Mark said:Quoted message said:This is an 1887 Gormully & Jeffrey 50-spoke radial highwheeler:
http://timeline.route66rambler.com/1887/AFamilyInKenosha01.jpg
It seems to have _two_ handlebar levers, both going to the front spoon
brake, but what really puzzles me is that hub.
A massive drum brake? Pointless, since the pitiful spoon brake is
enough to flip the rider on his head.
A hub generator? Even Frank Krygowski would consider a magneto that
big overkill. Besides, there's no light.
A housing for some kind of internal gearing, perhaps controlled by the
second lever?
I believe you got it with that last one, though I doubt the bit about
the control lever. ISTR reading about such items somewhere.
Mark J.
Dear Mark,
I've seen a lot of odd gearing contraptions, so this may be just a
well-concealed one.
But two things argue against that.
First, Gormully & Jeffrey made mainstream classic highwheelers. So
far, I haven't found any oddly geared G & J highwheelers--they just
said to hell with it and switched to making safety bicycles instead of
trying to improve dead technology. I'd expect at least an ad for the
new wonder gearing from such a big manufacturer.
Second, it's a full-size highwheeler with a classic seat position.
Highwheelers with oddball gearing usually use the gearing to allow a
smaller wheel to go as fast, or else to put a seat put further back to
reduce the likelihood of a header.
On the other hand, what the hell else can it be? I can't think of
anything else that seems more plausible than a gearing cover. Maybe
some ur-Rohloff is lurking in there.
As for the control levers, I'm just as baffled by them as by the hub.
There just isn't any spoon brake on the rear.
Maybe they're the first dual front spoon brake setup that I've ever
seen, but it's hard to see why you'd need two--a single monster lever
will let anyone pitch themselves over the handlebar with a careless
squeeze. Perhaps the idea was convenient braking with either hand? I
can't see any sign of a control linkage going down to that huge hub.
Just the size of the hub is puzzling. An old drum brake road
motorcycle would be proud to sport a hub that big. Whatever it is, it
seems to be nicely polished.
Here's a picture of what _might_ be a hub geared normal-size
highwheeler, the one on the right with the cranks not opposed:
http://www.oldbike.com/Photo%20Gallery/bikers.jpg
The odd cranks _may_ have moved up and down behind the axle, like
treadles, instead of round and round like normal cranks, allowing a
more rearward seating position. There are some kind of doohickeys
apparently restricting the upward movement of each crank. But the
space occupied by the huge hub-thing in this thread is empty space
that picture.
Maybe the Adams book will arrive soon and clear up the mystery.
Cheers,
Carl Fogel
