Vintage Bicycle Item Quiz

Good going there ocscully,

Ben Bowden was probably the first in our times to make a practicle LEV (lightweight electric vehicle)
using the technological advances brought foreward during WW2. No doubt he had studied Ogden
Bolton's work. In 1895 Bolton got an American Patent for a battery powered bicycle with a 6 pole brush & commutator DC current hub motor mounted in the rear wheel. There were no gears and the motor could draw up to 100 amperes from a 10 Volt battery. Boden was able to take advantage of the advances in technology and materials to design his "Spacelander" with a dynamo in the front wheel that would generate electricity to charge the batteries while riding downhill and then be able to power the helper motor built into the rear wheel when traveling up hill. By 1946 batteries were smaller and lighter in weight with increased storage capacity making Boden's concept possible.

In earlier times Ogden Bolton had pioneered the original idea which was reworked a couple years
later yet still fell short. But by 1890 the Giant Lafree Electric Bicycle was entering production. Heavy
lead acid batteries and their dependability during that time led to other choices of bicycles. By the post WW2 era inventors were beginning to reconsider the light weight electric bicycle market again.

The 1946 prototype carried both the dynamo and electric motor and the styling placed it light years
ahead of it's times.

Tom,

That looks like the ones which were made in the 60's and patterned after the
original 1946 electric prototype. They were I believe made just as bicycles without
the electric drive. What distinguished them was the wire luggage rack and
seat ring and the headlamps and tail lights formed in the fore frame and rear fender.
The photo you have there doesn't show the tail lights but it is red orange in color,
as those made in the sixties I believe came in some colors too.
The light lenses were somewhat pointed like on that Huffy Radio Bike headlamp.

I think they were made again after the 60's again but they seem to be more a prize for
collectors and people who like having them in their shops or museums. LOL

The original was made of two pressed steel half welded together to eleminate welded tubing.
The forks were designed with shock absorption, the rear wheel was shaft driven, and there was compartment under the seat for the tools and air pump. Battery racks were within the frame
and there was provision for a small radio and horn. But by 1960 the second effort abandoned
the electrical drive and used chain drive to the rear wheel. The body was crafted of fiber glass
and was Bowden's own efforts to try to build what he believed in as an advancement for common
folks who used pedal power for conveyence. The Bicycle industry in England in that time couldn't accept the vision of Industrial Designers like Bowden yet within a few years Vespa in Italy was using the concept and later Honda in Japan for their early motor scooters.

The same year Bowden designed the Spacelander bicycle he also designed the Healey 2.4 Saloon
which was then the fastest production saloon in the world able to attain speeds in excess of 110 mph. (1947)







But Bowden was always most concerned for the promise of his Spacelander which never became
a commercial success for him in and of itself. Ironically it made other companies fortunes.

So you're walking down the street one day and you see a bicycle leaning against a wall
ahead of you. It looks like any other mountain bike at first and you almost walk past it until
you notice the front fork, which isn't like any mountain bike you've ever seen.

Look closely.

What is this setup for ? Who made it ? How do you ride such a thing ?

It's a weekend afternoon and you decide to fire up your motorbike and go for a ride. As you
pull out of the driveway you wonder which way you'll go this time and the urge hits you to
ride over to a neighboring town and back. As you cruise the downtown when you get there
you notice an Antique store with a bicycle in the window. But the bike looks so new
and modern to be in an antique store window. What is it about THAT bike you ask yourself
as the white lines on the street fly by you ?

You put a foot down and since there's nobody else on the street you do a slow speed flip flop
and cruise back down to that store so you can look at it a little longer.....and better ! What is
there about this bike that won't let go of your curiosity ? Why do you have that crackeling
energy going so suddenly like you get when you are on the verge of a real find ?

Everybody stumpted ? And these are within the last 20 to 40 years.

