Early in the 20th century, two events occurred which reshaped American society and propelled the auto industry to the forefront of American industry. Henry Ford developed mass production techniques which made motor cars affordable for the average person, and huge oil fields were discovered in Texas, which would quickly led to cheap and plentiful gasoline for Henry's creations.
But every great social change has its negative consequences, and the rapid rise of the American auto industry produced an equally rapid decline in the once prominent American bicycle industry. No person is more symbolic of this rapid transformation than Barney Oldfield, who most Americans know as the daring auto racer who piloted many of Henry Ford's racing prototypes, including the lengendary "999". What is now usually forgotten is that Oldfield had previously been equally famous as a prominent bicycle racer.
I think the cycling culture survived in Europe because auto manufacturers there were slower to embrace mass production and the mass market. It seems the most prominent champion of affordable automobiles for the European masses was, sadly, Adolph Hitler, who ordered development of the Volkswagen, or "People's Car" as a way of solidifying his popularity with the German working class. No doubt the survival of cycling also owed a lot to the fact that Western Europe had no significant oil reserves (the technology to find oil at the bottom of the North Sea would not be developed unitil well after WWII). So gasoline in Europe was much more expensive than in America, and was made more so by the the heavy taxation of petroleum products by most European governments. So even if the working man could affort to purchase a car, the cost of fuel was a further barrier, and many continued to use bicycles as their primary transportation, which maintained a base of support for the cycling industry and sport cycling.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Houston, TX
Americanbikebuilder'squalitybeingajoke
>
> Gormully's did indeed have fancy lugs--I call that maker G&Js for
short.They sold their bicycle line around 1903 to Pope when G&J started
american motors corp.Pre 1900 American bikes were as good as could be found
anyplace in the world.Dayton(huffy) built a cro-moly as early as 36 maybe
earlier.By 1910 motors were our fancy,so bicycles took a big hit in the
states till 1970
>
> sam lingo pleasanton tx
>
>
>
>
>
> >From: "Mick Butler" <pariscyclesuk@hotmail.com>
>
> >To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>
> >Subject: Re: [CR]Peter Kohler's remarks on American
bikebuilder'squalitybeingajoke
>
> >Date: Sun, 06 Jun 2004 15:21:00 +0000
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >Hi all,
>
> >American bicycles are held in high esteem in the UK. Especially the
>
> >early makers such as Gormully & Jeffrey, Eagle, Overman, Pope,
>
> >Dayton, Iver Johnson, Ranger and those stunning Schwinn track irons.
>
> >Didn't Gormully's fit fancy lugs or lug extensions way back in
>
> >1900's on their Rambler?
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >Best wishes and be lucky. Michael Butler Huntingdon UK.
>
> >
>
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