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1896 cycle touring guide
 

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Nick Payne
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 2625
Location: Canberra, Australia

1/15/17 2:25 AM

1896 cycle touring guide

I was browsing the web site of the of the National Library of Australia (sort of our equivalent of the Library of Congress), and came across a wonderful cycle touring guide to New South Wales published in 1896. Written before the days of the motor car, so motorized vehicles never rate a mention.

The tours described probably won't mean much to anyone else on this forum, but I've ridden over most of the country he describes and found some of the descriptions hilarious - climbs which are quite severe on a modern bicycle with gears are described as "some exertion may be required" - remember that he was writing for riders on fixed wheel machines that weighed around 25lbs plus whatever gear they were carrying, and some of the tours described cover 500 or 600 miles over multiple days.

I've reproduced a couple of the technical pages - I particularly like his description of braking technique on the second of the pages, plus the recommendation to carry a couple of nails to repair broken chains.

The entire document is here: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-204577885/view?partId=nla.obj-204585020#page/n0/mode/1up


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dddd
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3345
Location: NorCal

1/15/17 11:06 AM

...had me wondering if the old bikes had something like a disc wheel, or if the righ (sic) foot would perhaps fit in above the tire, else the spokes might at least tear the sole of the shoe off and/or throw the rider over the handlebars(?)

At least they had chain drive by then!

And I guess that the slack front geometry of those old bikes would considerably assist in keeping the majority of the rolling weight behind the front axle even as severe braking effect to the front wheel was applied(?).

I learned long ago how to stop a coaster-braked bike that lost it's chain, putting one's left foot atop the chainstay and wedging the sole against the moving tire.
One of my very first rides on my first bike (as a ~six-year-old) had me testing one or more of the laws of physics as I did as this author suggested. I learned a lesson that day that has stayed with me...

And in all seriousness, one of the "black arts" of servicing old bikes that I have become particularly adept at is indeed "adjusting the chainwheel", typically using a 3-lb hammer, a wooden drift and a large adjustable wrench. Money saved is money earned with vintage and/or flea-market bikes!

EDIT: I picked this one up yesterday, a 1973 Austrian Steyr/SEARS, in part because the chainwheels and pant-leg protector ring didn't appear to need any adjustment. And because it was all-stock but for the saddle/post and rear tire.

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