The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-11-20
THE CUArNLEss BIRE.

From the Chicago Record.
Ever since the first safety bicycle was
built manufacturers and inventors have
been trying to do away with the link
belt, commonly called the "chain,' USED
to transmit motion to the driving wheel.
It seemed to be taken for granted from
the very first that the chain was mere
makeshift to be used only until some-
thing better was invented TO take its
place. While bicycle makers We're ex-
perimenting with other driving devices,
hundreds of thousands of bicycles with
chains were made, sold and used. Occa-
sonally some make of wheel with a
substitute for the chain was brought
out but the 'makeshift" held its own
The chain was a nuisance, in that 1t
collected dust and gravel, required con-
stant attention and frequently broke.
Nevertheless, it was the best method of
transmitting motion or power, and
wheel people accepted it as the only
practical device.
Now the chainless bicycle has ap-
| peared as a competitor of the common
| wheel. Recently two bicycles, with bevel
| gears. were brought to Chicago, and in a
| few hours the b.cyclers of the city were
| divided into two factions; one standing
| for the chain, and the other for the
| "coffee-mill' gear. The advocates of the
| bevel gear, accepting the claims of the
manufacturer as authoritative, hailed II
| as the long-looked-for Improvement
| which is to do away with chains alto
| gether. The friends of the old favorite
regarded the beVel gear with suspicion
| called it a fad, and refused to concede
that the coffee mill' was an improve
ment. 1t will be well for both factions
to withhold judgment until the new gear
has been fairly tested.
The bevel gear uses beveled cog-wheels
with a shaft to transmit motion fror-
the crank to the driving wheel OF the
bicycle. The gearing must be placed in
the machine with perfect eXactness. The
front and rear aXles with their gear at
tachments should lie precisely in the
same plane and exactly parallel witt
each other. Any failure to do this viii
result in strain and unsatisfactory work
| The frame construction must be so rigiC
that there will be no spring or yield un
der the strain. These are the conditions
admitted to be such by the makers o.
the chainless wheel, which must be Sc
cured and maintained in order that thu
hevel gear will be a success. The maker!
say that all these conditions and re
quiremants have been mot, although
the weight of the wheel had to be in
creased.
The claim is made that with the beve
gear there is no "back-lash," no dirt, n,
fear of broken driving mechanism, per
feet fabrication and positive and instan
taneous action at all times. But 1t Is still
a question whether the rough-and-read!
riding of the ordinary bicyCler Will no
so strain the frame as to disturb the eX
actness of position which seems to b
essential to the easy operation of tn
bevel gear However, the bevel gear a
last is here, and the verdict of approva
or disapproval will show whether tn
sanguine manufacturers made a payin
investment when they put Sl50,0O0 int
experiments and machinery. The beve
gear wheel will cost Sl25 according I
wheelmakers twenty-four out Of twenty
five chain wheels next year will sell 70
$50 or less. This difference will have tn
effect of giving the intangible attribut
famliarly known as sweetness" to tn
Chainless wheel at any rate.