Scientific American trick riding 1894 and 1897

Scientific American sometimes rose about mere mechanical matters and
showed trick and fancy riders, as they were known.

Here are eight pictures of the American Valdare doing stunts for a
French magazine on page 53 of the July 24 issue of 1897, all on a
newfangled safety bicycle:

http://i13.tinypic.com/7y3s2fb.jpg

A few years earlier, Scientific American showed ten pictures of the
trick and fancy competition in Leipzig between the American N.C.
Kaufman and the Frenchman August Gouget:

http://i17.tinypic.com/8eufoqs.jpg

It looks as if most of that competition involved highwheelers, which
had already faded from the streets by 1894. One rider would do a
trick, and the other would try to repeat it.

Kaufman stomped Gouget, 284 4/5 points to 228 2/5 points, but the
gentlemanly Scientific American ended the article with the comment
that "Gouget was not to be scorned as an opponent." In fact, Gouget
did some tricks that Kaufman didn't even try to reproduce.

It's a little like the Armstrong-Ulrich rivalry in the Tour. Anyone
who argues that Ulrich was a poor rider should notice that only two
riders finished on the podium seven times between 1996 to 2005, and
only one of those two riders competed regularly in other events:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/results/h...dfhistory.html

Just as Gouget could probably ride stunt rings around almost anyone
except Kaufman, Ulrich could beat just about anybody except Armstrong.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Dear Carl,

You have been coming up with wonderful stuff from old Scientific
Americans and the like, but the images you link to are so small as to
make the text basically illegible.

You're using Tinypic.com, which is fine, but could you provide
information on how you're finding these articles (assuming you're
finding 'em on line, not scanning long-dead tree versions.)

Is there some central repository of ancient back issues, sort of like
the wonderful Cornell "Making of America" series?

( http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_browse.html )

As ever, y'r. h'ble', obd't. s'vt.,

Sheldon "It Was All Invented Before WW1" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| If you like chamber and instrumental music, check out |
| This great podcast from the Boston's Gardner Museum: |
| http://gardnermuseum.org/music/podcast/theconcert.asp |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:21:07 -0800 (PST), Sheldon Brown
wrote:

Dear Carl,

You have been coming up with wonderful stuff from old Scientific
Americans and the like, but the images you link to are so small as to
make the text basically illegible.

You're using Tinypic.com, which is fine, but could you provide
information on how you're finding these articles (assuming you're
finding 'em on line, not scanning long-dead tree versions.)

Is there some central repository of ancient back issues, sort of like
the wonderful Cornell "Making of America" series?

( http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_browse.html )

As ever, y'r. h'ble', obd't. s'vt.,

Sheldon "It Was All Invented Before WW1" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| If you like chamber and instrumental music, check out |
| This great podcast from the Boston's Gardner Museum: |
| http://gardnermuseum.org/music/podcast/theconcert.asp |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Dear Sheldon,

Oooh, Harper's Weekly digitized--thanks!

***

Image size . . .

It seems unlikely, but you may not have your browser showing the
tinypic images full-size. I expect that you use a Mac, but in Explorer
you move the mouse to the lower right corner of the image and
left-click on the little bigger-or-smaller icon that pops up.

On my alleged 17-inch diagonal screen, this 4-inch-wide unreadable
image expands to about 12 inches wide

http://i7.tinypic.com/6tzaa1e.jpg

Maybe some other Mac users will chime in and reveal how to expand the
images to full size--if that's the probelm.

But the scans are still wretched scans of bad copier printouts of
microfilm scans. Automatic exposure works about half the time, but the
rest of the time I get to guess what setting will fool the microfilm
reader, which retaliates by occasionally sulking and producing a
blinding white scan for the next half-dozen attempts.

***

My source . . .

Alas, I grovel through microfilm at the library. A dead tree version
would be wonderful, since it would be immensely faster and would copy
like a dream.

