Martin Appel writes:
> when was the first occurrence of these split seattube-frames,
> by the way? so far, i've seen Rigi and Puch do this.
The Victor Safety Models B and C, circa 1890, had this feature. For the same reason too - they brought the rear tire up in between the two seat tubes to shorten the chainstay dimension. I doubt it was a new idea even then. ;)
These are pictured on p17 of my copy of The Data Book (Van der Plas "Authentic Reprint Edition")
Mark Bulgier
Seattle WA USA