Books in Progress

The Van Cleve bike looks like a nice piece of work. The only thing which I would question is the seat mount/bar. If that thing broke, it could cause some real damage.

Here are some photos of the original 1900 Van Cleve Catalog.

The claimed benefits are:

Frame: Strong “tubing of best seamless quality." And “the fact that of the many hundreds of frames that we have built, not one has broken or proved defective in anyway…”.

Fork: supposedly strong and superior

Enamel: Five coats “of the best rubber baking enamel.” And “Our frames are carefully polished before the first coat is applied, and the enamel is put on with a brush; thus a much heavier coating is attained than when the dipping process is employed.”

Cranks: “The patented one-piece crank which we use in the Van Cleve is so much better than to or three piece cranks…”.

Hubs: “They are absolutely dust proof, and oil retaining to a degree that one oiling in two years is all they require.”

Coaster-Brake: Then proceeds a description of the coaster brake as if it is new and innovative. I don’t know if the Wright Brothers invented this feature or not or just perfected it.

Handlebars: You could choose the style you wanted. They apparently made one for a more upright posture and one that looked like it was for more of a racing posture. There may have been many other choices as well.

Saddles: Needless to say, I doubt they had any gel cushion seats. It seems they had many choices but especially could supply an apparent brand-name seat called “Sager.”

Tires: They didn’t make their own tires but do recommend those by Palmer, G. & J., and Goodrich (all, interestingly, made by Goodrich).

Price: 47.00 not including extras and various customizations. I found an inflation calculator that starts at the year 1913. Close enough. That $47.00 in today’s money is $1,213.00. And that amount of money would still buy you a fairly top-of-the-line bicycle today. But you can spend up to $10,000 or more if you want. But from what I’ve seen, that $1213.00 should buy you a very good quality bicycle.

The frames came in 22 or 24 inch. (My current bike is a 27”). You can get the forks square-forged, arched, or double. The enamel comes in black or carmine. (What color is carmine?) Other colors to order. Cranks are standard one-piece, diamond shape, star sprocket.

“Notice—This low price only applies when payments are promptly met. Otherwise the price is $50.00.” They had a payment plan? Neat.

Wouldn’t it be cool to go back in a time machine and visit their bicycle shop? I don’t know if they had a showroom full of pre-built models or would build everything to order, or perhaps a bit of both. But it’s clear they were going for the “upscale” market with an emphasis on quality (and thus safety).

We shall thus assume that the seat mount on a better-quality Wright Brothers bicycle would not break. Mr. Kung will be relieved. But it sounds as if you might be taking your life in your hands with the cheaper knock-offs.

I can see the value of having a spare tire, but overall the St. Clair design looks doubtful, if nothing else for its low handlebars.

When you hear of “The Wright Brothers,” you often think that there were two brothers and that was it. At least I imagined so. Or had simply thought no further about it. But there were seven children in all:

Reuchline (born 1861) — this is a man (interesting name…I wouldn’t have known). He married a Lulu.

Lorin (born 1862) — also somewhat of a unisex name. A man again in this case. He married Ivonette. Another interesting name.

Wilbur (born 1867)

Otis and Ida (twins, born 1870) — unfortunately died in infancy

Orville (born 1871)

Katharine (born 1874) — Katharine (so far) is described as a very sharp and forceful cookie indeed. Unlike many of her brothers, she attended college.

Here’s an interesting factoid about the more famous pair of brothers:

It looks like they moved both the home and shop "lock, stock and barrel." Or should I say, "kit and caboodle?"

That sounds like Main Street USA in the past before strip malls, super malls, and retailing having become mixed thoroughly with the entertainment industry. Again, I’m not their core audience. Perhaps neither are you. I can howl at the moon all day. But at the end of that day, the malls that dress themselves up as entertainment palaces have pretty much extinguished the small Main Street USA shops whose retail space is much more homey.

To some extent, price has done that. And we’re no longer talking about a home town hardware store where you go down to buy a few nails and might shoot the bull with some of the regulars. Shopping malls are impersonal and are scientifically designed to shorten the distance between your wallet and the checkout counter.

That’s just the way things are. And if someone tries to build something retro, there have been a few successes. But they are swimming against a tsunami.

I think this is one reason Amazon and other online retailers are doing such a good job. I actually came to hate the retail mall shopping experience. With Amazon, I can bypass all that. But, oh, how I wish I could wander into Wilbur and Orville’s bike shop. And, in fact, the small bike shop where I bought my bike and have it serviced is an old 60’s-style (if not 50's-style) Main Street USA shop.

I've never been in a Sam's Club store.