Messages

1

General discussions on Wheelmen topics. / Re: Important Changes Coming to the Website

« on: April 15, 2020, 11:59:59 PM »

Hi Eric,

I remember website discussions at last year's business meeting, but don't remember the decision to limit forum participation to members only.  If that idea was floated or agreed upon, I should have spoken up.  In this day and age, a website is the first way people learn about anything--and its most engaging feature is a discussion forum.   A new person's interest always starts with a question, and they have to be able to ask it.  To exclude these encounters is to cut off our club's life's blood. 

We are likely mistaken if we think forum access alone will entice new members.  It's the resulting conversation that brings real interest.  People have other places to talk for free, and that's where they'll go.  But it's better if they're welcome here.

Yes, we should limit some privileges to club members, like downloadable content and member information.  But the discussion forum is our best opportunity to engage the public and foster interest.  Our forum's activity has already been dropping off, and I fear this change will absolutely kill it.  The club will forfeit its most valuable asset.

Thanks,
Paul Rubenson (member since 2005)

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General discussions on Wheelmen topics. / Re: Postings by members whose dues are in arrears

« on: January 29, 2020, 11:11:18 PM »

The complaints are legitimate and I know our volunteer webmasters will do what they can.  But comparisons to theCABE irritate me.  The Wheelmen is a physical club whose mission is to preserve cycling history and to physically meet, display, and ride antique bicycles for the public.  The website supports that mission by helping members to connect with each other, to talk about early cycling and its preservation, and to spread the word about the club.  In contrast theCABE is primarily if not only a website.  It is a truly excellent website, but I expect it to be a good website because that's the essence of what it is.

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General discussions on Wheelmen topics. / Re: Did a shaft drive tandem bicycle ever exist?

« on: November 04, 2019, 11:35:58 PM »

Early tandem designers, extrapolating from solo bicycles, may have assumed steering for both riders would facilitate balance.  But an important factor perpetuating rear steering was social.  Most rear-steer tandems were also "lady front" or "courting" tandems.  Victorian cyclists were overtly chivalrous and preferred allowing the lady the front seat.  It is actually a more pleasant arrangement.  Most male riders are taller than females, so both riders have a clear view ahead.  But chivalry goes hand-in-hand with chauvinism, and few Victorian men would cede all control to a woman. 

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Board for buying and selling Wheelmen goods and services. / Re: OVER 500 ORIGINAL ANTIQUE BICYCLE CATALOGS AND ADVERTISING FLYERS

« on: September 04, 2019, 04:33:05 PM »

Hi Mike,
See my wanted post a few posts down.  I'm looking for a compelling Maryland image of a women riding in costume, ca. 1890's, preferably a medium or large sized advertising flyer, poster, or catalog cover.  The famous red Crawford poster would be ideal, but I'm open to anything with visual impact.  Time is short; the exhibit opens in a month but we haven't filled this need yet.
Thanks, Paul

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Board for buying and selling Wheelmen goods and services. / Crawford bicycle poster

« on: August 05, 2019, 03:06:21 PM »

The Maryland Historical Society would like to acquire an original Crawford bicycle poster for its collection and to use in its upcoming exhibit, "Spectrum of Fashion, Celebrating Maryland's Style" (https://www.mdhs.org/exhibitions/spectrum-fashion-celebrating-maryland%E2%80%99s-style).  The Society will display an original 1896 men's cycling suit, and would like to include the poster to illustrate both men's and women's cycling fashion in Maryland.  A goal of the exhibit is to show the breadth of the Society's collection, so an acquisition is preferable to a loan.

Thanks, Paul

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General discussions on Wheelmen topics. / Re: Will iso 635 tires fit 28" rimmed pneumatic bicycles?

« on: June 18, 2019, 08:58:42 PM »

Sorry, my actual answer, such as it was, was tucked in just at the end.  That is, the only real way to know if a modern tire will fit an antique rim is to try it.  But knowing both the original tire diameter and also its width, or measuring the rim diameter, should give a good idea.   A 25" diameter rim is approximately ISO 635.  24.5" is approximately ISO 622.  The formula for the rim diameter is: (outer tire diameter minus 2x tire width).   This is because a pneumatic tire's width is also its height.  If a tire's diameter is 28" and its height is 1 1/2" (on each side of the rim), the rim's diameter should be approximately 25".  25" = 635mm.  Bingo, ISO 635.   Likewise, 28" -(2 x 1 3/4") = 24.5" = 622mm.  Bingo, ISO 622.  Don't forget there is also ISO 630, the old 27" road bike size.  But if the bike is old enough to pre-date modern standards, any guess is just that. 

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General discussions on Wheelmen topics. / Re: Will iso 635 tires fit 28" rimmed pneumatic bicycles?

« on: June 17, 2019, 10:07:34 PM »

David is right.  The two different ISO sizes are both called 28", because that was the outer diameter of the tires they were originally meant for.  ISO 622 fit wider 28" x 1 3/4" tires.  ISO 735 fit narrower 28" x 1 1/2" tires.

