THE NEW YORK CYCLE SHOW.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXX, Issue 221, 18 September 1896, Page 4

THE NEW YORK CYCLE SHOW.

ON WHEELS. k*wlf": anybody haTan idea that the n- bioyole craze is waning, says the H«ign Francisco Argonaut,' a visit ■■" to-th"s Bioyole thow at Madison ■ ,v Square Garden would change his ■f-Vinind. The hall was ablaze with '■* 'electric lights. The names of the V were in -letters of light, I," and there were-Bome bicycles out,*,'"'lined;in fire with revolving wheels. r^"~A bioyole Bhow haß just closed in o- Chicago, -and there it wbb a great success, over 90,0,0 people having - attended it. It is believed that ' K 150,000 will be registered as having attended this show at the Madißon •'- . fcquare^Garden. >> ;■•< Ab there is no exhibit of cycling Vv Coßtnm.es, thVindefatigable makers \ have exhibited them on the persons ■ &->ot stalwart young men and shapely : young women. Everywhere yon run across good-looking fellows in '" ' bicycle rig, jackets, knickerbockers, i<] and golf stockings, and pretty girls " in bloomers, divided bkirts, kricker- . hookers, in bicycle ahoes and silk I' etookingß, in gaiters or leggings, '4'\ "tod in high bioyole boots, someV" times; with leather or cloth tops. * -7 These young men and women give t'^aWay . advertising matter and sou--v venire' The > souvenirs are legion. >'■ ' The exhibitors have found it expen- '<' me, but rivalry has made it unavoidable, They give away - •watoK-ohanos, cigarette-holders, pipes, whistleß, canes, buttonß of ; mfc, celluloid, nioke], brass, and alummumi" bioyole sheet-musio, oard-oases,>arid other things. • The changes in the '96 wheel are not marked. The main difference is that the tubing is larger and *" heavier" than before. The ' oraze 4 " for lightness ,in the .wheels for '95 has .been knookedinthe head by acofdehte on bad roads, The aver- *. i age weight of the wheels this year ' ; is from twenty-three to twenty-five v pounds. The manufacturers have * abandoned the uniform colour of the old wheels, and now every .-_ of the rainbow appears on * the frames and the rims. -. Among the curiosities, the one 'i that attracts the most attention ia the triangle-frame bicycle, or uprigbit bicycle. ohe handle bars are ..behind the saddle and pass around to the Bide, bo that the rider graspß the handles by dropping his arms \,.at.,his sideT.The' frame is.triangular instead oLdiamond-shaped, ~ and the saddle- -Is placed on the apex of the triangle^ The position ■ of the rider iB upright instead of stooping, and the women can ride *,: Ihifl wheel in a walking dress. , is nothing to catch the skirt, ,j.. and it will doubtless be a favourite (.•with •womeu. Another curio is the '"Columbia Oolt Automatic Machine Bicycle Gun, which iB mounted on .-,' the front forks of a model forty Columbia. Another is a Columbia Military Tandem. It ia fitted . with r two guns,, two revolvers, blsnkete, overcoats, and a tent, it •will carry two men comfortably, " and even if they had to " get out v and walk," it is infinitely|easier to trundle their truck rather than to pack. it. . Among novelties in saddles is one consisting of two small leather pads side by side on 'springs, each pad giving alternately „ to the motion of. the body in pedaling. A ■wheel that, attracts attention . is called the " Giraffe." It is eight and one-half feet high, the frame "being built up to that height from ran ordinary Bafety basic. Ihe ohain and isprocket are arranged along the baok of the frame. Steps in the frame allow the rider to climb to the top. It weighs •, 'thirty '•four pounds. Another novelty ia the sex-tuplet. It is \- one hundred and 25 inches long, weighs one hundred and seven - - pounds, is fitted with a 153-inch gear and triple head and six saddles. An ice bioycle haß a steel runner attached to the front tork in place of the front wheel, -i ■while the rear wheel, instead of ' a rubber tire, has a rim contain- '■ ing teeth which sink into the ice. There is a great variety of saddles and brakes on exhibition. The - old handle-bar brake seems to be going out, and there are various patent brakes of more or less value. , There are a number of tandems on •i' exhibition, some of the ladies' tandem wheels having double drop frames, some of them combination tandems built to carry a man and woman, with a drop frame on the front seat, and tandems having a diamond frame in front and a drop frame in 'the rear, so that the woman can occupy the rear seat. - There ia on exhibition a bicycle built for Lilian Russell, which is Baid to be worth one thousand dole. The entire frame is Bilver, with gold trimmings. A bicycle decorated by Tiffany iB valued at five „ ; hundred lois. The handle-bar grips are made of ivory, covered with silver filigree. It has a solid Bilver belJ. The top and bottom of the head and the sprocket are also covered by silver filigree work. The black leather saddle iB also bor- . dered with silver, a companion side-seated twowheel bicycle, weighing about 40 lbs, is so arranged that two women or two men can ride it side by side. In fact, one person can ride it alone. The difference of weight in the riders makes no difference in the equipoise of the machine. A curio is a bicycle built of wood by a far, inert boy in Monmouth OuuntyN.J. The on'y metal work about it is the steering-head, which consists of a pair of rusty scrap-hinges. The wheels are solid discs of wood on whioh flat pieces of rubber are nailed. It has evidently Been hard servioe, A bicycle that attracts attention is one without any chain', the propelling power being provided on the lever principle. Bicycles with wooden handlebars are . exhibited, and it iB claimed for , them that they greatly leesen vibration. A curious fact is that there is but a single exhibit of wheels by an English company, Theße wheels are sold from 14OtfoJs to 160dols, and American dealers say that they are inferior to ours, but that is natural. . Another ourio is the bioyole eye- . glass, It is exactly like a miniature bioycle] the glass ior the eyes being perfeotly round aad enoircled by i ' miniature rubber tires, and the r jbtfdije for the nose is made by the , 'frame over whioh are the saddle and handle-bars. , These glasses .are ■intended to proteot the eyes from ?';-* kl 4ttßV,'''i The effect of them.on the ; .• faae. i 8 peculiar. There axe two bioyole exhibits by ' .sewing-machine manufactures, and 'both of them are high-priced wheels. =' ;;":The . etory that the great aewingv r I iinaphijie companies were going into : the bioyole business seems to have ;A-/..-|or its foundation only the faot that; «,•>;-*"'"--.•>•»■:■■■■■•■'. " ' '

