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    Velocipedes, Bicycles, And Tricycles
    Velocipedes, Bicycles, And Tricycles
    Velocipedes, Bicycles, And Tricycles
    Ebook93 pages38 minutes

    Velocipedes, Bicycles, And Tricycles

    By Velox

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Originally published in 1869, this unusual book will appeal graetly to all who are interested in the early history and manufacture of the bicycle. Chapters include; The French bicycle, The American or Pickering bicycle and The tricycle. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateMar 5, 2013
    ISBN9781447488798
    Velocipedes, Bicycles, And Tricycles

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      Book preview

      Velocipedes, Bicycles, And Tricycles - Velox

      CONCLUSION

      INTRODUCTION.

      WHEELED chariots may claim a high antiquity. When the Pyramids were young the chariots of Pharaoh were in existence, and we can trace them through each successive wave of civilization. We know that our ancestors were acquainted with their use prior to the Roman invasion. Like the coach, they were of rude workmanship; but the mind that designed and constructed them probably dreamed of some mode of dispensing with the cattle necessary to move them. Even then canoes moved on the face of the waters and ships on the sea; and it is more than probable that a similar motive power was looked for on land. The conditions were, however, unfavourable, and the thought, if entertained, was abandoned. The go-cart of our childhood is not a modern idea, but it is the germ of the velocipede. The primitive idea was hardly improved upon until our own day. The go-cart supported the body, and the feet of the child supplied the motive power: the modern bicycle does no more. The power is differently applied, it is true, but the general principle remains the same. That velocipede is the best and most in favour which, with the least expenditure of power, attains the greatest speed by the action of the feet alone. The various forms which have been tried to accomplish this, the diverse means employed, and the mechanical aids suggested, form an amusing chapter of the history of invention.

      Whether velocipedes will ever become a necessity of our civilization—the fast adjunct to our fast age—it is impossible to say, though appearances would warrant such a prediction. There are enthusiasts who see in a bicycle the solution of some gnarled social problem, and believe that a tricycle will obviate some festering evil of our era, though at present the popular toy of the hour only flatters our pride by giving power over space; and there are those who sneer at the new-fangled carriages, and point out that similar machines have been tried before, and, for practical use, have been found wofully wanting. They predict ruptures, sprains, dislocation, and death as the penalty of using these mechanical contrivances. They point out that they are excessively laborious to work, that there are a thousand abstract arguments to prove why they cannot succeed; yet, while they are proving the negative, the velocipedes are positively to be found in our streets by hundreds, and our gymnasiums and riding-schools are thronged by anxious learners and expectant possessors of the new iron horse and carriage combined.

      If the velocipedes of to-day were of the same construction as those which belonged to the past, no reasonable individual could deny that their use involved danger and fatigue, without any compensation whatever to repay in any adequate sense the labour involved, for those who tried them found that, though they succeeded in a certain sense, success was achieved at such an expenditure that it was compared to employing an elephant to draw a wheelbarrow. The modern principle was present in the old hobby, or, as it was sometimes called, the dandy horse, but the power was misapplied, and consequently wasted; hence the failure and abandonment of the idea of making the velocipedes either popular or permanently useful. The shaking, squealing three or four-wheel spasmodic machines were discarded, and placed in the same category as flying-machines and perpetual motion.

      It would be almost useless now to attempt to demonstrate mathematically the exact gain or waste of power which velocipedes give or consume. It makes very little difference to a good walker whether the road is of gravel, smooth pavement, or an average macadamized road; but in a wheeled carriage the difference is much greater. The loss of power in walking is calculated at five per cent. between walking on a pavement and a gravel road, and forty-five per cent. in the case of a two-wheeled carriage. On bad roads velocipedes are at their minimum advantage. On smooth roads they are pleasant, useful, and capable of performing all that enthusiasts claim for them. There is little doubt they will remain permanently amongst our institutions, for they supply a want and meet the requirements of a large section of the people.

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