- Fancy going for a bike ride but not leaving your bed?
Well, with this bedstead bike you can do just that.
Quite why, and what it was for,
I don't know,
but either way it's cool to see it.
And it's even got a bed pan down there too.
Won't be going near that though.
(swooshing)
(piano music)
(drums snaring)
On my never-ending quest
to try and show you as much bike tech as possible,
today I found myself at the UK's National Cycle Museum
in Llandrindod Wells, which is in the middle of Wales.
And well, if the entrance is anything to go by,
there's going to be some absolute gems behind me.
Because straightaway there's a Sinclair C5,
there's a rickshaw,
there's even an old post office trailer there.
Let's go inside and see what beauties I can uncover.
Come on.
The Itera, a bike which was made,
I'm pretty sure,
in conjunction or in some kind of collaboration with Volvo,
but if not,
I apologize for that factually incorrect bit of information.
But why not then do away with steel frame shapes
and replace it all with plastic?
Yeah, there's a very good reason.
These bikes were very flexible, very wobbly,
and had the nickname of blancmange on wheels.
The reason being, the color and also the fact
they rode just like a blancmange.
Nothing more really to say about them,
other than a plastic monstrosity.
Apparently there were a whopping 30,000 of these made,
but very few actually sold.
But don't worry, they didn't all go into landfill,
instead they went out to the Caribbean,
where rust apparently is a major problem
for bicycles out there,
so at least they did go to some good homes.
In 1818, this was what the dandy boys
of the time were parading around the streets on,
if you like.
That's probably all they did,
because it certainly wouldn't have been that comfortable,
it was rather to just go out
and hang out with their friends,
although I doubt they hang out,
it was probably something a lot more regal than that.
But yes, this, the hobby horse, the draisine.
This one a modern remake by Johnsons of London,
a wooden frame, we've got iron tires on there,
and well, the forearm rest here,
this was used exactly for that.
You could just rest and catch up on current affairs
with your other Industrial Revolution friends.
So I guess it's easiest explained
as the hobby horse,
a balance bike,
but for adults, just like this one for kids.
Fancy a motorbike, but more bike than motor?
Well, this could have been the thing for you.
This is an old rally bike,
I'm not sure exactly what year it's from,
but we've got a Mini motor here stored away
just behind the saddle
where you'd normally have a pannier rack or something.
So I guess it's probably a two-stroke engine,
I'm not sure how many CC,
but there's a little wheel
which is underneath the actual motor here
and it presses down onto the tire
and that spins and propels you along.
Not the most subtle thing, I imagine fairly noisy too,
and importantly it's got a registration plate on the back.
And here, this controls the actual throttle,
this little lever here mounted on the top tube.
If the hobby horse wasn't very comfortable,
then the velocipede, also known as the bone shaker,
it lived up to its name.
Largely built from iron, as you can see,
with the exception of the wooden wheels.
This thing would certainly have rattled the bones
as you cycled along.
Importantly, we now have pedals integrated here
into the front wheel drive system.
And this one here, the Pierre Michaux from Paris,
is said to be the kind of Rolls Royce of bone shakers.
I'll take their word for it,
I don't want to even give it a go.
But something I'm just going to point out,
you do have a little bit of suspension here
in the sort of top tube I guess you could say,
where the saddle is fitted.
And the brake,
well, it was done merely through a bit of cord system
which used some pulley wheels
and then a kind of a spoon if you like
touched down on the rear iron tire.
That's right iron, no rubber.
The extension that comes out of the head tube or fork,
crane, I guess it's the head tube,
this isn't to hang your bags of shopping on,
instead it's right here you rest your feet
if you are going down a hill for instance.
Remember, it is essentially a fixed wheel.
What's a look down there?
Yeah, those are brass pedals.
I so fancy.
The Sinclair C5 then.
Not a bike, not a car,
but instead an e-powered trike.
Now these were launched back in 1985
when the government here in the UK
actually relaxed its laws
around electronically-propelled bicycles,
because they weren't then classed as a motorbike.
However, it wasn't a success,
the main reason being,
the range on it was just 20 miles,
so not really that far.
And also the position of it too;
riders were very low to the ground
so they didn't feel necessarily that safe in traffic.