ISO 622 is the same as 700C and accepts a wide variety of modern tires.  This size would be close to very early pneumatic tires, say, before 1895.  When using modern tires on these rims, only very wide 700C x 45mm tires (29er) will give the correct stance. 

ISO 635 is the standard British Roadster size, common in parts of the world but rare in the US.  This size would be close to original for most TOC and early 20th century bikes.

But bear in mind that ISO sizes are relatively modern standards.  In the TOC period there were many short-lived and proprietary sizes that simply do not exist today.  Finding modern tires to fit original TOC clincher, wired-on, or Dunlop style rims is hit and miss.

Paul

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General discussions on Wheelmen topics. / Re: 1893 Featherstone Brochure From eBay

« on: June 17, 2019, 09:24:08 PM »

I did archive those earlier threads, and will try to find them and re-up them.  I have the 1893 Road King.
Paul

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Board for buying and selling Wheelmen goods and services. / Re: Wanted Woman's Small Frame 1890-1900's era Bicycle Most Any Condition.

« on: March 09, 2019, 12:35:27 AM »

If you'd consider a real project, I also have a very small adult ladies' frame from about 1894.  Very early.  It's not a complete bike, but I collected enough parts to start a project.  The frame is already stripped and straightened.  To make a safe rider, the frame probably still needs annealing and/or reinforcement.  Those early drop frames had weak geometry, and this one needed a lot of straightening.  I would have to take inventory of what all I have for it.  I know there is the frame, a fork, bottom bracket, seat post, and a suitable chain wheel.  It could be a start.

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Board for buying and selling Wheelmen goods and services. / Re: Wanted Woman's Small Frame 1890-1900's era Bicycle Most Any Condition.

« on: March 08, 2019, 11:50:33 PM »

Would you consider a juvenile bike?  My daughter has an interesting 16" frame Clipper with 24" wheels.  I'd have to ask if she's willing for us to sell it.  She is now a grown teenager and too tall for it.  The bike is very original and ride-able.  She had it at numerous Wheelmen national meets.  It is from the 1920's, with a New Departure Model C brake and single-tube tires on striped crescent steel rims.  Its original two-tone paint is burgundy/green.  The nickel plating is good.  The frame height is exactly what you want, but this bike is small in all dimensions.  So I don't know if it is suitable for a small adult woman, if that's what you need.

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General discussions on Wheelmen topics. / Wheelmen 49 years ago???

« on: February 19, 2019, 11:25:25 PM »

Hi All,

Last weekend I copied some old family photos.  Among them I found this one, dated October, 1970.  I was only six, but I do remember the trip to Greenfield Village.  There were lots of brass-era cars, too.  I assume these grand folks were Wheelmen.  Can anyone claim them?

Paul Rubenson

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General discussions on Wheelmen topics. / Re: Researching= Maryland Bicycle club, Baltimore Maryland

« on: February 17, 2019, 01:21:56 AM »

Here is a photo of the Maryland Bicycle Club.  It is near Druid Hill Park, Baltimore cyclists' favorite gathering place.  Druid Hill Park is where the Hanlon Brothers first raced velocipedes in Baltimore in 1869, and where the Wheelmen held their 1888 National Meet (the first meet to include women riders).  The Maryland Bicycle Club still stands but is now apartments. 

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General discussions on Wheelmen topics. / An alternate explanation of early sloping top tubes

« on: November 09, 2018, 01:07:59 AM »

I'd posit a simpler explanation for sloping top tubes on early safety bicycles:  the diamond frame's aesthetic had not yet stabilized.  Before about 1890, early safeties with cross frames had no top tubes.  In the early diamond frame era, until about 1895, there was no consensus that the top tube should be horizontal.  Yes, some were.  But as many weren't.  One early aesthetic principle indicated that a diamond frame should be symmetrical around an imaginary line connecting the frame head to the rear axle--the line of the earlier cross frame's backbone.  Alan's first photo shows sloping geometry that was typical around 1893.  The slope of Mike Cates' hard tire safety was also common a few years earlier. 

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General discussions on Wheelmen topics. / Re: TOC Racing hub/wheel

« on: September 09, 2018, 12:50:36 PM »

I'm not saying it's not a racing wheel, but I'm curious why you suspect that it is one.  A 32-spoke wheel with a wood rim and fixed hub is pretty standard for a TOC bike.  The sprocket does have some holes drilled for lightness, but still looks a bit chunky, and its 8 teeth would only indicate a moderately high gear for the period.  Most rear wheels may have had 36 or even 40 spokes, but 32 is not unusually few.  Even if the wheel did show extreme characteristics regarding weight, gearing, etc., remember that--then as now--American producers pushed "sporty" products on the general public.  Maria Ward, a popular TOC cycling author, reminded her readers in 1896 that American bicycles "evolved on the racetrack and for the conditions determined thereon."