By
Bicycles
and exhibitions go together like oranges and lemons, they both
started about the same time, and as exhibitions were all about
displaying manufacturers goods, it was inevitable that bicycles would
be on show. In its earliest forms the bicycle predates exhibitions by
many years. The first record of what is held by some to be a
representation of a bicycle, is on a glass window in the Cloisters at
Stoke Poges Church, near Windsor dated 1642, and features an angel
blowing a trumpet astride what could be a hobby horse.
Later in
1766 the first horseless carriages were called Manumotives, and
consisted of four wheels the back wheels being driven by levers and
two treadles, operated by a footman standing at the back, the
passenger steering by reins attached to the front wheels. One of the
machines is reported in 1824 of being capable of eight miles per
hour, down a steep hill I imagine. Later a much larger machine was
dreamed up, built like a coach to take six people the driver seated
on the box in front, four passengers inside, and a footman in full
uniform at the back on the treadles. I have found no record that this
machine ever moved
.It is not known who first invented a 'two wheels in line' machine, credit is generally given to a Frenchman, about 1816 it was known as a Celeripere, and consisted of two cart wheels connected by a wooden beam. The rider sat astride the machine and propelled it forward with his feet, the front wheel was fixed and could not be steered. In 1818 this was improved upon by a Baron Drais de Saverbrun, and it became known as the Draisienne, it had a padded rest for the arms, and the forks went through a socket, so that the front wheel could be turned and the machine steered. In December of 1818 a London coachmaker Dennis Johnson, applied for a patent for the machine calling it a 'Pedestrian Curricle'. It soon became known as the 'Hobby Horse' and then the 'Dandy Horse' It suddenly lost its popularity in the 1830's when the penny dropped and the Dandies realised why they all had hernias. It was reported as being used in country areas as late as 1850.
The next major step forward, was by a Scotsman Kirkpatrick Macmillan, who in 1839 fitted cranks to the back wheel activated by swinging arms. The story goes that he watched children playing with a hoop, and thought if he had two hoops connected together they would stay upright as long as they were moving.
To us today this seems so simple, but at that time it was a brilliant conception, that made possible many forms of transport we take for granted today. On the 6th of June he set off on his first long journey from Courthill near Dumfries to Glasgow to visit his brother, on arriving he unfortunately knocked down a child and the next day was fined five shillings. The idea did not catch on and he took no steps to patent it. There were several other machines built involving complicated systems of levers, but none of them lasted. It is interesting to note that in the early days of the bicycle no names had been invented for the various parts, anything to do with steering, was called reins and pedals were called stirrups. Possibly one of the early deeds by a cyclist Gavin Dalzell that gave a hint of the future in store for the bicycle, was his ten mile race against a Kings Mail Coach, which by statute had to maintain a speed of ten miles per hour. He not only comfortably beat it, but played with it en route, by riding round it three times, to the chagrin of the driver and guard who had backed their cattle to win. It seems that Dalzell must have been capable of about twelve miles per hour.
The Great Exhibition of 1851, had on show a cart wheel shod with rubber, and a contempory report states "it was allowed to roll over the hands and feet of the bystanders without causing the slightest sensation of pain", adding optimistically "running over a living being would cause no injury to life or limb". It was to be seventeen years before J. Hastings in November 1868 rode thirty miles on a boneshaker with rubber strips nailed and cemented to the wheels.
The next step forward in the mid 1800's was probably again by a Frenchman, Pierre Michaux who fitted cranks and pedals to the front wheel of an old Draisienne or Hobby Horse. I say probably because the date is not certain, and there was a German in 1862 Karl Kech of Munich who did the same to an old Hobby Horse. Michaux was the better business man and while Kech took it no further, Michaux started to produce them and later exhibited in the Paris Exhibition of 1867. Here they were seen by another exhibitor Rowley B. Turner the French agent for the Coventry Sewing Machine Co. Ltd. of which more later. Up till then all two, three and four wheeled velocipedes or manumotives had been driven by lever systems. Four wheeled Velocipedes were on hire at the Crystal Palace up to 1883. In 1862 cranks were also fitted to a tricycle, this was by an English firm Messrs Mehew of Chelsea, who exhibited it in the 1862 International Exhibition. This was the forerunner of the childrens tricycle which is still made today. So the 1860's saw both bicycles and tricycles fitted with cranks on the front wheel, time would prove the two wheeler to be the most popular means of transport.