Now that range of 20 miles,
it was powered by a 250 watt motor,
but the motor, it didn't work that well
because the weight of this is about 50 kilos in total.
So in comparison to modern day bikes,
when you've got an e-bike which is more than capable
for running for a couple of hours or more,
even on full power, this thing,
yeah, it didn't go very far whatsoever.
Had a top speed of 15 miles per hour,
if you could get up to it.
It was an absolute failure of Sinclair,
but it was actually great to see this sort of thing happen.
If this had never been tested,
I wonder if we'd be where we are today with e-bikes.
I wouldn't like to use it,
just look where the handlebars are.
Underneath your thighs.
Yeah, I'm glad this one,
they're not going to let me use today.
The penny-farthing then,
yep, a pretty popular bike, it has to be said.
Way back in 1885, there were over 400,000 cyclists
using them in Britain alone.
It's absolutely mind blowing, I reckon.
I don't know very much about them,
instead I leave the penny-farthing exploits,
also known as the ordinary, for James and Chris,
because they go around trying
to break world records on them and stuff.
But something here which is really cool,
and I'm just going to show you,
are these lady's tricycles that we used
because back in the 1880s and such,
women weren't really encouraged to ride bicycles.
In fact, it was quite often frowned upon,
especially if they even attempted
to ride a penny-farthing.
So that's why we have something like this,
and I guess you could say that they maintain their modesty,
I think I'm allowed to say that,
because by doing so,
they wouldn't be revealing anything
due to the seating position.
Now something really cool about it
has to be the hand brake here, much like a vehicle,
and also the steering was controlled
by this sort of single handed lever.
I wouldn't mind a go on this, though.
Looks pretty cool.
Reverse penny-farthing anyone?
Mmmm, nah, not for me.
It looks like a hot-rod.
Stick to the traditions, come on, people.
Picture yourself, it's the 1930s,
you and your partner, you've just got married,
you don't have enough money for a car.
Not to worry, go out and get yourself a tandem.
Then comes along the little one.
Well, you can't leave them at home, can you?
So instead, why not get yourself one of these?
A sidecar, but for a bike.
I've never ever seen one of these, ever.
It's a Watsonian in its brand,
and they actually made some for motorbikes.
This one has a quick release coupling,
you don't require any special tools or anything,
it's just got some little wingnuts on there.
So provided you've got a good, firm grip,
your loved one is going to stay nice and safe
inside of that sidecar.
And if that's not enough to tickle your fancy
and take the little one out on a bike ride with you,
well, they're not going to scream, they're not going to get wet
because there's a cover that goes over the top
and you won't even hear them if they do start screaming.
Old advertising paraphernalia is in abundance here,
and I absolutely love it,
the different styles and designs and everything.
And this one here really caught my eye,
the reason being, I still use Velox tubular tape
on my own tubers when I tape them onto my wheels
because quite often I can't be bothered
with the hassle of glue.
I might even ask as well
if I can maybe buy this one off them
'cause I really do like it.
Can I?
No, I don't reckon you'll let me.
Here's one then I've never seen before,
the Simpson Lever Chain from 1895.
Something which is different, let's face it,
from a standard chain out there,
and one of the reasons behind its design
is that the brand themselves actually thought
that it would allow a better power transfer
when laying down those wattage bazookas through the pedals.
And sales did flourish for a number of years,
in fact three, I'll get onto that shortly though.
Now, the reason they flourished
was largely down to the riders that were using it.
The riders using them were actually taking part
in paced events on a velodrome,
so you can imagine a triplet or a quadrant
and a five-man or five-person bicycle
were pacing a rider around the track,
and essentially it was like a Derny race,
if that makes sense.
However, the company was short-lived.
In 1898, it did in fact go bust,
largely due to the fact that other transmissions
were being introduced into the market,
and the fact that each bike had to built
around this rather funky arrangement of chain.
The Dursley Pedersen then,
the brainwave of Danish engineer Mikael Pedersen
and were built by a company in Dursley,
near Gloucester in the UK from between 1896 and 1914.
And well, right about this time actually,
bicycles became to look a lot more normal,
and traditional if you like.
But this was so different, just look at the style of frame,
it resembles what the Moulton foldup bikes
look like these days,
kind of a very thin tubing
and lots of different joins
and you don't really know what's going on.
