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43-671: Harry Austin Knox built three experimental gasoline cars at Overman Wheel Company between 1895 and 1898. He left Overman when they decided to build a steam car . Knox joined with his former employer, Elihu H. Cutler of the Elektron Company to form the Knox Automobile Company in Springfield Massachusetts in 1900. The Waltham Watch Company factory was purchased and Knox built 15 cars in their first year. The Knox Model A

86-404: A bicycle craze and an economic slump , such that hundreds of manufacturers got into the bicycle business. People were buying bicycles, "whether they could afford them or not". This created a massive over-production, followed by a crash in bicycle prices. Despite this competition, Overman held firm to its $ 100 bicycle prices, which hurt sales. By December 1897, the company, facing bankruptcy,

129-505: A straight-twin engine producing 16 hp (12 kW), was priced at $ 2,200, equivalent to $ 74,604 in 2023. In late 1904 Knox left the company over a disagreement on policy with Elihu Cutler. Knox set-up a new business across town to build the Atlas air-cooled car. In 1906 Knox Automobile Company introduced the Model G, a 40-hp air-cooled four-cylinder engine on a 112-inch wheelbase . With

172-477: A " penny-farthing " because of the resemblance of its wheel sizes to the largest and smallest English copper coins of the time; it is also known as a "high-wheel". Front-wheel sizes quickly grew to as much as 5 feet (1.5 metres), and the bicycles were considered by the general public to be quite dangerous. In addition, they were expensive, and thus riders were mostly wealthy young men who formed an elite brotherhood. However, bicycle races were staged and well-attended by

215-418: A limousine body priced at $ 5,000 (equivalent to $ 169,556 in 2023), Knox had entered the luxury car market. The two-cylinder models were phased out in 1907 and all Knox's became mid-priced to high-priced cars. Knox progressively improved their models, moving the engine from under the seat to up front under a hood and going from chain-driven to shaft-drive . In 1908 a water-cooled four-cylinder engine

258-543: A mansion in Springfield, Massachusetts , three miles from his factories. They were known for entertaining lavishly. Overman died July 30, 1930, in Westmoreland, New Hampshire , of a cerebral hemorrhage. Bike boom The bike boom or bicycle craze is any of several specific historic periods marked by increased bicycle enthusiasm, popularity, and sales. Prominent examples include 1819 and 1868, as well as

301-514: A more attractive option, is commonly assumed to have propelled the bike boom, but in fact, bicycle sales had already peaked when the crisis struck in October, 1973. The United Kingdom experienced a mountain bike boom during the 1990s. Road bike customers were seen as reluctant to spend money, while the mountain bike market offered new features such as suspensions and materials such as carbon fibre, aluminum and titanium. The market declined coinciding with

344-505: A racer which was available in five different heights. The 1895 Victoria Ladies' Bicycle sold for US$ 100. The Overman Wheel Company was a pioneer in using testing equipment to measure things like bicycle power output and tire elasticity. This gave Victor bicycles a significant weight advantage over competitors of the time. The Overman factory complex was made up of three buildings, and was located in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts . It

387-582: A receiver was called in. The last Knox automobiles were built in 1914 and Knox was declared bankrupt in 1915. Knox reorganized as the Knox Motors Corporation and continued to build tractors and trucks until 1924. Afterwards Harry Knox moved on to design tanks for the US Army Ordnance Department ; his T1 Light Tank wasn't adopted, but his Vertical volute spring suspension and his track design were used on almost all American tanks of

430-523: A safer alternative to the high wheeler bicycle and started to gain in popularity. Overman also manufactured some high-wheelers in the 1880s. By 1886-1887, new safety bicycles , introduced by John Kemp Starley , were becoming popular in England. While most American manufacturers stuck with the traditional high-wheel bicycles, Overman rushed a safety bicycle to production before the end of 1887. Despite its higher price, Overman's safety bicycle quickly became

473-511: A sensation. Overman soon followed up with innovations such as a hollow core "cushion tire ." By 1893, Overman's Victor bicycle was considered an elegant, premium machine, the "highest grade bicycle of 1893". It was correspondingly priced at the high end of the market. The Overman factory made the complete bicycle, including tires, saddles, rims, etc. By 1895, eight models of the Victor were offered; five heights for men, two heights for women, and

