The record-union., 1899-10-28

Cyclists are strictly enjoined to keep
their hands on the handles and their
feet on the pedals while riding.
Cyclists are allowed to choose their
own alarm bell, but rubber-tired car
riages must carry bells.
J. W. Stocks, the rider, writing on
the subject of brakes for free-Wheei
machines, says: II maintain that two
brakes are necessary. e., front
wheel brake, actuated by the ordinary
handlebar lever, and a rim brake on
the back wheel, actuated by sllgnt
pressure on the foot at one particular
point in the backward revolution.
There can be no doubt that the best
place to apply the brake on both Wheels
is on the rim, which can stand the
friction without injury, and the tires
escape all chatting, which occurs even
with the best Of spoon brakes, besides
the chances of punctures, which render
all spoon brakes comparatively useless.
While f. A. McDuffie, the middle dis
tance rider. has been forced to abandon
his attempt to ride mile a minute on
the road for the present he will not
cease in his efforts to find a suitable
road for such a trial. 1t would beseasy
enough to find many roads within fifty
miles of New York where man might
follow pace at / 80 or l:4O gait, but
when it comes to going faster than that
the roads are found to be too rough or
"wavy" McDuffie expects to go to
Chicago soon, where he will try Tor
track records. He believes that he mas
the fastest pacing machine ever oulil'
and he is confident of adding severai
records to his list before the snow tiles.
Of all the popular mistakes about Di-
cycling that of the hump or Gamer
/ back is the most common. We are tolo
that the habit of leaning forward upon
| the handlebarS SO as to get greater
| leverage upon the pedals and to offer
less resistance TO the air, has ten
dency to bring about an abnormal de-
yelopment upon the back and shoul-
ders, which is called the bicycle
| hump Nothing could be more alb
surd Just note the first Wheelman
you see scorching toward you with
/ body we'll bent over his work. AS MS
! head is down you will see at distance
what appears from your point OF vision
| to be a rounding or hump between the
| shoulder blades at the back of the neck
AS he approaches this fancy will De
/ shown to have been an optical illusion,
and when you look at him from the
rear YOU see at once that the body IS
perfectly straight, bent only at the hips.
The very forward pressure Of the man
weight upon the handlebars has ten
dency to force the shoulder blades
squarely back, so that if it We're pos
sible to cause deformity it would
necessarily be that Of hollow back
rather than that Of a hump. On the
other hand, by way Of contrast, note
the man who sits bolt upright IN the
saddle. AS he faces you you are again
| deceived. He appears to be erect anu
| his shoulders square, but as ne eoes
by you will note, if he be an old Wneei-
man, that there is a decided tendency
to roundness or dropping or the shoul-
ders caused by his method OF OBTAIN
ing leverage to work his pedals. Beng
upright he cannot get SUFFICIENT power
in his weight alone when the difflcultles
of an up grade are encountered, so ne
must pull forward upon his grips, ana
it is this constant downward tension
that sooner or later brings about a more
or less slanting Of the shoulders from
that square form, the pride of every
athlete.
The trade in England is much inter-
ested in the coming cycle shows, to De
held in London in November. 1t is
said that it is many years since there
was such a prospect of striking novel
ties in cycle construction as for the
two shows Both at Agricultural Hail
and at the Crystal Palace it is said
visitors will find scores of new IDEAS
in brakes and gears. The invention OF
new tires has come TO standstill, but
the free wheel movement has opened
peoples eyes to the possibilities of new
methods of propelling the bicycle, 50
that it is not unlikely that number Of
devices will be seen that will be en-
tirely opposed to the ordinary circular
motion in driving. Many Of the inven-
tions of the last ten years have been
discarded by manufacturers, and ex-
perts will no doubt find a resurrection
at the shows. Lever gears, which have
| hitherto De6n pOO0pOOHeQ, dES UeILS ca
perimented with by at least one of the
leading English makers.
Cyclists have just reached that point
when they feel a little bit tired of riding
a wheel that is almost identical with
hundreds of thousands of other wheels.
Three years ago cyclist dared not
wander from the conventional groove in
the appearance of his machine without
some soothing But these last two years
have shown a breaking away from rigid
types Men and women have begun to
display more independence and, there
fore, having bicycles built and fitted to
suit requirements and fancies of in
dividuaI riders Is become popular, de-
clares a bicycle enthusiast. There are
thousands of riders, however, who have
already given evidence of faddism. The
disease is much on the increase. Next
season there is almost certain to be an
outburst of cycling eccentricity-that
is, machines of singular and wonderful
shape, novelties in gearing, wonderful
schemes of applying the brake, curious
saddles-everything, indeed, which will