To get back to Rowley B. Turner, who in 1868 brought back to England a Michaux Boneshaker. This was first demonstrated and ridden by Turner at Spencers Gymnasium in Old St. London. He then took it up to the Coventry Sewing Machine Co. Ltd. where his uncle Josiah was Manager, together with an order for 400 Boneshakers to be sold France. It was discovered that the Articles of Association of the company were not equal to the demand, and as the sewing machine trade was slack, it was resolved to reconstruct the company, and it became The Coventry Machinists Co. Ltd. When the order was only partly completed the Franco-German War broke out, and Turner was to make his escape from Paris riding one of these machines. At home The Coventry Machinists Co.were able to create a demand in this country and the 1870's was to see Coventry become the Cycle Manufacturing Centre of the world. A position it enjoyed until well into this century. The Coventry Machinists Co were later to change their name again to the 'Swift Cycle Co.' and then to 'Swift of Coventry'.
Page from the 1884 International Forestry Exhibition Official Programme
In 1869 there was a race held on the top paved terrace at the Crystal Palace and a Velocipede Show (Cycle Exhibitions to this day are always called shows) at which many wonderful Manumotives were shown. one was in the shape of a boat, mounted on wheels and propelled by levers arranged to represent oars. The coxswain sitting at the stern, and steering by straps passing to the bows. On 26th of June 1869 a Grand Exhibition of Velocipedes and a race was held at Studley Royal Park. This was claimed to be the finest display ever brought together. A prize of four pounds was offered for the finest bicycle with a runner up prize of one pound ten shillings. Also in June that year a bicycle was on display at the Horse Show. 1869 also saw the term Bicycle become generally accepted.This period saw the birth and death of many quite impractable inventions, like the one with a single 12ft diameter wheel the unhappy man balanced on top, and held there by two 15ft balloons. On a par with this ten years later was the suggestion that to increase his speed the rider should have wings fitted to his arms and steer by his chin. Against these weird ideas, in a fortnightly magazine the 'English Mechanic' for April 20 1866 the first suggestion for using an endless chain for giving motion to the driving wheel appeared, again an idea of outstanding importance.
1871 saw the start of the Stanley Cycle shows, and these started off the season, and continued for many years. Apart from exhibitions, races or endurance runs became another way of advertising bicycles and 1873 saw the first London to John o' Groats ride, and six years later a fifty mile race was won in under five hours. There had been an enormous increase in the number of firms making cycles, in 1871 there were about a dozen and by 1881 this number had risen to 1,072, and the trade was well able to support its own Shows. At the Stanley Show of 1883 Tricycles outnumbered the two wheeled cycles, but this was not to last. Some early venues were the Holborn Town Hall and the Albert Hall. An indication of how uncomfortable these early bicycles were to ride, is that at the 1890 Stanley Show there were no less than 56 machines fitted with springs or rubber pads to make the rider more comfortable. Without doubt the aim that gave greatest scope for inventors, was how to make cycling easier, by means of speed gears, between 1877 and 1906 over 800 devices of various kinds were registered, although not all were manufactured. Amongst all this clutter of 'it might work' designs one must stand out as possibly the most important invention of all time after the wheel. This was the invention by James Starley in 1877 of the differential gear built into the axle, of tricycles. This simple gearing system allowed a driving force to be unequally distributed to two shafts at 90 degrees to the main drive. This was necessary because when a tricycle went round a corner, the outside wheel had to turn faster than the inside wheel. A fixed drive machine was impracticable as it could only go in a straight line, while if one wheel was free running, although it could turn corners, it was very inefficient by having a drive on one side only. Starley's invention made possible the motor car because until this was invented, the motor car industry would have been hamstrung.