But the standout bit about it
has to be the hammock-like saddles that are on them,
and you still see people riding around on them.
I think there's a few makers out there on the Continent too
who will also produce them.
I'm really keen to ride one,
I saw a guy riding on one a couple of years ago,
and he did say to me, would I like a go on it,
but I didn't, I just don't like riding other peoples' bikes.
But this is one design I just want to have a go on one day.
Here is one for you then, the Eiffel Tower bike,
designed purely for advertising reasons
and not just because you would look, quite simply,
pretty much ridiculous riding around on it
because of the height of it,
it's about 12 ft high up there,
so you are going to need a little bit of assistance.
But on this actual frame of the bike,
that would be complete with some advertising placard,
so you could ride around advertising a brand
to your heart's content.
I guess you could even call yourself
a professional cyclist for that matter.
For those of you who are into your bamboo bikes,
you may well be thinking
that you're on the upward curve if you like.
Well, that curve actually started way back in the 1890s,
check out this one!
An early attempt at a very lightweight bicycle I guess,
because there's none of that heavy old iron
that would have been used previously.
We even got some bamboo mud guards on there,
not to mention these little pump pegs.
I like the look of it,
and that looks to me like a little oil-filling cap
down there for the bottom bracket.
I like the look of this one,
just not the brakes.
No.
Recumbent bikes were pretty popular
in mainland Europe during the 1930s and 1920s.
Something of a bit of a fashionable, cool item to have.
And the 1932 Triumph Muller that I've got here
took some inspiration from it.
We have a laid back approach to it,
just check out that saddle
with a little bit of lumbar support there as well,
so nice easy-going ride
but the standout feature on it has to be the steering wheel.
That's right, a steering wheel
instead of a traditional handlebar setup.
And the brake's on there sort of,
all bikes, they fill me with fear to be perfectly honest,
with the braking systems on them.
It's just the way they look so fragile
and not ideal in an emergency.
But well, the Triumph Muller,
it didn't really take off, let's face it.
But it's good to see it,
and I've even seen some hacksaw bodies on the GCN show
that utilize a steering wheel too,
and well I guess you could even
pretend you were driving a car.
John Boyd Dunlop, the man who patented
the pneumatic tire way back in 1888.
We can thank him really, for what we're using today,
although I guess someone along the way
would have still made the tire, but still,
someone has to start the revolution.
We've got a replica here of that original tire,
and also an example from the Dunlop News Magazine of 1898
of customer service letters of people thanking him
for such great tires, how cool is that?
He even got their addresses too.
Bikes aren't always about racing on though, are they?
Let's face it.
Instead, this one here was designed
to sell ice creams from it,
so it's been restored by the staff here,
it's pre-WWII a little bit of kit.
Now it is going to weigh an awful lot, let's face it,
when it's weighed up
with all your different favorite ice creams
and everything inside of it,
so we've got a pair of drum brakes
that are rodded up to the lever
on the kind of handlebar-style setup.
Now, interesting, the handlebar is going to be
quite difficult to maneuver around too.
I wouldn't like to ride around on this too much myself.
Rear brake is controlled via this lever.
We've got single speed gearing,
which is a pretty low setup too,
'cause remember, once that's fully loaded,
it's not going to be easy to ride around with.
Aged pretty well.
Just above, you got an RAC bicycle.
The RAC, or the Royal Automobile Club,
is a breakdown service here in the UK,
and their mechanics used to actually patrol the streets
aboard bikes that had a small pouch
with the necessary tools in there
to repair many common motoring incidents.
Imagine that these days.
No, it wouldn't happen, cars are so complicated.
Yeah, they used to ride around on those.
That would be a cool thing.
Who remembers those?
If anyone does, please leave a comment down below.
There we are, the National Cycle Museum
in Llandrindod Wells in Wales.
I've absolutely loved it,
I feel like I've barely even scratched the surface
'cause there was so much in there.
Everywhere I looked, I looked up and down, side to side,
though it was absolutely packed to the rafters
with bits and pieces.
So a huge thanks to them for letting me come and get
these grubby little hands all over bits of a kit.
Let me know what your favorite bit was down there
in the comment section below,
and as ever, remember to like and share this video
with your friends too.
Don't forget to check out the GCN shop
at shop.globalcyclingnetwork.com
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Can I go back?