HISTORY: The wooden bicycle wheel was introduced by A.C Fairbanks, with patents 1893-1897. He was an American banjo maker, and the rim was actually a variation of the wooden rim used inside a banjo’s metal outer casing. You can see it here on the inside of my 1886 Fairbanks & Cole banjo. A.C Fairbanks set …
Tubular tyres on 1910 No 4 Aero Special Path Racer, with Fairbanks wooden sprint rims. Read More »
HISTORY: The first effective hub gear was patented by Seward Thomas Johnson of Indiana, USA, in 1895. It housed the epicyclic mechanism in a drum adjacent to the drive sprocket; engagement of either gear gave a fixed wheel condition. William Reilly was the inventor of this two-speed hub. It was similar to Johnson’s, but had …
“You will notice that the three brakes illustrated have a central movement action of which we were the originators in this country. Today we possess several patents with our French manufacturers in connection with these brakes.” – The CONSTRICTOR TYRE Co, Forest Gate, London, E7
1895 Maywood Double Diamond Duplex tubing and open frame chainwheel design Cash Buyers’ Union 23.5” Frame. 28″ Wheels with solid tyres ‘Double diamond’ frames, also known as ‘open frames’ or duplex tubes, were in vogue in Britain around 1889 and 1890. Rudge made the best-selling model with this feature. The concept copied the design of tricycles, …
Like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, this Ariel ‘Featherweight’ X Frame strides out of the River Ouse to take its rightful place in bicycle history. George Morris of the Referee Cycle Co patented most permutations of X Frame bicycle. He had an arrangement with Charles Sangster of Components Ltd to make and sell …
