1890s cyclist photos

[bobswire]

I ran across this site looking for old bike photos.
http://www.viewsofthepast.com/topics/fr-bicycles.htm

http://i60.tinypic.com/208w87m.jpg

[maxdog]

There's something about the basic design of some of those old bikes, such as the first photo of the "dude", that I find very aesthetically pleasing.

[MattTuck]

You found the original hipster :)


No, seriously... those are actually some really cool photographs. Look at the size of all those tires. It makes me want to go buy a gravel bike :hello:

[RonW87]

Amazing how little has changed. They got the basic design pretty much right from the get-go.

[Louis]

Stem's too short.

[OldCrank]

I dunno, but is the 'Chicago Bike Club' on their way to bust some union members' skulls?

The Cross Bikers look rightly proud of their newly glued Dugasts.

Great stuff, thanks for sharing- my early riding was mostly north of Chicago.

[tiretrax]

Thank you for sharing that. I love historic photos.

[BMS]

Except for the tires being a little too wide, it's (in a 130 year old kind of way) fairly similar. Very cool.

[MattTuck]

I dunno, but is the 'Chicago Bike Club' on their way to bust some union members' skulls?

The Cross Bikers look rightly proud of their newly glued Dugasts.

Great stuff, thanks for sharing- my early riding was mostly north of Chicago.

haha.

http://www.viewsofthepast.com/photos/transportation/bikes-motorcycles/tr-bi-8.jpg

[blilrat]

Those are some great pictures. Makes me want to pull my pre-war Elgin off the wall and build it up.

The 'women with bikes and pistols' is interesting. That must be a gun holster attached to the frame?

[SlowPokePete]

Those were awesome.

Makes me think it was harder to learn to ride a bike 100+ years ago.

SPP

[oldpotatoe]

Amazing how little has changed. They got the basic design pretty much right from the get-go.

Wright Brothers bike, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

[redir]

My first thought was how little things change too except not so much about bike design as in human behavior. there is something about a bicycle that makes people want to race and compete man and machine type thing but also do tricks on and just pose for pictures with.

Great photo's thanks for sharing!

[Kobe]

The one thing that has changed the most is the clothing. Pretty cool the way they dressed up to take pictures with their bikes.

[Don49]

I was born too late.

[Gern]

Most of those forks are pretty raked out -- slack head angles, too. Anybody ridden one of these? I'm curious about the handling.

[xlbs]

I rode a 1930's bike for a couple of years while I was at university. The angles and sizing and style were very much like many of these early "safeties". It was very comfortable on good pavement, stable, and felt really solid. I guess the best comparison for someone today would be to ride one of those Raleigh Superbe 3 speeds.

The chain was "hit and miss", the BB was a triangle and tapered spindle with pressed-in cups, 5/8" caged ball bearings, the rims were Canadian 28 1 1/2" which were pretty close to our 29" rims now.

I kept the stem because it was so interesting; I use it as a paperweight today.. The patent date, now obscured under the new chrome (oops...!) was around 1898. I almost ruined the stem when removing it for the first time because the stem bolt/wedge is left-hand thread. Thankfully my old boss at the time said, "I remember those...try turning that bolt clockwise..." He was in his 60's then, in the late 80's. Good memories...

[JAllen]

I ran across this site looking for old bike photos.
http://www.viewsofthepast.com/topics/fr-bicycles.htm

http://i60.tinypic.com/208w87m.jpg

I think I saw that guy riding around town the other day. :)

[EPOJoe]

I have an old album here with some neat shots:

[Jaq]

Love that last photo with the wheel prices. Top of the line wheels for 15 bucks; that's about 400 today. Wonder what that would have got you. Lightweight wooden rims like they still sell at Wheelbuilder (http://www.wheelbuilder.com/cerchio-ghisallo-wood-rims.html)?

[Don49]

I have an old album here with some neat shots:Any idea geographically where those shots are from?

[EPOJoe]

Any idea geographically where those shots are from?

Yep. They're all from the California central valley region, with notations in the album identifying the shops and ride locations as being in Sacramento, Stockton and Santa Rosa. The first two shots with the odd looking gentleman were taken along the American River near Folsom, CA, and the Racycle shop was located in Stockton, CA. Here are a few more shots...

[numbskull]

Interesting to see that they rode with cutout saddles, curved seat stay bridges, and a lot of drop.

[JAllen]

I feel like those shops could be almost any LBS today! It's funny how little it's changed...