Re: [CR]Labor trussed frame

(Example: Framebuilders:Bernard Carré)

In-Reply-To: <20060716191241.26302.qmail@web26615.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>
References: <20060716191241.26302.qmail@web26615.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2006 15:13:02 -0700
To: Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "joel metz" <magpie@blackbirdsf.org>
Subject: Re: [CR]Labor trussed frame


iver johnson did this same kind of "truss" frame - except without the single-sided fork and rear triangle - in the us at around the same time - and i beleive there was at least one other manufacturer other than labor in france and iver johnson in the us doing this type - the claims from iver johnson were that it increased the strength of the main triangle... it was common in these early years of the industrial age to make construction analogies - hey, the truss bridge is stronger than a plain bridge, so a truss frame is stronger than a plain diamond frame! not necessarily always true, but it worked to sell product, and make your product stand out from others... i wouldnt be surprised if labor claimed extra strength for all of its frames thanks to this frame - and that having this "stronger" frame design made doing away with half the bike possible...

tribune in the us (i beleive thats who it was) introduced "helical" tubing in the late 1890s... quite similar to miyatas splined tubing from the 1980s... there were also multiple companies featuring split seat tubes, double chainstays, and all sorts of things that may not have been actually tested for strength, but certainly *sounded* good as a sales pitch!

so very little has changed... :)

-joel

At 21:12 +0200 07.16.2006, alex m wrote:
>All Labor bikes at this time had this type of frame,
>not just the very rare monobras (monofork) model. So
>nothing to do with the special strains induced by
>doing away with half of the bike.....
>As Joël points out the Labor badge shows a railway
>bridge with a train going over (You can see the detail
>by clicking twice on the picture).
>The link is
>
>http://www.pianosromantiques.com/Labor-monobras.html

--
joel metz : magpie@blackbirdsf.org : http://www.blackbirdsf.org/
bike messengers worldwide : ifbma : http://www.messengers.org/
portland, oregon
==
i know what innocence looks like - and it wasn't there,
after she got that bicycle...