NOW FOR SALE, ASK FOR PRICE. I would prefer to exchange for a highwheel tricycle pre 1885. Interested? Contact me.
In 1885 Columbia launched a new top of the range model: the Light Roadster.
It featured (detachable) cowhorn handlebars as standard, hollow front fork and semi-tubular rear fork.
The front hub has the ball bearings of the Expert, the rear hub has thin (gauge 14) tangent spokes. Those were all quite normal features on a top range 1885 bicycle.
What makes this one special: The bicycle was the first American highwheel with front and rear hollow forks.
And really unique is the construction of the front hub. They are crossed spokes, with only one crossing! To avoid breaking of spokes, Pope didn't want the spokes to make a sharp bend. They constructed the hub in such a way, that the spokes are gently bent along a rounding of the hub. A wonderful solution, which only lasted two years. In 1887 Columbia launched a new Light Roadster with the normal pattern of tangent spokes.
The bicycle you see here in the pictures is part of my own collection. It is in the extreme size 59 inch (!!) and fully nickled. Rims are painted, just like Columbia did. On one of the pictures it stands next to a 52 inch bicycle, which really looks tiny. Click the picture
to see more of this wonderful bicycle.
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