The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-08-18
MAKING OF A BICYCLE.
Intricate and Costly Process,
Requiring Skilled Labor.
1T HAS FIVE HUNDRED PARTS.
Why Prices OF the Rest Wheels Are
Hieh-The steel l. Imported. and
Bearings Must Be True.
New York World.

new ! OK W ora.
Bicycle manufacturing depends for rs
success chiefly upon skilled labor. When
you skim along lightly and rapidly on
your wheel you are ant to think that il
rs the strength OF the component parts
that enables YOU 10 do this. The strength
OF the parts is one element the putting
or them together is far more important
element and one that requires the greatest
skill.
The price of a wheel in every instance
represents the amount of skilled labor in
It's construction The materials them
selves cost hut little. Probably 81 to Ssa
VIII represent the cost of material The
rest IS labor. So when YOU buy a high
grade wheel YOU buy the best that intel
hgent craftsmanship can produce. There are
nut lew, or possibly A dozen high grade
wheels made. The cheaper grades are
legion.
Inc various parts of the bicycle must he
absolutely perfect and capable OF stand
ing exactly their proportion OF the whole
strain They must be adjusted with the
nicely OF a watch in order to get the most
our OF them There are 500 parts in
bicycle, counting each spoke separately
and the $50 and odd miniature steel balls
IN the bearings. The riVets of the chain
tne INKS, nuts and bolts number les sep
crate pieces. The old saying of a chain
being only as strong as its weakest link
holds good in the bicycle The chain Is
naturally most important feature, rank
ing IN Importance with the tire and the
rims.
The frame and most OF the metal parts
OF a bicycle Of the high grade are made
or Swedish steel, on which, of course
Uncle Sam collects good. generous tariff
There is an English steel which is also
good, but the Swedish has the call Both
are made by secret process This steel -
in hA 6
cut into parts OF various lengths, which
are brazed together 10 make the frame.
The brazing is all-important TO the
rigidity OF the frame. Without rigidity a
wheel would never stand cross-countrv
riding. The brazing is done under enor-
NOUS neat, and the testing is repeated
again and again.
In a bicycle factory. spokes. rims.
sprockets. frames, etc, are all tested be-
fore they are adjudged 10 be ready for
use Each OF these parts sustains strain
that has been figured out to a nicely.
The testing machine can exert a tension
or compression of from few ounces up
to 100000 pounds. When the full power is
turned on its great jaws can tear apart
solid bar of steel as easily as a child
peels a banana.
Each spoke has to stand so MANY
pounds. the frame must do the same.
the rim, the chain, the sprockets. hub.
the front fork, pedals. cranks, handlebar
and even the ball bearings must show
that they are absolutely right. The coast
ing ability of a bicycle depends upon the
true character of the bearings To
show how finely they are measured II
Will only be necessary TO say that in the
large factories there is a machine which
makes all the parts true down TO one-ten-
thousandth of an inch. This is getting
oicYciing down TO fine point. but the
race for precedence among the big makers
is fierce and seemingly out of keeping
with tho general hilarity of the sport.
An interesting thing about a high grade
bicycle is what is known in mechanics as
the safety factor. Thus in the great
high-pressure modern guns, the safety
factor Is twenty. or. in other words the
gun is made twenty times stronger than
the strain to be put upon IT. Ordinarily
guns have safety factor of ten: boilers
of six. bridges of five and other mechani-
cal products about four. The bicycle of
the old style weighed sixty pounds; the
hiSh-grade machine of today weighs eigh-
teen pounds and the safety factor has
been reduced TO only rs
This extraordinarily low safety factor is
In Difference to the demand for lightness,
which Just now is being carried to an ex-
treme. Another year the tendency will
he 10 make fewer light machines The
figure 125 above means that IL any part
OF the wheel is imperfect to the extent Of
one-quarter Of its calculated strength, the
machine may he crippled suddenly and
tho rider may have bad fall.
1t is doubtful If moro than one or two
manufacturers make the entire wheel
Some of them claim that they do. how
ever. The fact is. that the tires. the wood
rims the chains and the saddles, and also
the lanterns are in most instances made
by specialists. This cannot well he other
wise because the four first mentioned re-
quire special knowledge. being really the
most important clements of all good
wheels. There are any number of tires
but a greatly less number OF rims. The
wood rim is one o. the great discoveries
The wood is preferably white ash or hick-
ory. Some firms Use three or four pieces
glued and pressed together-laminated is
the trade woodland then curved The
connecting ends are fastened in various
ways. II has heen found that wood rims
have more resiliency-that IS power Of re-
sisting shock-than have steel rims II
took years TO find this out. Now there Is
talk Of paper rims. But whether made OF
steel, wood or paper no rim ever made is
abio TO Withstand a collision II IL Is struck
under speed.