
The Modern Bicycle and Its Accessories (1898) [pdf] - app4soft
https://archive.org/download/modernbicycleits00schw/modernbicycleits00schw.pdf
======
lqet
The chapter "Some Examples of Useless Contriving" is pretty neat:

> In 1893 a Hartford man patented a bicycle fitted with a large cylinder,
> borne on either side below the wheel centre, for compressed air. Having
> previously filled these, either by a foot pump, which takes the place of the
> usual pedals, or by a curious rotary hand pump carried under the upper tube,
> the rider climbed to his place, opened a convenient throttle valve and sped
> along gayly. On a down grade he could use the momentum to repump air,
> getting brake effect by so doing, or he could use the air pressure to work a
> brake direct; as the gas tanks carried two little wheels on spiral springs
> underneath them, the rider could step off and leave the whole construction
> upright, leaning down on one of these stop-wheels.

> Mr. Hansel, of Zeitz, in Germany, only recently rediscovered and patented
> the idea of driving by the rider’s weight. There are two saddles, each on
> its post, arranged to slide up and down see-saw fashion, and geared, no
> matter precisely how, to a very big pulley belted to a very small one on the
> rear wheel, the gear ratio being evidently enormous. The rider gets up on
> the seat which is at the top, slides down with it, thus starting the wheel;
> then he is to hop off that to the other seat (which has meanwhile gone up)
> and so on. Expressive silence may be left to “muse the praise” of this
> invention

~~~
vanderZwan
Am I reading the second one correctly as patenting _twerking_ as a means of
driving the bike?

That first one sounds pretty amazing though, especially for its time.

------
watchdogtimer
A much better book [0] IMHO is "Bicycle and Tricycles: A Classic Treatise on
Their Design and Construction" published in 1896 and republished by Dover in
2011. This book goes into great detail about the science of bicycling. It
assumes only a basic math knowledge, and covers topics such as vector
mechanics, stress, strain, mechanics of motion, dynamics, etc, all applied to
bicycles. I found it quite readable and a great way to learn engineering
mechanics. I highly recommend it.

[0] - [https://www.amazon.com/Bicycles-Tricycles-Treatise-
Construct...](https://www.amazon.com/Bicycles-Tricycles-Treatise-Construction-
Transportation/dp/0486429873)

~~~
hazeii
I have that book, and it's quite the classic! A lot of it is available on
Google books [0].

The more modern take is, of course, Bicycling Science[1].

[0][https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=leq7AQAAQBAJ](https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=leq7AQAAQBAJ)

[1] [https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/bicycling-science-third-
editi...](https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/bicycling-science-third-edition)

------
analog31
Amusingly, the bike I ride today would not have seemed out of place in this
book. Single speed coaster brake. The main improvements seem to be in the
materials used, including aluminum and modern rubber.

~~~
13of40
I think it's funny that some of the crazy new features we're seeing in bikes,
like bamboo/wood hardware and direct gear drives, are already covered in this
book.

~~~
Japhy_Ryder
It is pretty hilarious. Just watch out for hipsters with gas lamps next!

~~~
analog31
Thinking about it, LED's and lithium ion batteries have been a pretty big deal
for my riding, compared to the horrid incandescent bike lights of the past.

------
Theodores
There is so much emphasis on designs coming full circle, reverting back to the
tried and tested from the novelty.

I think that is part of what makes this book so invaluable, the lessons on
this including the 'folly of the patent' (where inventors forget about the
'... and useful' part) is instructive no matter what business you are in.

I found the seat designs particularly telling on this front. The modern seat
supports the bones on each side with a central channel that does not put
pressure on the nether reasons.

This design was 'new'. Bicycle seats of the latter half of the last century
did not have this, the highest point of the saddle (viewed straight on) was in
the middle, there was no channel between each half. Yet in 1898 they had
arrived at what is considered today to be the correct design. So this has gone
full circle.

I also found the early pneumatic tyres to be an interesting read. The way of
fixing a puncture has not changed, you have the same processes involved, a
puncture repair kit from 1898 would be compatible with tyres on today's bikes.
Although the glue would have run out, the process is the same and the
instructions for doing it properly are the same.

Wheel rims have come a long way, in wood with the original pneumatic tyres it
would take all day to peel off the tyre to get to the inner tube in order to
fix it. Yet the benefits of the pneumatic tyre were such that this was
considered worthwhile. This is also telling in that Dunlop's invention needed
decades of refinement to be the tyre we know today.

Although some brand names are still in the game there seemed to be a lot of
diversity with stuff actually made in a 'Trump approved' way, in American
cities, all competing.

------
mrob
Non-PDF versions:

[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58444](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58444)

~~~
dredmorbius
Gutenberg is the original source of the article PDF, which is generated from a
modern text-based source, and is not a scan of the original.

