Whippet was a brand of safety bicycle designed by C. M. Linley and manufactured by Linley and Briggs in London. [1] Examples exist from 1885 and 1888. [2] They are notable for their use of springs to suspend the frame. [3] [4] [5] An early external derailleur, that enabled two gear ratios and used a freewheel hub was introduced in the summer of 1894, and was available only on Whippet bicycles. | pages = 58–61 [6] [7]
Charles Montague Linley was a very creative engineer and the Whippet bicycles were known for their innovative ideas. Linley and Biggs were working together from the early 1880s, and are named on an 1884 patent on "Improvements in Velocipedes". In 1886 at the Stanley Cycling Show they exhibited a sprung frame tricycle called the Whippet, [8] and this was to be the trade name by which they are best known, with the Linley & Biggs company being converted to the Whippet Cycling Syndicate Ltd in 1896. The sprung frame bicycle was useful when solid tyres were used, but the complexity was no longer required after the pneumatic tyre was introduced in 1888, although the inconvenience of punctures meant it took several years before all riders were won over. Further innovations came with gearing - they were the first safety bicycle manufacturer to fit the rear hub freewheel in 1894, a pawl type with roller bearings, and the 2-speed 'Protean' gear that they used it with developed by 1899 into an early form of derailleur patented by Linley. [9] They were also the first company to fit rim brakes, initially in slides but by 1899 they were hinged to allow for the slight irregularities that exist in all rims. [10]
By 1899 models named the "New Whippet" had four speed 'Protean' gear, free wheel and rim brakes.
The Whippet Cycle Syndicate Ltd was wound up in 1902, and by 1907 Linley became works manager for the newly created Commercial Car Co (later known as Commer), and he patented many inventions relating to internal combustion engines, gears, etc over the next 30 years.
A derailleur is a variable-ratio bicycle gearing system consisting of a chain, multiple sprockets of different sizes, and a mechanism to move the chain from one sprocket to another. Although referred to as gears in the bike world, derailleurs are technically sprockets since they drive or are driven by a chain, and are not driven by one another.
A hub gear, internal-gear hub, internally geared hub or just gear hub is a gear ratio changing system commonly used on bicycles that is implemented with planetary or epicyclic gears. The gears and lubricants are sealed within the shell of the hub gear, in contrast with derailleur gears where the gears and mechanism are exposed to the elements. Changing the gear ratio was traditionally accomplished by a shift lever connected to the hub with a Bowden cable, and twist-grip style shifters have become common.
A groupset or gruppo is a bicycle component manufacturer's organized collection of mechanical parts. It generally refers to all of the components that make up a bicycle excluding the bicycle frame, fork, stem, wheels, tires, and rider contact points, such as the saddle and handlebars.
In mechanical or automotive engineering, a freewheel or overrunning clutch is a device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft. An overdrive is sometimes mistakenly called a freewheel, but is otherwise unrelated.
A racing bicycle, also known as a road bike, and once popularly known as a ten speed, is a bicycle designed for competitive road cycling, a sport governed by and according to the rules of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The UCI rules were altered in 1934 to exclude recumbent bicycles.
A single-speed bicycle is a type of bicycle with a single gear ratio. These bicycles are without derailleur gears, hub gearing or other methods for varying the gear ratio of the bicycle.
A safety bicycle is a type of bicycle that became very popular beginning in the late 1880s as an alternative to the penny-farthing ("ordinary") and is now the most common type of bicycle. Early bicycles of this style were known as safety bicycles because they were noted for, and marketed as, being safer than the high wheelers they were replacing. Even though modern bicycles use a similar design, the term is rarely used today and is considered obsolete outside circles familiar with high wheelers.
SR SunTour is a Taiwanese manufacturer of bicycle components, formed in 1988 when Osaka based SunTour (Maeda) went bankrupt and was purchased by Sakae Ringyo Company, a major Japanese maker of aluminum parts, particularly cranks and seat posts. SunTour reached a zenith of sales and commercial success from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s.
On a bicycle, the cogset or cluster is the set of multiple sprockets that attaches to the hub on the rear wheel. A cogset works with a rear derailleur to provide multiple gear ratios to the rider. Cogsets come in two varieties, freewheels or cassettes, of which cassettes are a newer development. Although cassettes and freewheels perform the same function and look almost the same when installed, they have important mechanical differences and are not interchangeable.
Biopace is a tradename for a type of ovoid bicycle chain ring manufactured by Shimano from 1983 to 1993 The design was intended to help overcome the "dead zone" where the crank arms are vertical and riders have little mechanical advantage.
A freehub is a type of bicycle hub that incorporates a ratcheting mechanism.
John Kemp Starley was an English inventor and industrialist who is widely considered the inventor of the modern bicycle, and also originator of the name Rover.
Bicycle Quarterly is a magazine examining the history of bicycles, their design and evolution, with emphasis on Randonneuring bicycles. Articles evaluate equipment and bicycles for performance and function, and include footnotes. The magazine was formerly known as Vintage Bicycle Quarterly.
Centurion was a brand of bicycles created in 1969 by Mitchell (Mitch) M. Weiner and Junya (Cozy) Yamakoshi, who co-founded Western States Import Co. (WSI) in Canoga Park, California to design, specify, distribute and market the bicycles. The bikes themselves were manufactured initially in Japan by companies including H. Teams Company of Kobe and later in Taiwan by companies including Merida. The Centurion brand was consolidated with WSI's mountain bike brand DiamondBack in 1990. WSI ceased operations in 2000.
Bicycle drivetrain systems are used to transmit power on bicycles, tricycles, quadracycles, unicycles, or other human-powered vehicles from the riders to the drive wheels. Most also include some type of a mechanism to convert speed and torque via gear ratios.
A quick release skewer is a mechanism for attaching a wheel to a bicycle. It consists of a rod threaded on one end and with a lever operated cam assembly on the other. The rod is inserted into the hollow axle of the wheel, a special nut is threaded on, and the lever is closed to tighten the cam and secure the wheel to the fork. Wheels equipped with quick release mechanisms can be removed from the bicycle frame and replaced without using tools by opening and closing the cam lever, thus more quickly than wheels with solid axles and nuts. On the negative side, a quick-release hub renders a wheel more vulnerable to theft and care must be taken to ensure that the mechanism is properly tightened.
Mountain bike trials, also known as observed trials, is a discipline of mountain biking in which the rider attempts to pass through an obstacle course without setting foot to ground. Derived from motorcycle trials, it originated in Catalonia, Spain as trialsín and is said to have been invented by the father of Ot Pi, a world champion motorcycle trials rider. Pi's father had wanted his son to learn motorcycle trials by practicing on an ordinary bicycle.
A gearbox bicycle is a bicycle that uses a gearbox to convert torque and rotational speed from the power source, usually the rider's legs, to what is desired at the drive wheel. The gearbox is usually incorporated into the frame near the crank, and it may be used in addition to or instead of derailleur gears or a hub gear. Cited advantages include improved shifting performance, protecting the gearing from damage and exposure to dirt and moisture, as with hub gears, plus locating the additional mass between the two wheels and on the frame where it may be suspended, unlike with hub gears.
The Croce d'Aune is a mountain pass in the Italian Dolomites, 1,015 metres (3,330 ft) above sea level, between Aune and Pedavena in Belluno Province.
The popular Whippet incorporated a series of external springs suspending the entire frame.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
Even the successful "Whippet" with its many movable parts needed more attention than an ordinary bicycle.
The Whippet bicycle of the mid 1880s had the whole section of the frame carrying the handlebars, the seat, and the cranks sprung as a single unit.