1876 Lawson ‘Lever’ Safety Bicycle
£7.50
1876 Lawson ‘Lever’ Safety Bicycle (scroll down for a more detailed Description)
Published 1966 by © Hugh Evelyn Limited; drawn by Alan Osbahr
Size: c. 38 x 25 cm [15″ x 10″] may vary slightly from printers’ cut 50 years ago
Printed on white cardstock weighing 134 g/sm2
Print is STANDARD size – shipping is the same for 1 to 10 prints (based on largest print size in your order) – see Shipping & Returns
In stock
Description
In 1876 Harry John Lawson of Brighton introduced the ‘Lever’ bicycle. The main features included a large treadle-driven rear wheel 50 inches (127cm) in diameter, and a small front steering wheel about half that size. Both wheels have wire spokes in tension and are fitted with solid rubber tyres. The bicycle is heavy, weighing approximately 60lb (27 Kg). It is strange that for his ‘Lever’ bicycle Lawson adopted a method of propulsion which was as a retrograde design in the evolution of cycle transmission systems. The drive to the back wheel was obtained by the up and-down movement of two foot-treadles operating connecting rods and cranks directly coupled to the rear wheel. This method of propulsion is primitive when compared with Lawson’s earlier, but more technically advanced design of 1873. It was early in this year that Lawson invented and constructed the first safety bicycle to incorporate a chain-driven rear wheel transmission system, a method of driving a bicycle which was to be adopted for the following century as the most practical and logical way of propelling a bicycle by manumotive power. Lawson’s historic 1873 bicycle has a simple main cross frame from which a short-forked metal bar projects downwards. The fork accommodates in plain bearings a two-pedal crank which drives the rear wheel by means of a contemporary ‘lawn mower’ type chain and sprockets.
Additional information
| Weight | 0.0129 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 38 × 25.5 cm |