some sewing-maohine manufacturerers, owning speoial machinery, are making speoial bioyole parts, suoh as steel ball-bearings and pedals. One of these firms now has an order for five and one-half millions of steel balls. Folding bicycles of French and American make are ehown, by whioh you oan bend your bioyole on a linge in the middle, fold the two wheels together, and put it into a trnnk. Women will be interested in a cyclist's companion, holding their safety-pins, hair-pins, soap, comb and brash, mirror, and powderrag, which goes into a little receptacle attached to the handle-bag. There are bicycle electric lights operated by storage batteries, electrio lights operated by magneto-eleotrio apparatus, and lamps fed from compressed gas stored in the flames, fifty different varieties of brakes, locks that defy thieves, every size and tone of bell, repair kits, tents, bioycle umbrellas, and sundries by the thousand. There were several things made patent by the great oyole exhibition of January, 1896. One is that the day of the bent-back rider, except on the race traok, is over. As you walk along, instead of seeing the turned-down handles of last year, everywhere you see the turned-np steering-bar. The makerß have learned that the humped-baok Boorcher represents only about 10 per oent of bioyole riders, and as they are not in the business for their health, they are .making bicycles for the greatest number. Another faot is that they are making bicycles of greater strength and weight. The light and spidery machines whioh tho cranks and scorchers affected do not last. A man not only wants a wheel that will take him 60 miles from home, but he wants one that will bring him back. The gossamer machines ' with thin tires, light tubing, and turned-down handle-bars are going to disappear. Another thing is that the gearing is higher than it was. The average gear is 70 for a man's wheel. The makers have found that most men are willing to pat a little more musole into pedalling if they ha™e to move their legs leas rapidly. And last, but not least, is the faot that the people who are buying bicycles seem to buy the high-grade wheels by well-known makers. The average man when he decides to buy a whee goes to some one of the numerous well-known makers of high-grade wheels. . 1