THE MECHANISM OE BICYCLES. 
401 
Everyone does a certain amount of travelling by rail eacb year and 
some of us are often in tbe habit of taking long voyages for pleasure 
or otherwise. I have, therefore, thought that the “ Folding Bicycle 99 
may appeal to those who have found the size and difficulty of packing 
an inconvenience. The top stay and one of the lower tubes are jointed 
in such a way that by unscrewing a bolt with a key the front portion 
of the machine folds back so that it can be packed into a basket or 
box of a convenient size. The handles also fold downwards. 
In the same way the machine supplied by Messrs. Humber & Co., 
though not presenting any great peculiarity in the driving mechanism, 
deserves the attention especially of those who are likely to be going 
abroad. The frame is made with detachable joints, and the whole 
machine can consequently be packed up in a basket about nine inches 
high and two and a half feet square. The tubes are connected 
by cotter pins, secured by a simple washer and nut, and it is not too 
much to assume that a firm so well known as Messrs. Humber & Co. 
would not put a machine on the market without subjecting it to a 
severe trial and so ensuring its having the necessary strength, rigidity 
and durability. The tubes are specially strengthened at the joints by 
means of ‘ liners/ and the operation of taking the machine to bits 
and putting together again is a very simple one. 
In connection with driving mechanism it is not inappropriate to 
mention that longer cranks to the length even of nine inches are 
ridden and strongly recommended by some riders. Some investiga¬ 
tions carried out by a French Professor tended to prove that the 
proper theoretical length of the crank should be half the length of the 
thigh bone. 
Major Holden, R.A. has been kind enough to bring over his Motor 
bicycle which for two years has been looked upon as one of the 
most interesting exhibits of the National Bicycle Show. It is, I am 
sure, the hope of the whole Regiment that the inventor will be as 
successful with this clever design as he has been with the many useful 
and practical examples of his ingenuity and skill that he has given to 
the Artillery. In case he is too modest to say so himself I would tell 
you that in connection with it he has patented an invention that will 
be of wide application i.e. a double acting oil engine . 
Cyclometers are so very generally used now by riders that a study 
of the mechanism employed in two of those most universally met (i.e. 
the Standard and the Veeder) will perhaps be interesting. They are 
both made on the principle of the ordinary counting wheels. 
Taking the Standard first, it will be seen that there is a clock face 
dial with three round apertures. Projecting tangentially is a worm 
spindle having at the end a star wheel with five spokes. The cyclo¬ 
meter is fitted to the front fork in such a way that a projection on 
one of the spokes of the front wheel strikes a spoke of the star wheel 
and turns it through a fifth of a revolution at each turn of the front 
wheel. The worm gears with a worm wheel having 144 teeth. Con 