The programme for the 1884 International Forestry Exhibition has a full page advert for the Rudge 'Coventry Rotary, Tandem. and on another page it lists nine cycling events taking place on Saturday 30 August, ranging from rides of 18 miles up to rides of 44 miles. A year later the first 'touring on a cycle'. book was published 'A Canterbury Pilgrimage' written, ridden and illustrated by Joseph and Elizabeth Robins-Pennell. This was done on a Coventry Rotary Tandem. They took it easy spending three days on the journey from London to Canterbury. 1885 also saw the introduction of the first bicycle, the design of which would not look out of place today, built by the Rover company, it marked a turning point for the cycle trade. Its advantages were so obvious. Two small wheels, chain driven, no more falling off from a great height, efficient brakes, it soon saw off the ponderous heavy tricycles. It is interesting to note that Rover Cycles were still in business in 1924 and had a stand at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley.
In 1896 the 20th Stanley Show took place, it had carried on although they had had a competitor for the last five years, 'The National Cycle Show' was held under the auspices of the Cycle Manufacturers Trade Protection Association. Their sixth was held at the Crystal Palace in 1897 and had about 400 firms exhibiting, one showed a wide range of cycles constructed with bamboo instead of steel for the main tubes. Eventually the Stanley Show fell by the wayside and the National Cycle Show took over. The connection between Bicycles and Exhibitions is still with us today, and only a few years ago Nancy and I went to a Cycle Show held in the Birminghan Exhibition Centre.
As far as I was concerned this turned out to be a bit of a farce. This was at the time when oval tubes were all the rage, and a bright young spark on the Raleigh stand tried to convince me that if you squash a round tube into an oval tube it becomes lighter. On another stand they were showing another oval or it might have been a tear-shape tubed bike at about £2,000, I asked the occupier of the stand what made it so expensive, and he explained to me that it took a skilled man about a week just to mitre the tubes, it was at this point that I mentioned to him that I had been a cycle frame builder for about 20 years. He rushed off into his office and would not come out again. (The point of this story is that given a hacksaw and a 10" half round bastard file it takes about ten minutes to mitre the tubes on a frame, and we both knew it.)
1936 International Cycle and Motor Cycle Show at Olympia
The finale was at the Peugeot stand, where they had on show 'The Bike of the Future'. This was a prototype of what designers thought the bike of the future would look like, and I'll admit they had made a nice job of it. I was studying it in some detail, when up came another bright young spark, and asked me what I thought of it. I said what a pity it was that they had gone to so much trouble to make something that was unrideable. He seemed to get very excited about denying this, and when I was able to assure him that he had never actually seen the bike ridden, he realised he was a bit out of his depth and went for the manager. By now for some reason quite a crowd seemed to have gathered. The Manager when he arrived went to great lengths to explain that all the fittings were real fittings, and when he had finished I told him why the bike was unrideable He conceded that the bike was un-steerable, something he was not too happy about having to admit but tried to convince me that theoretically it could be ridden in a straight line. On being challenged he too admitted that he had never seen it ridden and was not prepared to try it himself, even though I suggested a small wager on the outcome. I never heard of Peugeot putting the bike on show again.
And so the bike designers had gone round in a complete circle, back to the Celeripere the unsteerable bike, but now made of alloy.
Bibliography
Official Programme of the International Forestry Exhibition 1884
A Canterbury Pilgrimage by Joseph and Elizabeth Robins-Pennell 1885
The All England Series Cycling by H. H. Griffin 1890
The Badminton Library Cycling by Earl of Albermarle & G. Lacy Hillier 1895
The Romance of the Cyclist Touring Club by James T. Lightwood 1928
Bartleet's Bicycle Book by H. W. Bartleet 1931
The First Fifty Years of the Catford Cycling Club by E. J. Southcott 1939
© Exhibition Study Group 1994