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Rover Safety Bicycle
From: Science Museum
| By:
Francesca Riccini |
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION |
Today, the look of a bicycle is taken for granted. But how did the extreme design of the penny-farthing develop into this more acceptable form? Francesca Riccini of the Science Museum looks at the influential factors which affected the design -- from speed, manoeuvrability and safety. It focuses on one particular bicycle developed towards the end of the nineteenth century by J.K. Starley in London. |
  t is not always appreciated that the design of the present-day bicycle has remained much the same as that originated in the 1880s. From the early 1870s the high bicycle, Ordinary -- or penny-farthing bicycle as it was commonly known -- was extremely popular and led to the formation of numerous cycling clubs. By 1882 there were almost 350 such clubs in the provinces and 184 in Greater London. Besides club members there were many more who took to the rough roads at weekends, exploring countryside previously impossible to reach in a day. |
However, the design of the Ordinary had many faults. It was unstable because the cyclist was almost directly over the centre of the large front wheel, and there was a danger of the driver 'taking a header' if, for example, the front wheel hit a stone. It was difficult to mount and dismount, and the front wheel was both driven and steered at the same time, which tired the rider's arms. The larger the diameter of the front wheel, the faster the speeds achieved because for every turn of the pedals a greater distance was covered. The only factor limiting the diameter of the front driving wheel was the length of the rider's legs. |
 The availability of better materials and the improved technology of components such as chains led to the search for a safer design of bicycle. When first introduced, the new design was so much lower and more stable than its predecessor that it became known as the safety bicycle. |
There followed a number of experimental designs, some of which were produced commercially. Though the front wheel became smaller, it remained larger than the rear wheel and therefore these bicycles still resembled the Ordinary. One of these was the Bicyclette, patented by Henry Lawson in 1879, which had chain drive to the rear wheel. |
 In 1885 many rear-driven safety bicycles were shown in public for the first time. Amongst these was a safety bicycle -- later named the Rover -- designed by John Kemp Starley (1854-1901) and exhibited at the Stanley Show in London from January to 3 February. Starley worked as a cycle mechanic until 1878, when he started his own business in Coventry with William Sutton. In November 1896 the Rover Cycle Company Limited was formed. From this evolved the Rover Company Limited, which produced many successful models of bicycles, motor cycles and cars. Cycle production ceased in 1926. |
The Rover bicycle in the Science Museum is one of Starley's improved designs made in late 1885 and may be regarded as the prototype which set the trend for future technical development and commercial production. The essential advantage of this design is the diamond-shaped frame which gives structural strength and stiffness combined with low weight and compactness. Smaller diameter wheels of almost equal size ensure a low riding position for far greater stability and a geared-up chain drive to the rear wheel allows more efficient pedalling. In 1885, a 100-mile road race was organised for riders of Rover bicycles, in which the existing 50- and 100-mile records were broken. |
 Although Rover marked a turning point in the development of the bicycle, there was still much more to be done before the bicycle in its classic form evolved. The steering is direct and the steering head slopes, but the forks are straight, not curved. The frame was not yet triangulated as, for example, there is no tube from the saddle to the crank bracket. Pneumatic tyres were re-introduced in 1888 and were in general use a few years later, together with gears and better brakes. The Rover weighs 37 pounds, compared to about 28 pounds for modern touring bicycles and 19 pounds for road-racing bicycles. |
 It was, then, J. K. Starley's Rover safety bicycle that changed the course of cycle development, as by the 1890s very few Ordinary cycles appeared in manufacturers' catalogues; it was then that the derogatory name of penny-farthing was first used. Most of the bicycles produced since the 1890s have been based upon the original Starley Rover design. As J. K. Starley said in a paper presented at the Society of the Arts in 1898, '...my aim was not only to make a safety bicycle, but to produce a machine which should be the true Evolution of the Cycle, and the fact that so little change has been made in the essential positions, which were established by me in 1885, prove that I was not wrong in the cardinal points to be embodied to this end.' |
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