Читать книгу The Modern Bicycle and Its Accessories - Julius Wilcox - Страница 13

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One of the most prominent tendencies of the season is the dropping of the crank-hanger bracket to a point from 2 inches to 4 inches below a line drawn through the centre of the wheel axles, the average drop on road wheels being 2½ inches, on light road wheels 2¾ inches, and on road-racing and track wheels, from these to the extreme limit. This lowering of the crank-hanger bracket has also necessarily brought with it a shortening of the steering head, in order to maintain the top tube horizontal or parallel with the ground. Lengths of head run from 4 to 8 inches, a fair average in length being about 6 inches, a change indeed from the long-head fad of a few years ago, under which heads have reached a length of over 13½ inches. Just what effect the shortening of the head will have on the steering remains to be found out by actual use, the makers who have used long heads having always claimed ease of steering for them.

Another point to be borne in mind in noting this tendency toward short heads, is that their use will necessitate the use of longer and therefore weaker handlebar stems, for those who use a medium or upturned bar, as well as long seat posts, more withdrawn from the frame. Of course, the scorcher with his drop bar will like the short head, and therefore its popularity may be wholly confined to this class of riders.

The most peculiar feature in connection with this drop of the frame is the very marked tendency toward the use of longer cranks and higher gears. In former years the average length of crank was 6½ inches for a man’s roadster, and 5½ to 6 inches for a lady’s wheel. A notable departure in this crank length this season is that three or four of the largest makers are equipping their ladies’ wheels with 6½ inch cranks, and men’s wheels with 7 and 7½ inch cranks. While this may be commendable in a cycle for men’s use, having a high gear, such crank length is positively objectionable on a ladies’ cycle, for several reasons, one of the chief ones being the increased knee action.