The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-12-27
IS NO LONGER POPULAR
A High-Priced Wheel Cannot Be
Sold.
THE BICYCLE FASHIONS
The Highest Price for 1890 win Be
s75-The Chainless Wheel Pros
pect-The Made-to-Order
Business.

most piedsdnliy IN tne mlnu, Is mat
high-priced wheels are no longer popu-
lar nor even even saleable." said a Butte
dealer yesterday. People who ride
nave found out that IL is not necessary
to pay 500 or sa5 or $50 or ever $50 to
secure a serviceable wheel. The high
est priced bicycles that will be offered
on the marke: in 1899 will be marked
SIS. They will be few in number. and
the sales Will be still fewer. Most of
the standard manufacturers will be
thankful to get $50 for their best wheels.
And these cheaper wheels will be as
carefully built of as good material as
the highest priced wheel Of 1898 or 1897.
At least. they ave that appearance.
Furthermore, h agents say they are
just as good as any wheels that ever
were built. and, of course, that set
ties il.
ut is Interesting to note that the
chainless bicycles. which vainly sought
purchasers in. the season of 1898, at a
rate of s125. will begin the season of
1899 tagged s15-a decided reduction.
h the selling price will be next au-
tumn remains to be seen, but there are
prophets who say they will go begging
at any price. OF course. agent for
manufacturers who have no chainless
wheels to offer are oud in declaring
that the bevel-geared machines have
been nipped by the hardest frost record
ed by the bicycle weather bureau. on
the other hand. agents for the chain
less wheels have discovered. now that
the season is at an end. that they did
not expect TO sell many of the high
priced wheels in 1898. but now that the
price has been reduced, and the ma
| chimes have had the benefit of a years
~..l BAxv NJ 40 ..as A.N a.Aaf
numbers i'm 1899.
The Columbia people will stand pat
on their chainless wheel, but the Clipper
offers some changes, all In the way OF
making the various parts of the gear
ing easily accessible.
"All the loud talk about 3O-inch
wheels seems to have been nothing
more than talk. No ore Is offering 80
inch wheels, though most of the big
manufacturers will supply the big
wheels IL the purchaser demands them.
Ii is the universal conclusion that the
big wheels offer nc advantages what
ever. that they are heavier and more
ungainly looking than the smaller
wheels. though for a man with excep-
~tionally long legs 30-inch wheels are
~pardonable.
Another striking feature of the BIZ
| cycle outlook is the remarkabl BILE growth
of the made TO order business. Bicycle
riders now seem to regard a ready
| made mount i'm the same light as a
ready-made suit Of clothes; passably
good If you cannot have something bet
ter built to your order. They do say
that one theory which accounts for the
extremely low prices of ready-made
machines is that the manufacturers are
suffering from the inroads made in their
sales by the made to order men. and
have resolved to crush this dangerous
competition by putting prices down to
a point that will force the made to order
men TO shut up shop.
Up to the present. however, Il must
be said there are no signs of suffering
in the camp OF the little fellows. One
man who began making wheels to order
six years ago with an output of five
wheels made $50 last summer. and ex-
poets to come pretty close to doubling
this output next season at $40 to SIS.
Changes from the '9s model will be
slight. Some prominent manufacturers
will make no changes at all. Those
who do offer alterations from last years
model apparently do so more for the
sake of giving statesmen something new
to talk about rather than to afford a
new tangible advantage to purchasers.
For instance, the Columbia will be built
with larger tubing than last year, and
the rims will be more V shaped. The
price for the best chain wheel will be
WV a~N~a1 "a W. nv Phh'E tosN lt1Ns
Thirty-inch wheels will only be fur
nished on the payment of an extra
price.
The Clipper people are so well salts
ned with last years model they will
make no change. even for the sales
mans sake. The Clipper is coming up.
so the makers can afford to be naughty.
The price has been dropped from s65 to
$40. The company will introduce this
season a new wheel to sell for $50. which
they call the Garnet.
THE Pierce will make the top bar of
the frame an inch longer. will shorten
the head half an inch. and win
straighten the front fork three degrees.
The Pierce boasts the only real novelty.
which is an air cushion frame, though
even this was tried last
great success. IL Is claimed. This all
cushion is so adjusted on the saddle post
and real fork that IL bears practically
all the riders weight on the saddle.
thus taking of a great deal of the jar
and jolting hat forms one of the dis
agreeable features of bicycle riding.
The Cleveland. in order to offer a
valid Excuse for sticking to high water
mark i'm prices-s75-had TO hustle
round pretty lively to dig up novel
ties. The hustling resulted in bringing
forth a ball separator for all the bear
ings. This consists of a ring. in which
are mounted little rollers i'm such. a way
that balls and rollers will alternate.
This continuance may not Increase the
friction. but at a usual glance its looks
are against e.. Besides this. a new style
of direct spoke. flush head. internal
binder. with right and left screw for
the handle bar and a detachable tire to
be fastened i'm place with a wire toggle
joint are offered as new features.
The Rambler will not be changed at
all for 1899 except in price. which will
be $40 instead of S65. Crescents will sell
at s35 instead Of $50. And so the story
runs all the way through the long list
changes in model so slight that they
can be discerned only when the investi-
gator is aided by the ~eloquence of a
jealous agent. but material reductions
in price. h man who is willing to
%squander SIS on the purchase of a bi.
cycle will come pretty near having
things his own way in the coming year.