When Peter Gendron was a young boy in 1860's he worked in a wagon shop owned by his father. It was working here that he conceived the idea of the wire spoke. You might say that he saw the problem exactly the opposite as those before him. Solid spoke wheels of both wood and metal are designed to support the load from underneath. Unique was that Master Gendron's design had the axle "hanging" from the rim above like modern spokes.

In 1871 he arrived in Toledo Ohio and opened shop. his first venture didn't last long but as you can see, he wasn't to be stopped. Peter's Gendron Wheel company grew to become one of the largest manufacturers in Toledo employing over 3,000 people and are still in business today.

This is a Gendron #2 a cycle built for a very privileged young lady that today would cost $1200

The tires are steel.


30 122 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr


30 127 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr


30 126 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr


30 125 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr


30 123 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

Beyond fabulous! Yours? Or just under your care for a restoration? I wonder how the tires looked and how they held on to the rims. So much fun to see these early bikes, so many ideas going on that are now extinct.

Ha, that fork looks just like a modern CF fork. Very cool. Did you ride it?

Noticed that too, looks quite nice and it's probably safer than crabon fibré. I also think the seat back is very elegant, I'd love to have a set of those in the living room!

That is a great! Any plans to reverse engineer it?

Wow! And steel tires! Is it really a "tire" (i.e. separate from the wheel), or do you just ride on bare rims?

Yup it's mine. I am too big for it. I think it's a 50cm or so

You just ride on the rims. Rubber tires had been around since the 80's but this one has suspension to smooth out the ride.

The carbon look was all the rage in 1886 as were tight clearances.

How is that for a tight wheelbase?


29 323 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr


29 337 by barnstormerbikes, on Flickr

Roval hubs, no?

lol

Awesome! Quite a find. Thanks for sharing. What gauge spoke do you reckon those are? I'd be curious to see the spoke ends (apparently held on by the "washer" at the end of the hub). Interesting as well to see the hinge at the end of the steering column. I bet the steel on ice traction is less than ideal!

This thing was born to drift around in drunken revelrie on a frozen lake

Looks like something straight out of a Tim Burton movie. Cool

I never thought I'd be awed by a post about a tricycle but, like wow.

Same here. Phenomenal. That thing is nine hundreds kinds of cool.
DON'T paint it Frank!

Wow, radially spoked wheels front and rear, must be the sportive model.

Nice find Frank, doubt anyone else can claim they have one.

Bill

Thanks, It's really a cute little machine..

The paint is pretty good for something it's age.

Ill get some more detailed photos soon.

Frank's Place: A treasure trove of all things cycling! Can't wait to see this in person.

Any good ideas on it to incorporate into the next variation of the FTW Downhiller?

Very nice! With a fresh powdercoat, I think it would make a nice fixie.

Gendron has alway been near and dear to my heart, as Peter (born Pierre) Gendron was Canadian by birth. He learned the carriage trade at his father's Quebec based shop before movng to Toledo at age 21, where he took a job as a pattern maker with the Toldeo Novelty Works. Circa 1872, he would establish the Gendron Manufacturing Company in Toldeo and in 1895 he opened another bicycle manufacturing facility in Toronto. In 1899 the Canadian company would merge with four others to form a Canadian icon, the Canada Cycle & Motor Company Limited (CCM). CCM would continue to market Gendron branded bicycles into the 1920s.

As much as I would like to attribute the wire spoked bicycle wheel to a Canadian, the claim is somewhat tenuous. There were several European manufacturers that developed similar wheels more or less concurrently. The Europeans even improved on the concept by devising various methods to ensure that all the spokes were in tension, not just the one at the top. This allowed for thinner spokes and a lighter wheel, as the load was distributed among all the spokes.

Very cool acquisition! Even looks to have built in shock to smooth the ride on steel wheels and what were surely some rough roads.

Tom, thanks! I wasn't aware of the CCM connection!


I think it was Charles Palmer that actually pioneered the tangent wheel or crossed spokes in '86 on the New Rapid ordinary bikes in Birmingham England though as you say, it may have happened in more than one place during a period of such rapid development.

Here is the modern version, drift trike.


29 180 by frankthewelder, on Flickr


29 193 by frankthewelder, on Flickr