What the hell?

Quoted message said:

Ben C said:

Quoted message said:

I just looked at the inside cover of Herlihy's "The Bicycle" and saw
that the 1896 Waverly Belle's most interesting feature had been
hidden:

http://i10.tinypic.com/8101uuh.jpg

[...]

Quoted message said:

Have another look yourself.

Hint: count the spokes coming out of any dingus in _all_ directions.

Now do you see how weird that rear wheel is?

Apparently, Herlihy didn't notice how odd the wheel is:

"Waverly Belle, circa 1896, a lady's model by the Indiana Bicycle
Company, with a steel frame and wooden handlebars, fender, and chain
guard. (Pryor Dodge Collection)"

So is that a 24, 36, or 60 spoke rear wheel?

Perhaps the multiplexing dinguses are "adaptors" allowing you to make up
a wheel out of a 36H rim and 24H hub?

Dear Ben,

It turned out to be a deliberate design by Charles Duryea that avoids
spoke crossings on a tangent wheel. Here's the patent:

http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00614284&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526d%3DPALL%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsrchnum.htm%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526s1%3D0614284.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F0614284%2526RS%3DPN%2F0614284&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page

Why Duryea wanted to avoid crossings is a mystery. Maybe it was
related to a childhood admonition not to step on cracks in the
sidewalk.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Sorry, wrong link. Here's the right one:

http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00459699&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526d%3DPALL%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsrchnum.htm%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526s1%3D0459699.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F0459699%2526RS%3DPN%2F0459699&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Charlotte? why not do something useful like a cycling guide book for
the high plains - nothing to steep upwards or downwards. We could loan
you the money?

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/9aec3fb0.jpg&imgrefurl=http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id305.htm&h=251&w=195&sz=22&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=R055aOFvr3BxOM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=86&prev=/images%3Fq%3Djohn%2Bdelorean%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7GGLJ%26sa%3DN