BICYCLING. 



5°9 



put in a new set of cog wheels as soon as 

 the old ones become even slightly worn. 



It is a well known fact that in all kinds of 

 shops or mills, wherever a bevel gear can 

 be replaced with a belt it is done, because 

 the belt economizes in power, and reduces 

 the percentage of loss from repairing. If 

 this be true of heavy machinery it must 

 prove equally true as to bicycles. 



There is much less friction from the use 

 of the chain than from the bevel gear, not- 

 withstanding the many contradictions. 



The model chainless wheels, made up by 

 various factories, for the coming season, 

 are all too heavy to ever become popular 

 as against the chain wheel, even were it 

 possible for them to run as well. In order 

 to get even a fair degree of rigidity a bevel 

 gear machine must be several pounds 

 heavier than the average road wheel, pro- 

 pelled by the chain. 



Several chainless models will be shown 

 the coming season; but their success can- 

 not yet be predicted. They are all built 

 practically on the lines of the old " League 

 Chainless," which made a fruitless effort 

 to gain public favor, a few years ago, and 

 was finally consigned to the junk pile. 



The manufacturers make a desperate ef- 

 fort, each year, to bring out some radical 

 change in construction, in order to stimu- 

 late trade; but it can be safely said the few 

 who bite on the bevel-gear bait, next year, 

 will soon return to the good old reliable 

 chain wheel and will stay with it a long 

 time. Of course we may be happily disap- 

 pointed in the working of the new machine; 

 but the chances are indeed small. Better 

 let the other fellow try it, first, and see how 

 he comes out. 



You may break, you may shatter » 



His bones if you will, 

 But the scorcher will hang o'er 



The handle bars still. 



— Cleveland Leader. 



HOW TO TIME YOURSELF. 



Brooklyn, N. Y. 

 Editor Recreation: I recently worked 

 out a simple method of finding how fast a 

 bicycle is travelling. A watch must be held 

 in the hand or attached to the handle bar. 

 Also the gear of the wheel must be known. 

 The rule gives the number of seconds dur- 

 ing which the revolutions of the pedal shaft 

 are to be counted; the number of revolu- 

 tions being the number of miles the wheel 

 is travelling, in an hour. The number of 

 seconds is found by the following rule: 



Gear of wheel j 



^^ — = seconds to count. 



In the case of a wheel geared to 76 this 

 would be srsfr = 12.92; or, say 13 seconds. 



Commence to count the revolutions 

 when the second hand is 13 seconds before 

 the minute, and stop just on the minute. 



If during 13 seconds the pedal shaft has 

 made 12 revolutions you are travelling at 

 the rate of 12 miles an hour. 



For greater accuracy the revoluti 

 might be counted for 26 or 39 seconds, and 

 then divide the result by 2 or 3. 



I ABLE 



Gear. Seconds to count. 

 64 — 10.9 



68-11.57 



72 — 12.25. 



76 — 12.92. 



80—13.6. 



84—14.3. B. 



She took my heart, the cruel girl, 

 And crushed it 'neath her wheel, 



But it might be worse, 



So I shall not curse — 

 It might have been my wheel. 



YOUR FOURTH LESSON. 



MARY A. DICKERSON. 



What exuberance you feel 



When you mount your shining wheel 



And go dashing down the smooth as- 

 phalted street; 

 While your teacher runs behind 

 Till with dust he's almost blind 



And his unexpressed reflections can't be 

 beat. 



Then you think you're looking swell, 

 And you're learning extra well, 



And you get an over confidential jag; 

 Then the next thing that you know 

 There's an awful, crashing blow 



And you find yourself reposing on a flag. 



But it's not a flag of glory. 

 And you never tell the story 



When your neighbors ask you how you 

 learned to ride; 

 But you'll find they never press you — 

 They know too much — for bless you! 



Every one of them has done that very 

 slide! 



The largest prize winners of the year, 

 among the amateurs, are Earl Peabody. of 

 Chicago, who is credited with 79 firsts, and 

 Fred Schade, of Washington, who has won 

 61 firsts. Ray Dawson and I. A. Powell, 

 of the new York Athletic Club, follow 

 close on the heels of Schade. 



Mark Twain tells a story of a minister 

 who was once driven over a road that was 

 so bad he declared that if he ever went to 

 hell he wanted to go over that road, be- 

 cause he would then be glad when he got 

 there. 



