Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-04-12
HOW MANY RIDE WHEELS
Number of Bicycles Used in the United
States.
Some Estimate ms High az Ten Mil
Hon Yearly Product of
the Factories.


made. While some place the number at
about 5OOO.0OO, there are others who place
it at 1O.OoO,cOO. Several papers have pub
hshed articles which gives the number at
something like 100000.
This estimate represents one bicycle to
every eight residents. That such an esti-
mate is hardly fair can be judged from one
fact. The bulk of the bicycle riding popu-
lation live in the cities. In a majority of
large cities the ratio of riders should be
greater than one to eight. in order to make
allowance for the greater ratio which must
exist in the country regions There are
few cities in which one out of every eight
of the population rides or owns a bicycle.
Washington may be one of the few cities
in which the ratio may be about that fig
ure. but even then there is good deal of
doubt of this.
A Chicago paper, which started this large
estimate, has this to say to back up its as
sertion:
Experts estimate that at the close of
last season there were 9,OOO0OO bicycles
owned and used by individual riders in the
United States. IL the national population
is estimated at 7g,OOO.OOO this would show
one bicycle in use for every eight persons
in the nation. including women. octogenari-
ans and babies. AS the very old and very
young do not ride the bicycle. 1t follows
is greater than the figures given Probably
one in five or six would be nearer the truth.
The same experts say that there will be
over 100000 bicycles sold during the COM
ing season. Last year there were between
$4,000 and 100000 wheels manufactured
and sold in this country, including all
grades and makes. 1t is conservatively es-
timated that the increased output in 1898
over 1897 will be fully so per cent, and that
practically the whole of this immense ava
lanche of wheels will pass into the hands
of individual riders before the end of the
season. This will mean 100000 bicycles
added to the number already in use. or. in
rough figures. about 10000 900 wheels. after
making fair allowance for exchanges and
Implications.
Two factors are responsible for the COM
ing violent sporadic outbreak Of the cycling
fever. The first is the return of the general
good times. especially in the rural districts.
The second and main factor is the slash in
prices which has brought the ownership OF
a wheel within the reach of hundreds of
thousands who formerly considered the
cost too great. No feature in the bicycle
trade for years can compare with the
sweeping reductions In price for the season
OF 1898. This applies not merely to former
models or secondhand wheels. but to the
brand-new product of the best factories.
As one prominent manufacturer puts it, it
Is to be a bicycle year for the people and
of diminished profits for the middemen.
There will be fewer agents In the field.
fewer shOwmen. and consequently less COM
missions and fewer salaries to add to the
cost Of a wheel after 1t leaves the factory
The fact that cheap bicycles fill a popular
want is also attested by the immense num-
Der of new factories which will this year
turn out nothing but popular-priced wheels
running from SO to $50. There will, of
course, be standard makes still in the mar
ket with all the high-priced embeIIish-
melts, costing the buyer from sl2J down
ward The sales of these will be to a certain
I Gas OF buyers as before. who are care
a certain name and guaranty. But the
sale OF high-priced wheels will not conflict
III any way with the tremendous new mar
ket for cheap wheels among those who
Fever rode before. but who will this year
JOIN the cycling army. Serviceable wheels
even IL not up to concert pitch NAV be OBJ
tanned This year from 80 upward If the
secondhand wheels and old makes are in
GUIDED The range from s125 to $40 is wide
enough to suit every taste or condition of
purse. VI
1here Is a genuine cycling boom in every
corner of the United States. From the
soutil. Where the roads are already bare
Shd hard, there come reports of the largest
business in bicycles since the craze toor
possession of the country All over the
west. the northwest and the soutbwast tbo
l a bicycle agents are that farm
ers are buying more wheels than ever he
iore- Ihis spread of the cyclipp craze
among the farming communities is q un,oro
feature or the present and mast se.snn,
III aL the states where there have been
recent sooc crops the sales of wheaIs in tha
Itrai districts promise to be pbenomonaI
uuiihs tne present year. Farmers are nou,
os 'Ie bicycle freely for social inter
otsn marketing and the various uses in
ciuehtai TO large farms. This feature &c 60
sidered the best guaranty for poo,s - ~,
Iutule' as the farmers who take nm ths
"heei either for business or pleasure Co.
e. - .ei TIE county supervisors with a
IL 'here are defects In the roads
oisetunS these estimates fieuras Nv,
800 ~ tne secretary of the national
W anu vi trace OF cycle manufacturers MT
Nardrop, which places the total n,rha
OF wheels ridden in the country 70 ~ ,e
o'S"."p These figures seem to no much
nearer the correct number esneci.II,. IL,
1m ol the Tact that about a year and
d haif ago IL was conceded by nearly oil
authorities that the total numher % ~
cHcies IN use in the United States wos
something like 100000. As secreta-v 10
tn. a.lohsi organization of cycle manu-
Iacturers. Mr. Wardrop has unusual faciii
Ties Tor reaching the nearest correct est
H-a,e- He Is perhaps the best fitted of
any INDIVIDUAL to make such a guess. prior
y, a ass,g the office he held the position
OF editor on a well known cycling journal
~hch makes him have as good an insight
III me bicycle business as any Individual
&C uid- The idea of 100000 bicycles being
III use IN TINS country is laughed at by
lhe secretary. who says that there is
scarcely any more than that number Of
bicycles in use in the whole world
About eight years ago Mr.. wardrop be-
gan his work of compiling annually rec
ord or the bicycle product At that time
the number of cycle makers was small.
Even then, However. the figures of the
makers themselves could not be accented
as reliable, SO Mr.. Wardrop set abouf
checking UP in another way The number
OF tire. o: chain. spoke and ball makers
vas much smaller even than that of the
~heel producers. At that fine two or three
M ms IN each CT these lines put out prac-
ucaily all the material of this kind tina.
was used. A maker of chains mas not the
reasons for misstaiing the amount of his
proGuct that matchmaker has Chains
CarrV over from one year to another better
than bicycles The fashions in them have
not been so variable The same is truer
OF balls for bearings and spokes but APP
Plies most strongly to tubing BY taking
these several products separately and OBJ,
tanning the total output Of each, Mr..
Wardrop found he could readily calculate
the numter of bicycles they would make
and Zach Of the several calculations fur
nished a counter check to the others
For instance the number of feet of tub
ing used in a bicycle varies very little in
various constructions After making the
estimate from the tubing product, Mr.
Wardrop figured it out again from the
Chain product, which is also SirnDla he