The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-07-18
Women on Wheels.

Two of the leading firms of bicycle
manufacturers in this country have re-
Gently expressed the opinion that with
In five years there will be no difference
between the wheels used by men and
women. In other words, they believe
the day is not far off when all women
devoted to wheeling will discard skirts
ON the road and wear what is now usual
ly referred to as the rational or IRE
formed" dress, They say there is no rea-
son why women who wear costumes de-
signed to enhance the comfort, enjoy
ment and safety of bicycling should not
have wheels equal in every respect to
those the men ride. In other words, the
sex of the rider will cut no figure in the
manufacture Of bicycles, and women
will no longer have to put up with
wheels whose model, specially designed
for skirt wearers, is necessarily inferior
to those made for men in strength, light
ness and ease of propulsion
The courier of this new era In BIZ
cycling seems to have arrived A wheel
Is just beginning to appear In the streets
of this city and Brooklyn that is intended
for women, though it has the diamond
frame heretofore seen only in the safeties
made for NEIL In no respect does it
differ from the finest, high grade and
high priced roadsters used by the sterner
sex except that the diameter of both
wheels is from two to four inches smaller
than that of the mems machines, and
the frame is accordingly so much nearer
the ground. The wheel is mounted by
the step or pedal mount in vogue among
men riders and is of course intended
only for those women who wear the
rational dress
1t is possible that not few women
patrons of the wheel will look askance
at this innovation, but if they will take
the trouble to compare it with their own
wheels they are certain to agree that it
has its advantages. Women are not
physically so strong as men, and yet the
wheels they ride weigh from five to eight
pounds more then mems roadsters. This
is q discrimination against the fair sex
reaching the proportions Of a grievance.
If women are not to be allowed to enjoy
the eXhilarating and health giving BIZ
cycle ON equal terms with the men, they
have wrongs that Miss Anthony has not
included in her category. The new
wheel, however, weighs only % pounds,
which is two to five pounds less than
most of the high grade mems roadsters
of exactly the same strength of frame.
This is the browning advantage, and
it is secured chiefly by doing away
with the skirt guards which are the I'M
slightly and not wholly protective fea-
ture Of women's bicycles, and by saving
the extra weight required for the I'M
scientific and clumsy frames devised
for riders wearing skirts
Undoubtedly there are many women
who, much as they enjoy bicycling,
would rather give up their wheels than
appear in costumes more comfortable
and safer than those they are now wear
ing. Every one Of them will say, how
ever, that bicycling in its present phase
places limitations upon their enjoyment
Of 1t that are not imposed upon their
husbands and brothers 1t is an inter
esting and an important question how
to surmount the difficulties and make all
men and women free and equal BIZ
cyclers-
We believe the solution of the prob
lem will be founda in sensible bicycle
costume for women, and we do not
think that our countrywomen will be
slower than their sisters in Europe tC
recognize the advantages of a bicycle
dress reform and to dress accordingly.
The young women who are perfectly
certain that they would rather die than
wear one of the modest and tasteful bi
cycle suits which are now seen by scores
ON out streets are likely, before they are
married, to see them SO commonly IL
use that they will not call for specia
remark. Awhile ago the bicycle cos
tune was topic in the mouth of every
resident of Paris. Today the hoodlum'
of that capital are so ungallant as t.
boot at the exceptional women who still
insist ON wheeling through the park
In ordinary street attire
We predict that the new bicycle, o.
something like it, will soon be a rec
ognized feature in the wheeling world
-Nel0 York Sun.
|