The Wheel of To Day

Random and bicycle-unrelated googling has led me to this gem:

http://chestofbooks.com/sports/athletics/Outdoor-Library/Bicycling.html
A warning in advance: lots and lots of words, and you'll have to scroll down past the screenful of Google ads (or white space, if you've got an adblocker installed)

It contains the rather fascinating musings on bicycling of to-day by New York's finest thinkers, Philip G. Hubert, Jr., Marguerite Merington and J. West Roosevelt, M.D. and it turns out we've been doing it all wrong.

Bicycling, part 3: On frame material:

"Five years ago the average weight of the road bicycle was from forty to fifty pounds. Now anything weighing more than twenty-five pounds is looked upon with disfavor."

(The merits of aluminium and bamboo are also considered)

Bicycling, part 4; On touring:

" My own practice when touring is to get off as early in the morning as possible, and yet not too early to get a good breakfast. I ride at about six miles an hour, seldom more than that unless I am in a hurry, getting off to walk up all hills that deserve the name, and stopping to pick a flower or admire a view whenever the spirit prompts."

There are some photos, many more words and some advice on correct riding posture from J. West Roosevelt, M.D. that cyclefit should probably be made aware of. Enjoy.

How quaint!

The author meets an early detractor of multiple gearing:

"An old and experienced bicyclist, fond of "century runs," or one hundred miles at a stretch, - which I am not, - remarks that so far as he has been able to find out, these hill-climbing devices work well enough, but he doubts their value. If the hill is too hard to ride up, it is steep enough to walk up. Any device to change the gearing at will adds just so much to the cost and intricacy of the machine."