You wouldn't believe how frustrating and inconvenient the computerized
print-from-microfilm feature is at my library, so here's my rant:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.b...f63ad93cf14e0c

Of course, the library microfilm is free, barring the dime-per-page
and my time. I tried a camera, but the lights shining off the reader's
screen made it useless. Like most people, I complain too much about
the quality of what's nearly free.

***

Digital source . . .

Alas, there's no digitized source for old Scientific Americans.

Gutenberg has a sampling of pre-1900 Scientific Americans, usually
with a nice html presentation that includes the illustrations.

But they seem to be just selected articles, not full issues, so the
smaller articles that addressed bikes are usually missing. I searched
them and came up practically empty. You can see them by going to
Gutenberg and searching in the title for scientific american
supplement:

http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/search

No quote marks, and you have to include supplement. Otherwise, the
search fails.

Thanks again for that Harper's Weekly link. An curiously improved
version of your beloved Bio-Pace oval chain rings will appear soon.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

wrote:
On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:21:07 -0800 (PST), Sheldon Brown
wrote:

Dear Carl,

You have been coming up with wonderful stuff from old Scientific
Americans and the like, but the images you link to are so small as to
make the text basically illegible.

You're using Tinypic.com, which is fine, but could you provide
information on how you're finding these articles (assuming you're
finding 'em on line, not scanning long-dead tree versions.)
....

Sheldon "It Was All Invented Before WW1" Brown


Dear Sheldon,

Image size . . .

It seems unlikely, but you may not have your browser showing the
tinypic images full-size. I expect that you use a Mac, but in Explorer
you move the mouse to the lower right corner of the image and
left-click on the little bigger-or-smaller icon that pops up.

On my alleged 17-inch diagonal screen, this 4-inch-wide unreadable
image expands to about 12 inches wide

http://i7.tinypic.com/6tzaa1e.jpg

Maybe some other Mac users will chime in and reveal how to expand the
images to full size--if that's the probelm.

My Firefox (Mac):
The image loads resized to the width of the window. Placing the cursor
over image, the cursor changes to a magnifying glass with a plus sign in
it. Clicking expands them image to full size.

Safari:
Same exact thing.

The first link that Carl posted is noticeably harder to read than the
second.

\\paul

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:21:07 -0800 (PST), Sheldon Brown
wrote:

Is there some central repository of ancient back issues, sort of like
the wonderful Cornell "Making of America" series?

( http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_browse.html )

Aha! Harper's Weekly in Sheldon's link has Much better pictures of the
Victor dynamometer and resilometer than can be seen in Scientific
American:


http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-b...ames=1&view=50

The resiliometer measured the resilence, or bounce, of tires.

Inflation probably mattered more than the composition of the Victor
tires, but that didn't stop them from using it in weekly ads in the
back of Scientific American, which showed the same picture of the
contraption and boasted that the Victor tires were the best.

More useful was the dynamometer, an early version of a PowerTap in the
form of a thick pedal that contained a roll of paper moved by
clockwork while a pen traced the pressure on the spring-loaded pedal.

A version of the dynamometer is mentioned by Sharp, who credits Scott
with the data:

http://books.google.com/books?id=gFM...CQ#P PA269,M1

And here's Scott's original Cyclograph discussion:


http://books.google.com/books?id=rZQ...bS6CQ#PPA48,M1

Allegedly, the Victor company switched to 8 rather than 7 tooth rear
cogs, based on graphs from the dynamometer that showed that fewer
teeth were less efficient. Such accuracy might have been beyond the
crude device, but modern testing confirms the theory that larger gears
are more efficient.

Incidentally, remember to double the number of teeth on those antique
7 and 8 tooth inch-pitch sprockets to get our modern equivalents, 14
and 16 teeth.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:13:00 -0700, wrote:

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:21:07 -0800 (PST), Sheldon Brown
wrote:

Dear Carl,

You have been coming up with wonderful stuff from old Scientific
Americans and the like, but the images you link to are so small as to
make the text basically illegible.