I find original typography (and sometimes incidental notes and markings)
interesting. Archive.org does have a source scan from the Library of Congress:

[https://archive.org/details/modernbicycleits00schw/page/n7](https://archive.org/details/modernbicycleits00schw/page/n7)

~~~
app4soft
Thanks!

Archive.org does have a source scan in PDF too.[0]

It would be good then change main link from Gutenberg/GITenberg pages to
direct link on Archive.org's PDF.

[0]
[https://archive.org/download/modernbicycleits00schw/modernbi...](https://archive.org/download/modernbicycleits00schw/modernbicycleits00schw.pdf)

~~~
gluejar
A few notes on the different versions. The Archive version is a scan of the
printed version. The scans are OCR'd to make it somewhat searchable, but the
large filesize reflects the fact that it contains text scans. The Project
Gutenberg and GITenberg versions derive from proofread and corrected text
produced by Distributed Proofreaders. ( [https://pgdp.org/](https://pgdp.org/)
) The GITenberg PDF is a conversion from EPUB by xvfb.

------
anonu
There's a section on page 25 of the PDF called "THE TENDENCY TO FIXITY". I got
excited thinking that 1898 had it own share of hipsters who insisted on riding
fixed-gear bikes.

Actually, the author refers to the tendency of chasing after the latest fad.
In the next section the opposite phenomenon is explained:

THE TENDENCY TO REVERSION. Reversion to type — a well-known phrase of the
scientific evolutionist — means here a return to earlier and once-discarded
forms of construction. Very few notice the process, yet it constantly goes on.
The inquirer for novelties often has the old presented to him and is
satisfied...

So - what's old is new... HN community take heed! Your old tools and web
frameworks are fine.

------
DoubleCribble
I can't imagine gas powered bike lamps were great to ride around with but the
ones they replaced (soot!, smoke!, danger!) must've been even more exciting.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
You might be surprised - acetylene is very bright, and very white - probably
better brightness than the electric that replaced it. Wouldn't surprise me if
it took until LED arrived, or 12v halogen for motorbikes and cars, to beat it.
Obviously electric wins for no fire! and not needing regular maintenance.

------
app4soft
The most interesting is page 233:

> _CHAPTER XVII. MOTOR VEHICLES._

> _..._

> _ELECTRICITY AS POWER._

> _Electricity comes next in the list, and is now limited for production of
> current to three forms — the power station, supplying current by a trolley
> and motor; the primary battery, carried on the vehicle; the storage battery,
> also carried on the vehicle. The first may be impossible commercially, but
> it is not at all so mechanically. Given the lines and some workable device
> for insuring that the carriage shall not be too often “off its trolley,”
> together with provision for some minor difficulties which need not be
> pronounced impossible (since in an inventive and pushing Republic the
> impossible is the thing which becomes possible), and the thing is done.
> Leave this method to the future, meanwhile noting that a trolley automobile
> is already reported from Nevada as having been built. The primary battery,
> to be taken along, seems out of the practicable list in the present state of
> electrical development._

Especially this note:

> _The primary battery, to be taken along, seems out of the practicable list
> in the present state of electrical development._

It mostly solved only after 110 years since _«The Modern Bicycle and Its
Accessories»_ book published, when _Elon Musk_ produced _Tesla Roadster
(2008)_ [0]

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster_(2018)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster_\(2018\))

~~~
lqet
> It mostly solved only after 110 years since «The Modern Bicycle and Its
> Accessories» book published, when Elon Musk produced Tesla Roadster (2008)

An electric bike powered by a battery was actually patented the year before
the book was published, in 1897:

[https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/75/e7/86/9406fa2...](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/75/e7/86/9406fa2dc49e98/US596272.pdf)

Here is another one (built by Siemens) from 1932:
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Ebike193...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Ebike1932.jpg)

~~~
app4soft
Think, as on 1897-1932 and until 2010s electric bikes powered by a battery
still was _out of the practicable list_.

But since 2010s electric bikes turn on the practicable list, and latest ebikes
really cool.

In 2017 Ukrainian _Delfast model Prime_ e-bike set Guinness world record
breaking 367 km (228 mi) distance on single charge.[0]

I hope, latest _Delfast model Top 2.0_ would beat _Prime 's_ record this year
;-)[1]

[0] [https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-
records/115107-gr...](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-
records/115107-greatest-distance-by-electric-bicycle-single-charge)

[1] [https://newatlas.com/delfast-
top-2-ebike/60005](https://newatlas.com/delfast-top-2-ebike/60005)

------
ArtWomb
We definitely need a 2020 version for electric bike design! I see the Jetson
Bolt everywhere. And can't help thinking some brave nomadic explorer could
travel the world on something similar.

~~~
app4soft
> _We definitely need a 2020 version for electric bike design!_

Here it is: _Deltfast Top 2.0_ [0]

> _Do the pedals make it a bicycle? Yes, technically speaking._

> _But is it really a bicycle?_

> _Theoretically, you could pedal this thing, which might actually come in
> handy if you run out of battery while still tearing up forest trails. But
> the Top 2.0 definitely falls into the almost-a-motorcycle category of
> electric bikes._

[0] [https://electrek.co/2019/06/05/50-mph-delfast-
top-2-0-electr...](https://electrek.co/2019/06/05/50-mph-delfast-
top-2-0-electric-bicycle/)

~~~
ehnto
This is somewhere between an electric bicycle and an electric motorcycle and I
it doesn't look very good at playing to the strengths of either.

There are much better electric bicycle designs out there already.

