Classic & Vintage - What is this (see linked picture)?

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2004/g/lasala3.jpg

Specifically, what is that little meter? I'm guessing it's a way to track milage, but I have no idea what it's called. It looks interesting though.

Not sure if any of this info would help, but it's on a 1960's Hercules 3-speed and the object in question is attached to a Sturmey Archer dynohub generator. Original posting of this bike on Fixed Gear Gallery:
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2004/g/lasala.htm

Looks like an odometer to me.

That's an old bike odometer. I used to have one in the 70's. There is a pin that attaches to a spoke with a set screw and the odometer has a spindle with spokes radiating from it. As the wheel turns the pin on the spoke hits a spoke on the spindle and turns it, which then turns the number wheels in the odometer. I wish you could still get them - poor man's bike computer.

It's an old Cyclometer, used before we had handlebar-mounted cycling computers (and indeed before electronic calculators, liquid crystal displays and lithium batteries were available!) A simple mechanical device with a star shaped lever that was struck by a peg on the spokes every revolution of the wheel, so a shaft in the meter partly rotated and a gear system inside slowly turned the numbers to show how many miles travelled. Some had a reset, some were in kilometres (no way of changing from miles to km if I remember correctly) and I'm not now sure if you had to buy one to suit the diameter of your wheel, but I think that was the case. In the 1960's some of my friends had Huret versions on their bikes and one boy had a Huret speedometer with a worm drive cable driven by a toothed disc fitted to the front wheel spokes. Most of us had to make do with looking at a map and checking our watches though! Thanks for reviving memories of hot sunny school summer holidays, empty roads, warm orange squash in a glass bottle in the saddlebag, wide open skies, shady woods, catching trout from tiny streams and an age of innocence and adventure - all made possible by our bicycles. Mine was a 24 inch wheel Hercules Jeep single speed with a dark green frame, gold coachlines and light blue steel mudguards and chain guard. How I loved that heavy but sturdy old steed - I've still got the chrome handlebars nearly half a century after the rest went to the bike shop in the sky and I moved on to hand built lightweights!

It's a Cyclometer - a mechanical device used to measure miles travelled long before we had bike computers (and before electronic calculators. lcd displays and lithium batteries were available!) A peg on the spokes made contact with, and partly turned, a star shaped armature on every wheel revolution - giving a tiny clicking sound. An internal gearing system turned the numbers even more slowly so it moved one digit every mile (or kilometre - they used them in Europe too) - some showed tenths of a mile/km in red on the extreme right digit. If I remember correctly - and I was a schoolboy back in the 1960's - you couldn't change from miles to km and the unit was specific to wheel diameter in inches. The best ones could be reset to zero. Some of my chums had Huret cyclometers and one boy even had a Huret speedometer - a huge dial clamped to his handlebars, driven by a cable that was turned by a worm drive from a toothed disc fitted to his front spokes.

Wow! this is bringing back memories of the long hot sunny summer holidays and exploring the empty open roads of the English Lake District with groups of schhol friends - monstrous hills to climb and exhilarating descents, warm orange squash in a glass bottle in the saddlebag. Swimming in the cool lakes and streams, catching trout with our hands, climbing trees and camping out. A time of energy, innocence and adventure and only possible because we had bicycles. I lived on my bike - a Hercules "Jeep" roadster with 24 inch wheels, single freewheel, sturdy tubes painted in dark green with gold coachlines and light blue steel mudguards and chainguards. We had Miller chrome dynamo lights that went out if you stopped. How I loved that machine before I discovered handbuilt lightweight frames, tubular tyres and derailleurs! I've still got the one-piece chromed handlebars and stem in a box in my workshop nearly 50 years later! Thanks for reviving all that nostalgia - hope you have as much fun on your Hecules!

Whops! I must learn how this computer thingy works! - I seem to be repeating myself - must be advancing years! Sorry for going on so much.....

I have a couple of those that I plan on mounting on my old Raleigh. Snagged them off ebay. We also had some that had a little plastic wheel and rubber band that didn't have the clicking noise. IIRC made by Huret.

Aaron:)

I have one that was made by Lucas? It was annoying as hell, and I promptly took it off the bike after riding with it for about 5 miles. It only had 145 miles on it though.

My 1937 Raleigh Sports came with one. I wonder if it's original?!

Neal

I had one of those on my Schwinn Traveler back in the '70s. If I remember right there was some adjusment you had to make to it so the reading would be calibrated for different wheel diameters.

My 1937 Raleigh Sports came with one. I wonder if it's original?!

Neal

Possibly...what brand is it? I will see if I have a catalog scan from around then, some of them have accessories listed on the back pages.

Aaron:)

Whops! I must learn how this computer thingy works! - I seem to be repeating myself - must be advancing years! Sorry for going on so much.....

You can always delete the extra post.

Thanks Al Criner, Oldpeddaller and everybody else! That sounds like a pretty neat little device. I might have to try to find one for my Raleigh.