Omaha daily bee., 1900-02-04
IN THE WHEELING WORLD.


Makers and dealers In bicycles derive much
cheer and satisfaction from the crowds that
visited the recent annual wheel show in New
York. The attendance was surprisingly
large, particularly on the last day, when
the huge building was jan,ned with visitors.
Dcvotees Of the wheel interpreted the inter
est manifested as an augury Of a prosperous
year and greater activity than in 1893. But
tho interest was not confined to bicycles.
The exhibit of automobiles drew a goodly
share of the crowds and more orders arc
said to have been booked for the latter than
for the former.
The cheerfulness of dealers in New York
is supplemented with the announcement that
makers OF rubber tires under the Tillinghast
patents have combined for the usual trust
purpose Of economizing. Two Independent
makers OF tires at Akron. o., have been gath
! cred into the combine, SO that competition
will be eliminated and prices boosted to a
high notch. The trust feature of the deal
is that the license the companies take out
binds them to maintain a fixed scale of
prices. The two Akron concerns have been
the only ones fghtins The Tillinghast claims,
and since they have been won over all others
have gotten into line and are bound by the
same contract.
The effect of the agreement will be an ad-
vance of the price of tires Of all grades. Al
though retailers may fix their own prices, all
must pay the same for their goods, and the
| general result will be, it is said, that bicycle
tires will cost the consumer about so per cent
more this year than last. By the new ar
rangement bicycle dealers will be largely
prevented from making a profit on tires in
addition to that they make on the bicycles
without the tires.
Racing politics are very lively and all
sorts of deals and combinations are being
made or talked about in League of Ameri-
can Wheelmen circles, says the New York
Morning Telegraph. An amusing feature OF
the agitation to drop racing from the league
is tho attack made by George l.. McCarthy
in a current cycling publication upon Chair
man A. G.. Batchelder of the National
Cycling association board of control. Nc
earthly Is the League of American Wheel
men Handicapped in this district. and after
declaring that Batchelder is the whole thing
in the National Cycling association, advises
the league to hang on to amateur racing, as
the Nationa! Cycling association is actuated
by purely selfish motives. In other words,
while it is selfish for the National Cycling
association to control the amateurs, II is
unselfsh for Handicapped Mccarthy to want
the riders who pay him fees kept under
the control Of the league. While the league
will have no good amateur if it hangs on
to racing, it will still get enough dube who
fancy riding free from fast competition 10
make handicapping profitable. Mccarthy is
also chairman of the League of American
Wheelmen press committee, and is reputed
to be anxious to get a certain cycle paper
and himself installed in the place now held
by the League Of American Wheelmen Bull
letin and Sterling Elliott of Boston, its
editor. Elliott will make a proposition for
the continuance of his work at the national
assembly, which may meet with opposition,
as it asks for considerably more than the
Bulletin is now getting.
1t has been claimed that the average
rider adds considerable to his labor by un-
consciously back pedaling. The rider, in
stead OF getting the full benefit of his stroke
by continuing the downward push on the
pedal to the furthest possible point, in
variably stops the pressure and compels the
up-coming crank to carry part of the
weight of his foot. If ankle motion is dill
gently practiced it will do much to correct
this fault. Indeed, ankle motion is recon-
mended by veteran riders to those who
have a tendency toward careless pedaling.
The coaster brake device brought TO notice
this fault of careless podalirg. At first I'M
consciously, and afterward from force of
habit, the CONSIDERABLE would be thrown
into operation as a result of not continuing
the downward push of the pedal. This
back pedaling is probably done when it is
desired to slacken speed momentarily or
when striking an obstruction, and the tell
tale coaster will record the fault plainly.
With the coaster arrangement, however,
this back pedaling habit does not have any
undesirable results. Instead Of checking
the progress of the machine, as would be
the case with a fixed gear, it permits the
machine to Iun forward under its own i'm
petus.
So many of the stars of the cycle track are
entering the motor field that motor cycle
races are likely to leap into the foreground
in the spring, while a new crop of fast men
to seek for championship honors by unaided
pedaling will be needed. Frank Waller, the
veteran siX-day rider, is having an Amer
lean machine built with a carburetcr of
French make. Joe Judge is having one made
that he says will negotiate a mile III fifty
seconds. McEachren, the Canadian crack,
who is now a resident of Newark, is having
a three Morse power ldIu'll oll9 TX 'haN |
will have more overhang than any other ever
put on. Tom Cooper and Floyd Mcfarland
also are going to turn into motor riders, and
others that have ordered machines made are
the Hunter brothers of Newark and the
Lawson brothers OF Chicago. Besides those
named the experts who were in the field last
year and intend to remain in it are: Charles
Miller. Henri Fournier. c. S. HensAaw and
Austin Crooks. In the light OF these things
there Is little to fear but what there will
be plenty of good material to meet Janott,
the Englishman who has challenged the
whole country, or any other foreign expert.
The Transvaal correspondent of the BIZ
cycling News OF London sends to his paper
interesting dstails concerning the Use OF
bicycles now in progress. Among other
things, he says;
I'm both the enemy's and our forces many
prominent athletes and cyclists may be
found whose distinction will be remembered
by all followers OF sport. J. NJ. Griebe-
now, for instance, who visited England
last year to represent South Africa in the
worlds and National Cyclists union cham
pionships, was commapdeered long
before the declaration of war to