You're using Tinypic.com, which is fine, but could you provide
information on how you're finding these articles (assuming you're
finding 'em on line, not scanning long-dead tree versions.)

Is there some central repository of ancient back issues, sort of like
the wonderful Cornell "Making of America" series?

( http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_browse.html )

As ever, y'r. h'ble', obd't. s'vt.,

Sheldon "It Was All Invented Before WW1" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| If you like chamber and instrumental music, check out |
| This great podcast from the Boston's Gardner Museum: |
| http://gardnermuseum.org/music/podcast/theconcert.asp |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Dear Sheldon,

Oooh, Harper's Weekly digitized--thanks!

***

Image size . . .

It seems unlikely, but you may not have your browser showing the
tinypic images full-size. I expect that you use a Mac, but in Explorer
you move the mouse to the lower right corner of the image and
left-click on the little bigger-or-smaller icon that pops up.

On my alleged 17-inch diagonal screen, this 4-inch-wide unreadable
image expands to about 12 inches wide

http://i7.tinypic.com/6tzaa1e.jpg

Maybe some other Mac users will chime in and reveal how to expand the
images to full size--if that's the probelm.

But the scans are still wretched scans of bad copier printouts of
microfilm scans. Automatic exposure works about half the time, but the
rest of the time I get to guess what setting will fool the microfilm
reader, which retaliates by occasionally sulking and producing a
blinding white scan for the next half-dozen attempts.

***

My source . . .

Alas, I grovel through microfilm at the library. A dead tree version
would be wonderful, since it would be immensely faster and would copy
like a dream.

You wouldn't believe how frustrating and inconvenient the computerized
print-from-microfilm feature is at my library, so here's my rant:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.b...f63ad93cf14e0c

Of course, the library microfilm is free, barring the dime-per-page
and my time. I tried a camera, but the lights shining off the reader's
screen made it useless. Like most people, I complain too much about
the quality of what's nearly free.

***

Digital source . . .

Alas, there's no digitized source for old Scientific Americans.

Gutenberg has a sampling of pre-1900 Scientific Americans, usually
with a nice html presentation that includes the illustrations.

But they seem to be just selected articles, not full issues, so the
smaller articles that addressed bikes are usually missing. I searched
them and came up practically empty. You can see them by going to
Gutenberg and searching in the title for scientific american
supplement:

http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/search

No quote marks, and you have to include supplement. Otherwise, the
search fails.

Thanks again for that Harper's Weekly link. An curiously improved
version of your beloved Bio-Pace oval chain rings will appear soon.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

A nice trio of ads in Harpers of 1895, showing that the bike boom was
underway:


http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-b...K4014-0091-108

Drawings like the top one of a rider using coasting pegs are rare.

This is the only actual photograph of coasting pegs in action that
I've found:


http://www.nostalgic.net/index.asp?S...+on+bike%2Ejpg

Graphite chain lubrication gave way to the modern oil versus wax
debate. You could buy graphite sticks, 2nd from the top on the right,
along with other necessities, such as Plugolio and other tube
sealants, rim cement or shellac, and soapstone (apparently they
believed in the virtue of talc on inner tubes):


http://www.nostalgic.net/index.asp?S...ty+pg+25%2Ejpg

The same sundries from Morley Brothers 1916 catalogue:

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/morley/14.jpg

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/morley/15.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:13:00 -0700, wrote:

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:21:07 -0800 (PST), Sheldon Brown
wrote:

Is there some central repository of ancient back issues, sort of like
the wonderful Cornell "Making of America" series?

