Here’s a great bit of cycling ephemera from David Evans. Lord knows where he found it, but I so love this. A brief history of Villiers, a true Wolverhampton engineering success story, who were associated with Sunbeam bicycles can be found here on the Wolverhampton University local history pages. I think this pamphlet is from the 1930’s.
You have to think carefully about this to get your head around how it works. Click for a legible image.
Gears were where it was at. Fancy French and Italian bikes where sporting nascent derailleur systems, and the mass-produced hub gear was still some years off becoming cheap enough for all. Click for a larger version.
While we’re on the subject, some very exotic systems appeared in the years before the derailleur and hub gear became the accepted norms. Hirondelle and others used a system that gave four gears in a very peculiar, innovative way. The system below is French and dates from 1925. See if you can work out how it functions.
This is fiendishly clever. I’ll post a link to the system’s function later in the day. See if you can work it out - although those who follow me on twatter will know, as I’ve discussed it previously. Photo by M.S. Gerritsen of a rather remarkable bike.
You need both images to make sense of it. Must have taken ages to learn how to ride it. Photo by M.S. Gerritsen.