Well hiker and ocscully and all the others lurking in this, the first bike is a 1994

Trialtir Intergrale

and while not a true antique or vintage bike it will certainly be a museum piece in a few
years taking it's place with others like this thread has displayed. The story on this mechanical
movement starts in the early 1970's with a small scooter commonly called a "PumpScooter"
where a kid could stand on the scooter and press on a rear pedal to pull a cable from the
sprocket reel and propel the scooter foreward. This movement was patented in Arizona to a
C E Christiansen for the pump scooters of the day. See the first two photos at the bottom.
By the time ten year old boys, and their buddies, would have played with them in their youth and grown to about the age of 30 (in the late 80's early 90's) the Trialtir Intergrale would have appeared on the market to dazzel their eyes. So while junior built strong legs as a boy on his scooter, he would have a bike which he could build his 6-pac ab's with. When one studies the cycles in history & design along with the science of marketing they can see how old ideas are "re-marketed" with different applcations or spins on earlier ideas. Often an idea that didn't make it in an earlier form becomes quite successful when rethought and introduced again later in other forms. Consider Bowden's "SpaceLander" which never became a financial success for Bowden yet brought lightweight motor scooter and motorbikes within the reach of the masses in the 1950's & 60's. Bowden had hoped his bicycle would have provided the solution but the technology was too late and the design was too early. Sad for Bowden who died at the age of 91 with the distinction of having been one of if not the most bicycle involved Industrial Designers of the 20th century.

The operation of this two wheel drive bike is similar to a stair stepper but you use your arms instead.
The handlebars go forwards and backwards using the pivots on the fork crown. The stem has a forward bumper to limit the forward travel. The lower end of the legs, attached to the bars, has a cable that attaches to a cog mounted to the back of the fork. The cog has an internal wound spring to return the cog with the forward handlebar motion. The fork mounted cog drives a single cog freewheel, that is attached to the front wheel, via a regular bike chain. So basically, you pull back on the handlebars which pulls the cable on the end of the leg attached to the bars, the cable rotates the upper cog which drives the freewheel via the chain, pushing the bars forward allows the spring in the upper cog to return the cog to prepare for the next power stroke. There is also an additional shifter on the handlebars which will lock the stem so it can be used as a conventional bike.

While it looks complicated it really isn't and it actually works reliably. The parts that it's built with
are't that expensive. You definitely get a much better upper body workout. The reasoning for such a a bike is that it would offer some extra propulsion on hills. See the additional photos of the set up below.

The Original Plastic Bike INC prototype circa 1972

A quantum leap in the evolution of bicycles.

Perhaps anyone who has ever seen the landmark film "The Graduate" in the mid sixties will
remember the scene at the party where an excited older gentelman sidles up to Dustin Hoffman
and blurts out the word PLASTICS !. At the time regular gas at the pump was selling for
around .17 cents a gallon and oil was in limitless supply. Plastics had began to advance in the
1930's and with the research and development of resins during WW2, the Korean Conflict, and
the Vietnam War, plastics were beginning to be called "Space Age" materials. The heat shields
of the Mercury Astronauts space capsuls were even made of plastics. ESR's or Engineered
Structural Resins were coming into their stride offering features ferous metals and metal alloys
could never attain in strength and other qualities the public could hardly believe.

The idea for the Plastic Bike came from three sources. First bicycle enthusiasts Joseph Dorrity.
Charles Cadorette. Second, marketing specialist & CEO Dr. John P. Marzullo (a business lawyer),
VP Roger Stark a seasoned corporate executive. And third, the director and vice president of research and development who actually made this "happen" William Thompson. Thompson was an engineer who was noted as one of the worlds foremost authorities on ESR's and tool and die
design for utilizing them.

Yet, at this time the cost of oil was beginning to raise with gas at the pumps reaching .40
cent a gallon and the cost of plastic resins soaring over 200% where most other industrial
oils lagged at 150% or less. It spelled the doom for many a "plastic dream" product and the industries that would produce them. Ben Bowden, the desinger of the "Spacelander" bicycle had
also designed the one piece plastic shower/bathtub enclosure that would see more production
than bicycles.