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516-544: A staff of about thirty men. At its height, the factory employed about 1,400 men in five buildings. The factory produced 80,000 bicycles per year, the only bicycle factory at the time which made the entire bicycle. The flagship product of the Overman Company was the Victor Bicycle. The Victor Bicycle made extensive use of interchangeable parts, an innovation which allowed the owner to make minor repairs, without bringing

559-569: The 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak , which made mountain biking more difficult due to land closure. Since then it has barely recovered to the level of its prime years. In 2008, some industry analysts saw signs of surging bicycle popularity. The British press cited 2012 as a bike boom, fuelled by the successes that summer of UK cyclists in the Tour de France and at the London Olympics , Bradley Wiggins and Laura Kenny in particular, and

602-535: The Locomobile Company of America in 1904 and the cars became Locomobile's fist gasoline automobiles.. Albert H. Overman was born in Fulton County, Illinois, on March 21, 1850. He started experimenting with wooden human-powered vehicles in his youth. He graduated from Illinois State Normal University . In 1881 he left Chicago and moved east. Albert married Millie E. Benton in 1873. The Overmans lived in

645-662: The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago featured one. Several others were built for amusement in Atlantic City , Ocean City and Gloucester City, NJ (the first two in 1893 and last in 1894). In the year 1896, there was simultaneously an increase in bicycle popularity and a severe economic depression . Bicycles were one of the few areas of the economy where sales were growing; people were buying bicycles "whether they could afford them or not". This attracted hundreds of manufacturers into

688-629: The Beijing Olympics . He also credits the financial incentive of the Cycle to Work scheme (introduced in 1999), and the increasing emphasis on health and congestion. British Cycling , the sport's governing body, claimed that over "two million people across the country now cycle at least once a week, an all-time high". Halfords , responsible for a third of bikes sold in the UK, reported an increase of sales of 11% up to March 2015. Many customers are younger men, and

731-648: The Stevens Arms & Tool Co. of Chicopee Falls, MA in 1900. As early as 1899, Overman was turning his attention to automobiles. In 1901 Overman reorganized as the Overman Automobile Company , which sold a vehicle called the Victor Steam Carriage . Sales were not very high, and Andrew L. Riker designed an 8-hp 2-cylinder gasoline car, and a 16-hp 4-cylinder car which he partnered with Overman Automobile Company to produce. Overman merged with

774-416: The U.S. bike boom included affordable and versatile 10-speed derailleur-geared racing bicycles becoming widely available, the arrival of many post- World War II baby boomers at adulthood and demanding inexpensive transportation for recreation and exercise, and increasing interest in reducing pollution. The 1973 oil crisis , which increased the cost of driving an automobile , making bicycle commuting

817-542: The U.S. in 1970. Of those, 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 million were children's bikes, 1.2 million were coaster brake, balloon-tired adult bicycles, and only 200,000 were lightweight 3-speed or derailleur -equipped bikes. Total bicycle sales had doubled by 1972 to 14 million – with children's bikes remaining constant at 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 million, adult balloon-tired bicycles falling to about 1 ⁄ 2 million, and lightweight bicycles exploding fortyfold, to 8 million. Time magazine reported in 1971 that "for

860-457: The WWII, and he designed its replacement HVSS, which served until 1980s in some countries, as well. Overman Wheel Company Overman Wheel Company was an early bicycle manufacturing company in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts from 1882 to 1900. It was known for bicycles of higher quality and lower weight than other bicycles of its time. Despite a nationwide bicycle craze in the late 1800s,

903-474: The bicycle business. This increase in production resulted in a downward spiral of market saturation, over-supply and intense price competition. Many bicycle manufacturers, faced with excess inventory and prices too low to make a profit, went out of business. Several dozen bicycle companies consolidated into the American Bicycle Company in 1899. The application of the internal-combustion engine to

