CYCLES. The term "cycle" may be considered as generically applicable to that general class of vehicles that has aptly been called the man-motor carriage, of which the unicycle, bicycle, tricycle, and velocipede are types.
Tf we exclude the Johnson bicycle, patented in England in 1818 (which was a mere rolling support for the rider, placed between the legs, so that his feet touching the ground, and, moved as in walking, would carry lthn and his support along), the honor of inventing the bicycle is now accorded to a Scotchman, one Gavin 'Mizell, some time in 1846. This wheel, said to be yet in existence, finds almost its exact counterpart in the " rover " or "safety" bicycle of the present day. Its rear wheel, 40 in. in diameter, was the driver, the cranks of which were connected by rods with oscillating foot-levers pivoted to the machine-frame ; the front wheel, about :10 in. in diameter, was mounted in a fork having a slight rake, which in turn was jour naled in the forward part of the frame, the npper end of the fork having a pair of handles turned rearward within convenient reach of the rider, who sat abont midway between the two wheels. Pierre Lallement was the first patentee of the bicycle, in 1806. Ile was a Frenchman, then residing in the United States, This machine, afterward popularly termed the " bone-shaker," had the cranks placed on the axle of the front wheel, which thus became the driving as well as the steering wheel: the rider applied his feet directly to the cranks. Cycles may be classi fied into three divisions : ordinary bicycles, safety bicycles (including, those of the dwarf variety), the Otto bicycle, and trieycles, including sociables, tandems, and carriers.
BICYCLES.—The ordinary type of bicycle. illustrated by Fig. 1, hardly needs description. As it is supported on only two points—namely, its two wheels—it is necessarily unstable, and will fall to one side or the other. One of the points is movable on being turned sidewise, which, when the bicycle is in motion, constitutes an net of recovery, caused by turning the wheel toward the side to which the machine is falling; the balance is recovered, and the equi librium is thus maintained by continually turning the wheel toward one side or the other. The rider is seated slightly behind the center of the driving-wheel, so that he is able by means of his feet alone to control the steering, and to maintain his balance, the cranks in this ease forming levers with which to turn the wheel to either side as required. This action requires,
during the pedaling movement, is counteracting stress on the handle-bar, otherwise the machine would fail to run steadily.
The weight of the ordinary roadster bicycle varies according to the diameter of the driving wheel, extending, in the case of a racer, from 18 lbs. upward. One authority distributed the weight of a 54-in. bicycle among its several parts in the following approximote proportions: driving-wheel with minks, 4U per cent ; small rear wheel, 7i per cent ; front fork with head, handle-bar and brake-fittings, 25 per cent ; backbone and spring, 17i per cent ; saddle and pedals, 10 per cent.
One of the chief improvements over the old Lallement machine has been the introduction of rubber cushions on various parts of the machine for absorbing and lessening the vibration, which is one of the great discomforts of cycle-riding. Thus, each of the wheels is provided with rubber tires; rubber cushions have been provided around the bearings of each of the wheels and to the handle-bar bearings : the suspension of the seat-spring upon rubber buffers: and also applying springs to the fork of the driving-wheel, interposed between the wheel bearings and the fork proper.
It was, however, through the introduction of "suspension" wheels that the first real advance was made in cycles, as by such principle of construction the wheels are very light, rigid. and strong. They are constructed either with solid or hollow rims, the latter being lightest and strongest, and the spokes are direct radial spokes or tangential spokes. The spokes are threaded through holes in the rim and screwed direct into the flanges of the hub, being butt-ended or enlarged at the threaded portion, so that the sectional area of the spoke is not diminished by the cutting of the thread. Hollow rims are made in three ways : by being rolled out of a length of solid-drawn steel tube ; by being built up of two or more strips of steel plate first rolled to the required section and then brazed together : and by being rolled or drawn out of a single strip of steel plate, the edges of which form a lap-joint, which are brazed together. The rubber tires are constructed of a round or half round section, with either a plain or a corrugated surface, and either solid or hollow. A popular form of hollow or cushion tire is shown in Fig. 2.