The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-11
INCIDENTS OF CYCLEDOM.
ELUCIDATION or TIE TSEN sEAR"
IND ITS AEPLICArION

An Expression That Confuses Riders Old
and New-Records ny Suburban Com
muters-Ths Government to Aid the l.. A.
w. Tour Committee Notes and News.
The races at Ambrose Park we're postponed
yesterday until July l. which is the first open
date. This action was taken at 900 o'clock.
when 1t was raining and tho indications were
for steady downpour. The crowd that gath
cred at the gate. only to be turned away. showed
that there would have been a big attendance
bad the managers taken q chance and gone
ahead.
A match for twenty five mile race, paced,
has been made between Arthur Gardiner and
Harry Elkes In training on Thursday Gar
diner covered twelve miles In % minutes 40
seconds. which is lower than the worlds record
Of % minutes 10 seconds.
OF all the terms employed In conjunction
with cycles and cycling, gear" Is probably the
one most misunderstood. To old riders 1t
teems hardly possible that many should be
ignorant In this respect. but the testimony OF
dealers shows that not only the new riders. but
also those OF two or three years experience.
fail to grasp the term as 1t Is used. An illus
tration OF this failure to apprehend tho how"
and why" OF gear is afforded by the following
question sent to THE Sun by ]. H.. s.:
"A 29-inch wheel eeared to "a and 30-inch
wheel geared to "a: will one cover more ground
with one revolution OF the pedal than the
other?"
The answer is that neither travels further
than the other, The gear OF bicycle. strictly.
10 it's driving mechanism. the chain and sprock-
cts. or the bevelled cogwhees. Its common
use in relation to bicycles. however. Is differ
ent. and is anomalous. 1t Is employed to rep-
resent speed attainment through the multiply
ing character OF the gear. and even this Is not
represented directly. The figures as used are
heritage from the high-wheel days when
strong rders'rod as large n front wheel as
they could, because the larger the wheel the
further It travelled with one revolution OF the
pedals. So a man who rode wheel lfty-two
inches In diameter was riding a sitter gear
than one using fifty Inch wheel The diam
eters then expressed the gear idea. With the ad-
vent Of the safety the plan was retained. and
when wheel 80 inches in diameter had It's
gear so arranged that It revolved twice with
every turn Of tho pedals it was said to be BIZ
CYCLE OF 80 gear. because the two reyolu-
Ing power has continued to be figured and
The e1uvalent diameter Of the rear wheel.
The teeth on the front and rear sprookets are
nf% aSss 1R9 snssaIsnf
way OF determining the relative sizes
having two and hal, times as
ass'n 3D. 9 and T &c w ws Snd
wheel will revolye two and half times while
the front sprSGket crank axle eranks and
~ inches in diameter then travels as far with
YF Of the PEDALS s o9s Of
$40 inches and that is said TO be the gear 4
wheel Of e inches in diameter and one Of 10
aster Rsu any wHsH 9
or 1S feet INCHES; It would not make
vas ,Eeared 50 as to be eaqiyslent to one Of
much criticised. and there 1 IS no jastiiea.
OF the gear by the multipie Of motion Sn9" It
in he would be called dHs F'I Gear qise
stead OF 20 gear. An = gear would be called
T Ts $40" for what Is now called 92 % gear.
h bS
its actual diameter by the figures given. The
% 6 wth the rea
rear one. as shown, and for this reason the
e Of to divide the
rear wheel diameter y the auotlept It is
Asst the number 81 teeth on the, small sprock ct Is
20 the number Of teeth on the large sprocket. SO
gear 10 aSo1d reahssoms Factions fi il VII VII
large sprocket figures by the actual DIANE ter
and then divide blythe rear sprocket figures.
Some new cycling records are being made in
the. small towns ofNew Jersey and Long Island
by the commuters who use the wheel to travel
to and from their homes and the depot. 1t
suburban towns that split second watches
and great is the T man ' Who. in the ' morn.
ing after breakfast, can clip two Or three
the Town Hall TO the depot At night there is
gathering OF the clans at the engine house
are compared and handicap allowances made
for the weights and ages Of the performers.
commuter champion, while again the record
Is held for several weeks by some, crackaisck
young and lean commuters 60 for the cham
ponship. but the elderly and stout ones simply
asSS woFhnf the to SwsE 'Afr own sfss
, 81 length p over the , lumber n 2t times
stances Of each occasion. Among these com
muter competitors at least 1t is believed that
S{s en ftsT nf sasass
the old from house TO office" by trolley and
list of figures from house TO ferry" by wheel
field OF usefulness for the old high wheels OF
replaced BY the saieties it has been wo nd
what became Of the high wheels: They were a
ing unable to get anything for them, would
rot destroy them. The, cellars of houses
filled up with the old wheels chung to out OF
sentiment. Here and there, they are to be
found doing duty as signs In front OF repair
shop or hotel The new use for them is that OF
an ORNAMENTAL garden fixture. The woman
who hit upon the idea says:
Firmly fixed in front OF some ugly. bare
space. or even in the centre, OF iowerbed.
and Joy forever / have one Covered doW With
nasturtiums, which have the merit Of growing
quickly. but any crecper would look equally
we'll"
She goes on to air her knowledge OF the good
old ordinaries in this naive style:
One rarely sees these high machines in use
now. To learn to ride one required consider
able nerve and endurance. as a fall from the
lofty saddle entaled q very hard knock. gen
orally on the head and never In the right place
A stone in the road would often give one an in
voluntary header into bramble bush or on to
the hard road"
Over 81, OO0, 900 has been spent by the State
Of Massachusetts, In the building Of improved