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946-422: The bicycle during the 1890s resulted in the motorcycle . U.S. bike boom of 1965–1975: The period of 1965–1975 saw adult cycling increase sharply in popularity – with Time magazine calling it "the bicycle's biggest wave of popularity in its 154-year history" The period was followed by a sudden fall in sales, resulting in a large inventory of unsold bicycles. Seven million bicycles were sold in

989-473: The bicycle to a professional mechanic. The metal parts of the Victor bicycle were all steel; it was the first bicycle to use no cast metal parts. It was also one of the first bicycles to use a hollow pneumatic tire. The first Victor bicycle, introduced in 1883, was a three-wheeled bicycle produced in Chicopee Falls. It was the first American-made three-wheeler. Three-wheelers were at the time considered

1032-416: The center of the car and produced 8 hp (6.0 kW). It was also called a "hedgehog". The one-cylinder engine was used until 1905. In 1902 a two-cylinder version was added that was used up to 1907. Knox pricing for the one-cylinder and two-cylinder models went for a low price in 1900 of $ 750, (equivalent to $ 27,468 in 2023) to medium-priced by 1904. A 1904 Knox Tuxedo Touring model, equipped with

1075-472: The company was undercut by lower-priced competition, nearly went bankrupt in 1897, and never recovered from an 1899 fire. The company was sold in 1900. Albert Overman started the Overman Wheel Company in 1882 in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts with an investment of $ 62,000. Overman were the first American manufacturers of the safety bicycle . In 1888 the company began making its own bicycles, with

1118-598: The decades of the 1890s and 1970s – the latter especially in North America ;– and the 2010s in the United Kingdom. The first period which may be called a bicycle craze actually refers to a precursor of the bicycle which was propelled by being pushed along with the feet as the rider straddled the contraption, and had no pedals . This machine was invented by Baron Karl von Drais in Germany, and

1161-459: The early 1860s the first true bicycle was created in Paris, France, by attaching rotary cranks and pedals to the front wheel hub of a dandy-horse. The Olivier brothers recognized the commercial potential of this invention, and set up a partnership with blacksmith and bicycle maker Pierre Michaux , using Michaux's name, already famous among enthusiasts of the new sport, for the company. They began

1204-402: The engine. The flat-mounted single-cylinder engine was air-cooled . Rather than flanges to improve the efficiency of cooling, 1,750 threaded 3 ⁄ 16 inch (4.8 mm) diameter rods were screwed into the cylinder casing as projecting studs, which led to the engine sometimes being referred to as "Old Porcupine". A 2-speed planetary transmission was fitted. This engine was situated at

1247-504: The first mass-production of bicycles (still called "velocipedes") in 1868, as the first real bicycle craze had begun the year before, reaching full force all over Europe and America in 1868 and 1869. But exactly as with the dandy-horse, pedestrians complained about them, and the craze again faded quickly. Another factor in their demise was the extremely uncomfortable ride, because of the stiff wrought-iron frame and wooden wheels surrounded by tires made of iron – this led to

1290-472: The first time since the 1890s, nearly one-half of all bicycle production" was "geared for adults." The boom received a kick start in the mid-1960s with the advent of the Schwinn Sting-Ray and other wheelie bikes . Sales reached 4 million units per year for the first time. At the height of the boom, in 1972, 1973, and 1974, more bicycles than automobiles were sold in the U.S. Factors contributing to

1333-424: The invention of the " safety bicycle " with its chain-drive transmission , whose gear ratios allowed smaller wheels without a concurrent loss of speed, and the subsequent invention of the pneumatic (inflatable air-filled) bicycle tire. Experiments with chain-drive had been attempted in 1869 and 1879, but the first well known chain-drive bicycle was the "Rover" produced in 1885 by John Kemp Starley . Very quickly,

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1376-457: The machines, and as municipalities passed ordinances prohibiting their use. During the next 43 years, chiefly in England, inventors continued to explore the concept of human-powered transport , but on vehicles with three or four wheels (called " tricycles " and " quadracycles " respectively), which were thought to be more stable since they didn't require the balance necessary for two-wheeled vehicles. But none of these achieved much popularity. In

