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The Bicycle Craze |
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The Bicycle Craze |
Entrance
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1892, Wilbur and Orville bought new "safety" bicycles and soon cycling became a
shared passion. It was, in fact, becoming a passion all over the United States. Before that time, "ordinary" bicycles, with huge wheels in front, had
been the province of daring athletes. Wilbur, in fact, had owned an
"ordinary" and learned to ride it while the Wright family
still lived in Richmond, Indiana. His training as a gymnast probably
served him well when mounting and dismounting the awkward machine.
The invention of the safety bicycle, with two wheels of equal size, made the bicycle relatively easy to mount and ride, opening the sport to almost everyone. The Wrights joined a local bicycle club, the YMCA Wheelmen, went on long country rides, and did a little racing. And because their scratch-built presses had made their reputations as mechanics, they were set upon by friends in need of bicycle repair. Soon the Wrights had a good repair business. Wilbur opened a cycling shop in early 1893, the Wright Cycle Exchange. He was soon joined by Orville. The brothers retained their printing business, but left the day-to-day running of it to Ed Sines. In addition to repairing bicycles, they also sold new bikes and accessories. Business was brisk, and in late 1893 they moved to larger quarters and renamed the business The Wright Cycle Company. In less than a year, bicycles were their primary business and they hired their brother Lorin to take over the print shop and work with Ed. After several years of repairing bicycles, the Wright brothers decided they could build a better bike than they could buy. In 1896, the began to manufacture the top-of-the line Van Cleve and the lower-priced St. Clair, both named for Ohio pioneers. It was a good marketing ploy -- 1896 was the centennial anniversary of the founding of Dayton and these names were familiar to the Wright's customers. The Wrights in fact were descended from Catharine Van Cleve, the first person to step off the small boat of settlers that sailed up the Great Miami River to what would become Dayton. The motto they chose to advertise their bikes was a pun on their own ancestry: "Van Cleves get there first." Wright bicycles were not mass-produced machines, but were hand-built to a customer’s specifications. At that time, the bicycle industry was analogous to computers today. Small-time manufacturers could build their own brands from readily available components. The Wrights added a few original improvements, including an oil-retaining wheel hub (designed by Orville) and coaster brakes. By 1898, they were earning $2000 to $3000 a year in gross sales from the bicycle business, a respectable income for the times. |
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