The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-06-04
THE WHEEL


Bicyclers who have caught the high
gear fever may proftably consider the
fate of Edward Sanford, president of
the Monitor Cycle club of Brooklyn,
who dropped dead as the result of at
tempting to ride ninety-one gear ma
chine in the teeth of strong wind.
There are a whole lot of wheelmen-
and wheelWomen-in every town who
are counting the same fate. The big
sprocket and high gear are the most
dangerous of all fads that have been
taken up by cyclists. though the low
frame craze is nearly as idiotic. Not
one man in a thousand is physically
equal to the task of riding gear above
eighty and most Of them would be bet
ter off with seventy-two or sixty-eight
It is noticeable this season, observes
the New York Sun, that in the majority
of the new bicycles the spokes are not
tied. Riders who have been in the
habit of having wheels in which the
spokes are tied in pairs by soldering
or a piece of wire, sometimes show
disposition to shy away from those in
which the spokes are not clasped two
by two because they do not under
stand. They fancy that the wheel may
not be as strong when the Spokes are
left free This is a mistake, for the
question of tying or not tying the
spokes has been mooted one with me-
chanics and makers for years, the field
being equally divided for a time, and
the appearance of majority of wheels
with spokes united means only that
the wheels are better So The actual
difference to the rider would never be
known to him unless he was posted and
something occurred in the way of &C
cident to point out the difference. The
argument in favor of tying the spokes
has been that it increases the stiffness
of the wheel and it rendered it less
likely to be twisted out of true in turn
| ing the wheel on a sandy road, but a
stiff wheel has it's disadvantages, and
those who leave the Spokes free ridi-
| Guile the idea of making a stiff wheel in
which the spokes will break instead of
| springing.
| Accidents due to defective material
| in forks and fork crowns We're numer-
| Gus last year, but they are on the de-
| cline now, as makers generally have
| strengthened their machines at these
| points. There is, however another
weak point that is being more and more
| frequently heard about This is the
| handle bars. According to newspaper
reports in different parts of the country
m:shaps caused by the breaking of
| handle-bars are more common than
! those due to any other single condi-
ton. In the last few years handle-bars
| have been stronger than they were
| formerly. and the immunity from acct
dents resulting from their breaking has
| perhaps led makers to believe that bars
are unnecessarily stout. fall due to
| a broken handle-bar and one caused by
a defective fork crown are about on a
par as the most dangerous that could
! happen through a break, and machines
on which the bars prove defective suffer
| more damage to reputation than a
| thousand handle bars would pay for
| There is less excuse for defective han
| dle-bars than for defective fork crowns
because the brazing work on the bars
| is done SO that the workman can see
what he is doing, which is not the case
with the point of the fork stem and
fork crown. A trade paper. speaking
about handle-barS, declares that some
makers have come to regard them as
good subjects IN which to utilize infer
Tor material, and cites the case of one
maker of adjustable bars who, tt
cheaper his cost of production, has
substituted a casting for a forging at a
certain vital place This, if true. marks
a deplorable tendency and one thai
will react severely upon the makers
as did the production of weak fork sides