1419-513: The most rapidly growing group is women. One of the older men, the architecture writer and cycle campaigner Peter Murray , described how business relationships are created and nurtured during longer rides; the BBC referred to cycling being "the new golf" in this sense." With the development of technology, the 2010s also saw the rise of bicycle-sharing systems around the world, as well as a surge in popularity for electric bicycles , or e-bikes. 2020 saw

1462-435: The pejorative name "boneshaker", which is still used today to refer to this type of bicycle. Again, England was the only place where the concept remained popular during the early 1870s. But the design changed drastically, with the front wheel becoming larger and larger, and with many other improvements making the ride more comfortable. This type of bicycle was known in its day as the "ordinary", but people later began calling it

1505-510: The penny-farthing passed out of fashion, and multitudes of people all over the world began riding the "safety". September 13, 1892 saw the opening of a Bicycle Railroad between Mount Holly, New Jersey and the H. B. Smith Manufacturing Company in Smithville, NJ during the Mount Holly fair, with 3,000 riders its first week (for amusement instead of commuting). Coney Island wanted one, and

1548-405: The public, which spread interest for the high-wheeler worldwide because of the far-flung British colonies, by the end of the decade. Albert Pope purchased Lallement's original patent and created his "Columbia" bicycle in the U.S. in 1878, and went on to manufacture thousands of bicycles. The 1890s saw one of the biggest bicycle crazes of all, driven by several significant developments in bicycles:

1591-519: The sporting goods market. The Spalding company started making their own line of bicycles in their own factory in Chicopee Falls, and the Overman company entered the sporting goods market with baseballs, bats, Indian clubs , footballs, and boxing gloves, "everything in the sporting goods line that the Spaldings made." Spalding wasn't the only new competition faced by Overman. In 1896, there was simultaneously

1634-563: The subsequent success in the Tour by Chris Froome . In 2016, Simon Mottram of the cycling clothing brand Rapha traced the boom back to the after-effects of the 7 July 2005 London bombings , which closed parts of the Tube and encouraged many commuters onto bicycles. Two years later, the Tour de France started in London on the anniversary of the attack, and the following year Team GB dominated cycling at

1677-463: Was a three-wheel runabout with a 5-hp one-cylinder air-cooled engine. In 1902 a four-wheel runabout and a 8-hp two-cylinder engine joined the model line-up. Early cars were called Knoxmobile with the Waterless Knox being used from 1903. A slogan used was "The Car That Never Drinks". In some models, passengers rode up front over the front axle while the driver and another passenger sat in the back over

1720-642: Was called variously a "draisine" (English) or "draisienne" (French) after his name, a " velocipede " from the Latin terms for "fast foot", a "hobby horse", or a " dandy horse ", the last name being perhaps the most popular. Drais got a patent for his invention in 1818, and the craze swept Europe and the United States during the summer of 1819 while many manufacturers (notably Denis Johnson of London ) either copied Drais's machine or created their own versions, then quickly died out as many pedestrians began to feel threatened by

1763-627: Was considered the "most complete bicycle plant in the United States." The company had offices in Boston, New York, Detroit, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon. Overman had contracted with the Spalding sports equipment company as their sole bicycle distributor. This worked well for a few years, but by about 1892 or 1893, the two companies had a serious falling out. The two companies first brought lawsuits against each other for thousands of dollars. Then they began competing head-to-head for

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1806-458: Was in debt for over a half-million dollars, their shops closed, and hundreds of employees were thrown out of work. Creditors extended a last-minute effort to revive the company on January 1, 1898. By May 1899, the company was desperately trying to regain market share by slashing bicycle prices down to $ 40. A fire broke out at the Overman factory on November 23, 1899, creating considerable fire and water damage. Overman sold his bicycle business to

1849-588: Was introduced and customers could choose air-cooled or pay $ 100 more for water-cooled models. A six-cylinder engine became available in 1910 and all Knox's became water-cooled. Only luxury-priced Knox's were offered after 1910. The Knox was raced by William Bourque in the 1909 AAA Championship Car race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway . In 1910 a Knox was driven by Fred Belcher in the Vanderbilt Cup race . By 1912 Knox sales were slipping and

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