San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-08-25
SAFETY" AGAINST IRREGULAR"
The Squatty Bicycle Driving Out of tx
istence Its Graceful Rival.

The Squatty Bicycle Driving Out of tx
istence Its Graceful Rival.
The bicycle world has it's two schools
now, the old and the new, just like the,
ology and other branches of learning The
conservative element is mounted on the
old style machine, with one tall aud one
small wheel, while the liberals" use the
"safeties." The former kind was, and tu
some extent still is, known as the "crdi
nary" but an incident will show that this
| is misnomer.
A man lately went to big establishment
| near Central park which does large bust
ness in renting bicycles to riders and asked
for a machine The day was such fine
| one that there was great demand for
wheels, and the would be customer was
| told that there wasn't bicycle III the
| place; all had been rented. The young
| man, much disappointed, asked if they
didn't have any kind of an old machine, so
that he could take spin. Yes; if he was
willing to take high one he could have
one of those When he asked for bicycle
there a few years ago a tall one was inva
riably brought out unless he asked spe
officially for Safety"
visit to Central park OH A pleasant
"safeties" are than the old kind. Often a
dozen low machines will be seen to onetall
one. From an aesthetic point of view
there is no comparison between the two
makes. The old kind is exceedingly grace
full, and the rider seems to skim along on
a single big wheel. The man on squatty
safety looks mean beside his brother, who
is two feet above him. Beauty, however,
is yielding to utility, for men who have
ridden both kinds of wheels almost al
ways pronounce the new kind by far the
more satisfactory.
To begin with, learning TO ride a tall bi.
cycle means lots of bruises aud torn cloth,
Ing, not to mention the veXatIon of having
people laugh at your mishap. The tyrO on
the safety runs much less risk of falls, al,
though he is sometimes cautioned to be
more careful by finding himself sprawling
on the road. Even an expert rider on a
tall wheel is likely to take header at
any time, for a small stone or gravel in
his path often dismOunts him. He must
keep ii sharp lookout on the road, while
his companion on the lOwly safety" ad
mires the landscape or watches the people
whom they pass.
In rough places the man on the hOmely
machine may rush, where the other has to
dismount and push his machine like
baby carriage. Going down hill the new
style of bicycle is also superior, the danger
of a fall being so much less. 1t would be
suicidal for the wheelman who is perched
on a regular to put on his brake while
coasting down hill, but the other man can
do it with perfect safety.
In point of speed the advantage is also
with the machine the wheels of which are
of equal size In fact the ''safeties" have
been barred out of the intercollegiate bi
cyles contests, as if it were as unfair to
have the two kinds compete, rs it would be
to have a trotting and running horse race.
Manufacturers are bending all their ener
gies in improving the ''safeties," and the
graceful regular" seems doomed to the
fate Of the buffalO-gradual extinction
New York Tribune.