In addition to filling the void in the consumer bicycle market, Original Plastic Bike Inc. will
become the first and only manufacturer of complete bicycle parts in the United States.

The Original Plastic Bike is the world's first plastic bicycle. Today they are more common as
frames have been in production for several decades.

Its frame, fork and handlebar, front & rear hubs, freewheels, chain wheels, derailleur system,
caliper handbrakes and chain are completely produced from this patented engineered structural
resin.

Because of its unique unibody construction and strength of this revolutionary plastic, it is
structurally stronger than steel. The frame alone will support a fully equipped automobile.

Because of the self-lubricating qualities of this patented plastic, maintenance and breakdown are virtually eliminated. It requires no grease or oil.

The OPB was also equipped with newly designed reflectorized tires, giving it a safety feature no other bike can offer.

The OPB weighs less than 17 lb., making it ideal for the racing enthusiasts. This bike is not just a toy.

It was to come in 6 colors and 3, 5 or 10 speeds. The color on the OPB is not on the bike's
surface. It's in it just like the vinyl siding on houses. The color is actually embedded

in the plastic at the time of molding. It will never chip, discolor or rust. The colors that were to
be offered were green, blue, red, yellow, white and black.

You would also have a choice of speeds: 3, 5 or 10. (In sizes 26 and 27 in.) The freewheels,
chain wheels and derailleur system allows you to maximize gear ratio with optimum transmission.

The OPB bike could withstand temperatures of 30 below 0 to 500 F. It would not be harmed
by salt water making it an ideal beach cruiser. Various hazards such as solvents or acids which may get spilled on it when stored in the garage would not have any effect on it. The plastic
parts were designed to be produced in the USA and would be lighter in weight and price
as well as being in a dependable supply source.

The ESR and superior engineering given to every part made will be far superior to all
conventional metal parts. They will have smoother action, require no lubrication, and have less
components overall with the results being sharply reduced maintenance and cost.

The plastic caliper handbrake is a lightweight center pull type. And it has a feature that most
other bikes won't have. The brakes are self aligning. This prevents uneven wear of the brake
shoes and makes the braking system operate more efficiently. Because of the
self alignment feature and the fact that it has less components, it is by far the most effect
braking system offered. Any other braking system like it would be quite expensive but OPB
actually reduced the price with production and engineering advances.

The front & rear plastic hubs are 36 hole, wide flange. They are completely interchangeable with standard 3, 5, and 10 speed bicycles and work on a derailleur principle. The hubs were
tested for 3,000 continuous miles at an average speed of 25 m.p.h., showing no need of
lubrication. The hubs are absolutely immune to corrosion and virtually eliminate maximum
friction and wear. Dirt, grit and oil build-up are also eliminated due to the self lubrication
qualities on this engineered plastic hub.

The material in our freewheels and chain wheels have been ballistically tested for maximum
impact strength. They are noncorrosive and very light in weight further reducing the overall
weight of the bike. The double chain ring offers a 47 & 52 teeth combination. The single chain
wheel used in the 3 & 5 speed bikes comes in a 47 teeth. The chain is all plastic as well.

The freewheel teeth will come in 14, 17, 21, 26, & 31 to be used in combination with chain
wheels to make use of maximum gear ration efficiently. This allows optimum transmission for the
rider.

See the photo of parts below.

One rainy spring day you get drug into going to at an old estate sale with your
other half and it's one of those old old three story houses with a basement. It's been
deadly boring for you but finally you've worked your way up to the attic and there are
old boxes with scrapbooks in them. One of the people minding the sale in the attic
explains to you that the deceased father had been involved with motorcycles around
the time of her birth. Finally, something that could be interesting to you there.

You notice this photo in an old frame laying on a table and it's obvious that there
are motorcycles in the picture, but as you're not too knowledgable of old motorcycle
stuff in that day and time you wonder what you're looking at.

What is this 1919 photo about ?