Fifty Plus (50+) - There's nothing new under the sun...

I was in Detroit on business a few weeks ago, had some time to kill and spent 90 minutes at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. They had an interesting bicycle exhibit, with bikes going back to some of the original velocipedes.

Given the conversations here about saddles, saddle cutouts, etc, thought you'd be interested in this comfort innovation -- circa 1897.

Looks just like the new Brooks Imperial.

http://i25.tinypic.com/30jqypw.jpg


And I was really surprised to see this - a home trainer for cyclists from 1886 -- (it's the black contraption between the bicycle wheels).

http://i30.tinypic.com/2mxjwue.jpg

Cool.

I wonder why the cutaway took so long to come back around.

From the title of the thread I figured you had an Ecclesiatical moment.

A guy here in Reno has a small but prime collection of old bikes--just a couple of dozen of them in his garage, but all significant for some reason and all beautifully restored. He's been assembling it for 25 years or so, hunting for parts and doing his own work.
It's surprising how many "modern" innovations got their first tryouts 50, 75 or even 100 years ago. He has a number of suspension forks, in different designs, dating back to the early 1900s, and some really clever saddles. One is like a hammock woven from heavy twine, suspended from a seat post (which slides up and down for height adjustment) and the head tube. I've ridden that bike, and at least for short distances, it's by far the most comfortable seat i've ever used. I've been thinking about making one and putting it on one of my old bikes just for fun.