( http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_browse.html )

The Bicycle Thief cartoon, Feb. 1897, from Harpers:


http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-b...ABK4014-0094-5

"Scorching" was the term for wild, high-speed riding with no regard
for anyone else, roughly the equivalent of messengers misbehaving on
fixies today.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:13:00 -0700, wrote:

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:21:07 -0800 (PST), Sheldon Brown
wrote:

Is there some central repository of ancient back issues, sort of like
the wonderful Cornell "Making of America" series?

"Tire Gossip" is the 1897 Harpers equivalent of the modern "special
advertising section" that infests so many magazines:


http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-b...ABK4014-0094-8

There is no known incident in which U.S. troops or civilians dropped
their bicycles and defended themselves in the West, but illustrators
loved to imagine it happening. The cactus is a nice touch and
necessary to the Vim Company's anti-flat sealant.

Here's an equally imaginary but more plausible version with horses:

http://www.artunframed.com/images/russell98/269.jpg

What really caught my eye in the Vim ad was this bicycle repair:


http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-b...ames=1&view=50

I like to flip my bike upside-down for easy repairs, but I confess
that I have no idea why that guy is balancing his bike on its front
tire and handlebar, with the seat in the air.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:13:00 -0700, wrote:

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:21:07 -0800 (PST), Sheldon Brown
wrote:

Is there some central repository of ancient back issues, sort of like
the wonderful Cornell "Making of America" series?

( http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_browse.html )

Here's an even better example of the bicycle boom, bike ads from page
75 to page 86 in Harpers for May, 1897:


http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-b...ABK4014-0094-8

Try to imagine the New Yorker today with a dozen pages of bike ads.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 16:13:00 -0700, wrote:

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 13:21:07 -0800 (PST), Sheldon Brown
wrote:

Is there some central repository of ancient back issues, sort of like
the wonderful Cornell "Making of America" series?

( http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/moa_browse.html )

In September 1897, Harpers opened with a huge article, "Around London
By Bicycle," profusely illustrated and running 22 pages, from page 489
to 510.

A more insipid travelogue is hard to imagine.

From the bicycling point of view, the kindest thing that can be said
of Ms. Pennell is that she had a flat tire on on page 494, but
declined to discuss such depressing matters:

"Of the trouble that came upon me after Godstone, of my punctured
tire, and the long delay in a repair-shop of Oxted--a delay that gave
the artillery a chance to get ahead of us again--I shall say nothing.
Why dwell on the short interval of misery, when the rest of the long
morning has left only memories of great beauty--of sweeping green
meadows and fast-flying clouds, of hedges scarlet with hips and haws
and blah-blah-blah."


http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-b...ames=1&view=50

Most of the time, you wouldn't know that the wench was on two wheels.
(To be fair, the men writing about their bicycle tours for magazines
at the time turned out drivel every bit as awful.)

Far more pithy and specific is this small ad, second from the bottom
on the left in November, 1897:

"3000 bicycles must be closed out at once. Standard '97 models,
guarnt'd, $14 to $20. 2nd hand wheels at $12 to $15. Shipped to anyone
on approval without advance deposit. Great factory clearing sale. Earn
a bicycle by helping advertise us. We will give one agent in each town
free use of a single wheel to introduce them. Write at once for our
special offer. D.H. Mead & Prentiss, Chicago, Ill."


http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-b...ABK4014-0095-8

In other words, the bike boom was starting to burst, even as Harpers
published 22 pages of insipid travel twaddle as its leading article,
the hook being the word "bicycle" in the title. Prices were dropping
like rocks from the $150 to $100 level, even as new companies rushed
to enter the saturated market

A few years later, a Harvard economist studying bankruptcies published
this brief history of the bicycle boom and bust:

Chronological Summary

1890. Beginning of bicycle industry.
1897. Popularity of bicycle reaches its climax.
1898. Promotion of the consolodation.
1899. American Bicycle Company commences operations.
1900. First published statement.
1902. Failure of the American Bicycle Company.


http://books.google.com/books?id=JU8...MTp4a2A7PzxIYO

Cheers,

Carl Fogel