The Angling Cyclist 
finds out that her manner of dressing, so that 
her limbs may have full play, is an essential 
factor in the enjoyment of her outing. She 
must become indifferent to all the feats of fash- 
ion, and for the nonce become a law unto her- 
self as to the fit of her costume, no matter how 
elaborately she may furbelow it. If the bicycle 
habit advances the woman to a point where she 
will ignore the iron clad laws of fashion, and 
permit those of hygiene to have full sway, the 
iron wheel will have conferred a natural bless- 
ing on the sex and the nation, the effects of 
which will show good fruit in all the genera- 
tions to come. 
How to Buy a Bicycle. 
The makers of bicycles, like sheep, are all 
following the lines laid down by the first safety 
propelled by pedals, the changes and improve- 
ments since that time having been in details 
only. Those who attended the 1895 cycle show 
at Madison Square Garden, it is quite safe to 
say, saw the science of wheel-making prac- 
tically perfected and the three grades of manu- 
facture established—high, medium and_ low. 
So far this year, says 7he New Vork World, 
the medium-grade wheels have sold the best, 
chiefly owing to the slight difference in price 
between them and the high grade, and because 
there is nothing in their outward appearance to 
indicate the grade to any one but the bicycle 
connoisseur. Fine enamel and good nickel- 
plating covers a multitude of sins. 
This year there are no less than fifteen 
“pots” to be considered in purchasing a 
wheel, and they may be enumerated as fol- 
lows: I, tread; 2, tubing; 3, frame; 4, chain; 
teak Oy sprockets, 7, tikes; 8; Spokes; 0, 
rims; 10, bearings; 11, wheelbase; 12, crown ; 
13, handle bars; 14, weight; 15, pedals. The 
first and the twelfth are practically the only 
strictly new ones this year. The tread—that is, 
the distance the pedals are apart crosswise— 
should not exceed five and one-half inches, for 
it has been found that greater speed can be 
maintained when the feet are revolving closer 
together. This principle was introduced on 
racing wheels last year with great success, and 
is now to be found on all roadsters. 
The crown is located where the two forks ex- 
tending down to the hub of the front wheel are 
fastened to the bottom of the steering post. 
Some very severe strains fall on this point, and 
this year’s improvement consists of a double 
179 
cross-piece through which the steering post 
runs. This year’s wheel base is about forty- 
five inches. With the wheels this distance 
apart a great deal of jolting occasioned by 
rough roads is unnoticed. 
In short, the features of your wheel this year 
should be as follows: Four to five and one-half 
inch tread, seamless steel tubing, reinforcing at 
the joints and giving forth a healthy ring when 
struck with a leadpencil, high frame, solid 
block-steel chain, narrow pattern, gear op- 
tional, according to roads intended to be 
ridden ; straight, round sprocket, elliptical and 
dished sprockets not being a success as made 
last year; single-tube tires, tangent spokes, 
wood rims of second-growth ash, tool-steel 
bearings with large balls, forty-five inch wheel- 
base, dropped handle bars not more than eight- 
een inches apart, weight not more than twenty- 
three or less than seventeen pounds. This is 
about what you should find on a strictly high- 
grade wheel. 
The tire question is perhaps the hardest of 
all, but one thing is certain. The tires should be 
either single tube or else have an inner air tube 
that is not endless, in order that a smooth mo- 
tion of the wheel may be insured. Strange as 
it may seem, the air, when confined in a tube 
having two ends, is forced at each revolution of 
the wheel to one of these ends and becomes 
practically a lump, as though the tire were 
filled with a liquid. On a smooth road this 
lump is particularly noticeable and decidedly 
disagreeable. 
Special Rights and Roads for Cyclers. 
From all over the country the cry for special 
wheel roads is getting louder and more in- 
fluential. In our own state concessions have 
been made by the legislators, and those ap- 
proved by the mayor of this city are making 
the hearts of the cyclers glad. The force of 
the franchise is being felt in legislative halls 
and the value of a vote was never more 
strongly demonstrated than in the late action 
of our assembly and senate, the members of 
which are realizing the potency of the bicycle 
at the polls. We congratulate the country at 
large on the power of this new element in the 
economical administration of affairs, for the 
bicycler wants nothing from legislation that 
will not result in good to the whole country. 
It is a good thing—pedal it along. 
This ‘‘ wheel craze,” se called by many, and 
