Bicycle Design Battle! 1870's Edition.

The annual Copake Bicycle Auction, in New York state, sells some amazing vintage machines in excellent condition. Looking at some of these bicycles and tricycles can help explain the early evolution of the bicycle, and here we have two bikes from roughly the same era.

Let's examine these two contraptions, and see how they compare to each other:

 "Morse and Morton" – Fairhaven, Mass

 "Sargent" – Unknown builder

Both these bikes come from the 1870s, and both represent two evolutionary paths of the bicycle. "Morse and Morton" is not so different from a modern bicycle. It has a rear wheel driven by cranks, and the front wheel moves independently. It's influenced by a design found in Europe during the 1840s, the earliest known example being an invention of Kirkpatrick Macmillan in the UK. It is, in many ways, the superior machine. The attachment of the cranks that drive the rear wheel can be moved for greater or less leverage, which effectively changes the potential acceleration of the bike without replacing any parts. Mounting the cranks near the spindle gives more torque, better for climbing hills, but that also means the rider will have to extend their leg more because the crank's forward and backward movement limits are increased; mounting the cranks closer to the pedal allows for less total movement of the crank, but also less leverage on the wheel, resulting in a less tiring ride. The concept is similar to how a piston pushes a crankshaft in an internal combustion engine. The added bonus is that a single bike can account for riders with different leg lengths. Short riders can use the short-throw setting, tall riders use the long-throw setting. All rider types can ride at the same speed with roughly the same effort on flat ground so long as the driving wheel is the same size.

"Morse and Morton" turns linear pedal movement into spinning wheel energy. Quite an innovative use of technology and engineering for the 1800's. Aside from the bare wooden wheels this bike would be pleasant to ride on modern roads.

Let's have another look from a different angle:

Oh yeah

Because the cranks mount directly to the front wheel, "Sargent's" top speed is determined by the wheel's diameter. The greatest amount of power a rider can apply to a bike like "Sargent" is determined by the rider's leg length: longer legs can use longer cranks for more leverage. Similarly, longer legs can use a larger driving wheel for greater top speed. The design of the "Morse and Morton," on the other hand, can use as big or small a wheel as the rider wants, regardless of the rider's leg length because the crank assembly can extend where the rider's legs can't.

 The front wheel of the "Sargent" is also responsible for steering, which can be tricky at slow speeds while trying to keep balance because a person's knobby knees might clip the spinning spokes. Compared to "Morse and Morton," "Sargent" is slower, handles poorly, is less versatile, and more dangerous.

   It has but one advantage: it's cheaper.

The structure of "Sargent" has only three moving parts: the headset and the wheels. "Morse and Morton" has that, plus six joints, and thus six more points that need to be precision machined, and then six more potential points of failure. In the days before mass-production, a machine like "Morse and Morton" would be a considerable investment.

"Sargent's" design would go on to dominate bicycle form and sales for the next two decades, unfortunately. The rear-wheel-drive bicycle wouldn't make a comeback in any popular sense until the 1890s.

One last thing! Note the pedals on both bikes. See how they're just round pegs? That's because the flat pedal that we all know and love hadn't been invented when these bikes were built. It's weird to think that something as basic as the pedal had to be invented by someone, but there you go.

Check back in for more fun bike history from the Copake Auction.