Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/72

* BICYCLE. 56 of the Bicycle,' produced the first machine em- hodving most of the features which are found in the ordinary or high wheel. The driver was about three times the size of the rear wlieel. and both were provided with rubber tires and cross- tension spokes. Succeeding changes increased tlie size of the front wheel until it was 00 inches in diameter, and that of the rear wheel was corre- spondingly reduced until it fell to 10 inches. In 1875 the average roadster weighed 05 pounds. The modifications and improvements of the ten ■years, during which the bicycle enjoyed a hal- cyon career on both sides of the Atlantic, in- cluded plain, roller, and adjustable ball bearings, direct and tangent spokes, and cushion tires, !Most important of these improvements was the ball bearing, which soon was applied to all the moving parts of the wheel, with the result that its propulsion was accomplished with far less BALL BEABIKO. effort and the rider was ablfe to make greater speed and ride longer distances. The ball bearing illustrated in section consists of a series of .steel balls, arranged in a circle, on which the axle moves, its bearing surface being a cone so turned that it is tangent to the steel ball at c. The balls in turn bear against two other tangent sur- faces at a and h. Consequently friction is re- duced to a minimum, as the points of contact are theoretically a number of points instead of friirfaces. Meanwhile the idea of a safety machine was slowly but surely beginning to assume a tangible shape. An Englishman named H. T. Lawson in- vented a rear-driving safety in 1870. This ma- chine was followed by the Bieyclctte in 1880, the Kangaroo in 188:), and linally by the Marvel and the original Kover in 1884. The last-mentioned, brought out by the veteran .James Starley, was COAIS ASD SPROCKET. really the prototype of the modern bicycle. For a long time the word Rover was a|)plied to all safeties of the new pattern — those with wheels of nearly e<|ual size, the front wheel steer BICYCLE. ing, and the rear one driving by means of a single chain. But the name gradually lost its meaning as the designation of a type, and was CHA1NLES8 TYPE OP 1898 (BETEL OEAB). replaced by the more comiirehensive term of Safety. At present the words bicycle and safety are virtually synonymous, for since 18il0 the high wheel is scarcely to be found outside of junk or curiosity shops. Previous to 1878 Knglish bicy- cles were imported to supply the demand in the United States, but in that year the Pope Manu- facturing Company started the manufacture of bicycles in Boston. The safety model was uni- versally adopted by maniifacturers in this coun- try in 1888. A year later the most important of all modern improvements on the bicycle was made by the application of the pneumatic tire. This was not originally designed for the bicycle, but was patented by R. W. Thompson in England in 184.3 and in the United States in 1847. Its application to the bicycle was patented in 1889 by Dunlop. Since the general adoption of the pneumatic tire the development of the bicycle has consisted in improving its various parts to secure greater strength and lightness and more graceful form ; in the invention and improvement of special parts, such as the coaster brake, sad- dles, adjustable handle-bars, and other familiar fittings : the a])plication of bevel gears and a driving shaft in place of the sprocket wheel and &1ECBANI8M OP COLC.MBIA CHAINLEBP. chain: the invention of the drop frame for ladies' bicycles, and the development of the machine for two, four, six, and even eight persons. S<mie notion of the number of inventions developed in connection with the bicycle is conveyed by the fact that over 5000 i)atents have been granted on velocipedes and bicycles. At the end of 1!)00 there were some 150 manufacturers of bicycles in the United States, with an output of about 1,000.000 wheels annually. A descriiUion of the modern bicycle is some- what superfluous, so familiar has the construc- tion of the machine become during the last dec- ade. Generally speaking, the bicycle of 1002 weighs from 23 to 27 ',i poimds comi)lete. The frame consists of cold-drawn, hidlow steel tubing, with all joints brazed, and all bearings of the