{"product_id":"2940014453554","title":"Bicycling For Women in the 1890's Bloomer Clothing","description":"Nook version of vintage magazine article originally published in 1895. great information and illustrations seldom seen today.  Use it for research, to broaden your knowledge on the subject, or just for fun.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eread excerpt -\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSome women, lost to all sense of feminine discretion — according to the opinion of most of their sisters — were known to ride the high bicycle in the days when it was in common use at athletic shows, dime museums, circuses, and such like unholy places, and there are many who remember the wild excitement of riding a red-wheeled tricycle, borrowed from a reluctant brother or friend, as one of the unforgotten joys of childhood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut it was not until the year 1888 that a woman's wheel was first used on the road. This was an all-nickel ladies' wheel designed by W. E. Smith of the Smith Manufacturing Company, then situated in Washington, and was the model known as the dropped-frame bicycle. To Mrs. Smith, the wife of this inventor, belongs the honor of being the actual pioneer of Bicycle riding for women in this country. When she first began to ride in the year 1888 upon this wheel, she weighed eighty pounds, her wheel sixty. In the course of a few years her weight increased to one hundred and twenty pounds, and the wheel she now rides weighs twenty-two pounds; an interesting indication of the physical effects of bicycling and in the improvement of the building of the machine itself. This model, with slight variations, was made by all the different firms soon after this date.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 1892, Humber \u0026amp; Co. displayed at the exhibition which they called the Stanley show, the present admirable model of a woman's machine, where the bar which descends diagonally from the handles to the point where the sprockets are fixed to the descending saddle-bar, is straight instead of curved. This wheel is both lighter and stronger than the former clumsy dropped wheel, and is more desirable in every way. The weight of the wheels should naturally be adapted to that of their riders. A woman of one hundred pounds weight should use a wheel of eighteen to twenty-two pounds; those who weigh from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five pounds should use wheels varying from twenty-five to twenty-eight pounds. Those to whom the constant vibration of a light wheel is fatiguing, should use a twenty-eight-pound wheel.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen the effort of propelling the machine from long practice has become inappreciable, the fatigue which comes from a long ride will be found to be purely nervous, the result of the vibration of a wheel which is in reality too light, although the rider may have been unconscious of the fact. By the use of a moderately heavy machine this result may be avoided.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn adapting the machine for individual use, a natural position must be sought for. The handle-bars should be placed about two inches higher than the saddle. The erect position is always necessary for the proper expansion of the lungs. The saddle should be placed not too directly over the pedals, slightly back of the vertical line, but not too far back over the center of the rear wheel, as that position necessitates too long a reach. The saddle should not be fixed at too great distance from the pedals; the rider should be able to touch the heel to the pedal at its lowest point of revolution, otherwise a perfect control of the machine becomes impossible. The comfort of the saddle is an imperative consideration. There are many kinds of saddles, spring wire, leather of many weights and shapes, and there is a soft, stuffed, plush-covered saddle invented by Dr. Stimson for the use of women, which has been recommended; there is, however, no beak to this saddle, and it would seem difficult for the rider to retain her place upon it.","brand":"history-bytes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47080223506672,"sku":"2940014453554","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014453554_p0.jpg?v=1763609270","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014453554","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}