In its favour, it looks as though it could have been retro-fitted to any standard, chain-driven bicycle.
It made me reflect on something I’d once read Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, say about the South Pointing Chariot invented by the ancient Chinese – a cart which, through an assembly of differentials, pinions and annular gears, would always point an indicator stick South, no matter in which direction it was driven. The odd thing is that the Chinese had already discovered the magnetic properties of lodestones and thus had a ready method of detecting North even when unable to use astronomical navigation. They had essentially reinvented the problem! Now, if only someone had pointed Mr Kamen towards the bicycle he might have saved himself a lot of bother.
To me, the most elegant solution for a chainless bicycle offered in the late 1890s was the bevel-geared shaft-drive system by Sterling and others in the USA, possibly because it looks so much like the hand-operated food mixer I remember mentally disassembling as a child. Unfortunately, it would probably have limited serviceable life due to gear wear – the bevelled teeth providing such a small point of contact that they would be unable to take the full leverage of the crank over a prolonged period – but it does offer some inspiration.
The Sterling bevel-geared Chainless Crank Bracket (1898)
What if the crank axle were a fixed worm gear so that there was more metal in constant contact with the drive shaft and hence a more evenly spread load? This after all is the chief benefit of a chain – the spread load of numerous teeth being driven at once. Would the gear ratio be too low to be practical? It would certainly take up less space in the bottom bracket…
If we revert to a chainwheel and chain, with the appropriate constraining rollers, there is no reason at all we could not have a chaindriven system which was completely enclosed in the chainstay!
Any thoughts?
UPDATE: Appears that UK company Zero Bikes have already resuscitated the shaft-driven chainless bicycle. I really should keep up to date!
UPDATE 2: OK! There’s also Dynamic Bicycles in the USA. Jings! I’m so out of touch!
UPDATE 3: Yes…and also from Beixo in the Netherlands. This post is now closed!
r:B
Near the beginning of December I made an early entry to the Yehuda Moon headbadge contest, restricting myself to the Van Sweringen category since I normally ride a similar machine.
Looking at the other entries for the Van Sweringen, there seems to be an assumption of traditionalism or Olde Worlde-ness in both the imagery and choice of typeface. To me, this completely misses the point of the upright, three-speed bicycle as a twentieth-century urban phenomenon, not to mention a modernist icon.
When the early roadsters were being produced there was a certain degree of marketability in the notion of heritage, of something stable and familiar in a period of increasingly rapid modernisation.
I attempted to reflect the modern Dutch heritage of the city bicycle by drawing inspiration from the neoplasticist/De Stijl movement, in particular the limited primary palette so indicative of Mondrian or Rietveld.
I went for a slightly later style of typeface, the early De Stijl efforts being a tad too square and blocky for decorative purposes.
I made a few prelimary sketches as vector drawings – looking primarily at the arrangement of colours but with the main idea relatively concrete. It struck me immediately that an exaggerated elongated ‘S’ presented a strong visual analogy for the road. I toyed with the idea of using the lowercase ‘v’ as a headlight beam…but decided this would introduce too much of a narrative/figurative element into what was, after all, a logo.
I then worked it up in a CAD package before rendering it for the final image. In hindsight, I should probably have taken more time and curved the “badge ” to fit the headtube…
Anyway, you can pop over and vote for me – Flaneur Brian – should you feel charitable.
r:B
I recently stumbled across a video clip which prompted recollection of a curious bicycle uility-cum-security handlebar that was marketed in the late 19th and early part of the twentieth century.
The device was invented by one J. F. Sargeant of Bracknell and comprised a two-part handlebar containing inside it a selection of tools including a bicycle pump, oil-can, cleaning brush, and spanner.
It seems the handlebar was easily detached and solidly reattached with a single rotation of the left half. The removable half was also retained as proof of ownership when checking the bicycle aboard a train, both halves sharing a unique identifying number.
The patented design could be retrospectively fitted to most varieties of bicycle and a service was offered which would convert the customer’s existing handlebars including full nickel re-plating.
It was felt the bicycle was less likely to be stolen when left parked with incomplete or “dismembered” handlebars. If further security was felt necessary, Mr Sargeant had also developed a version which contained a Colt revolver, apparently tested successfully at the Military Tournament. An umbrella might have been more useful…!
From what I can determine, the handlebar was originally manufactured under license by Longhurst and Hitcham of Ascot but a trade advertisement from 1897 suggests a manufactory in Wokingham, nearby but on the opposite (west) side of Bracknell from Ascot…
Now, we both know that the natural laws of the universe would normally ordain that the “patent improved” handlebar part at the most inopportune moment, most likely while negotiating a potholed road under heavy traffic.
However, the video clip below would tend to suggest this is not an entirely unmanageable situation and this contraption of Sargeant’s may not have been the acme of theft deterrence the inventor would have led us to believe…
r:B
It has been an interesting first year for ABV. I’ve just had a quick look at the stats – something I normally avoid – and here are the most popular spontaneous clicks of 2008…
Most popular posts:
1. 1983 “The Kalkhoff” (who would’ve figured!?)
2. Bicyclography
3. first steps in bicycle refurbishment
4. that 1992 Raleigh Chiltern…
5. Introduction
Most popular search terms:
1. raleigh superbe
2. raleigh roadster
3. kalkhoff coupe du monde
4. raleigh superbe roadster
5. raleigh chiltern
Most popular referrers: (thanks!)
1. cityexile.wordpress.com
2. nc-ppe.blogspot.com
3. oldbikeblog.blogspot.com
Most popular outgoing links:
1. oldbikeblog.blogspot.com
2. cityexile.wordpress.com
3. threespeedgallery.blogspot.com
Well, by popular demand, I suppose you’ll be seeing more of my old ‘Hoff in 2009!
r:B
“It is a strange fact that the Dutch, among the most bicycle-conscious of Europeans, have the most dangerous bicycles. Equipped only with back-pedal brakes, they leave both hands free to fend off pedestrians and point out landmarks. The Germans share their preference for back-pedal brakes, but they suplement them with an emergency hand brake on the front wheel. This is of the ‘plunger’ type, and stops the bicycle more effectively than the rider; but it is at least a gesture to safety. The Dutch, one assumes, are keen to demonstrate their courage or geography or both.”
– The Times, Monday, July 18, 1955
R:B
