Tuesday, April 8, 2014

An Exceptional Copake Auction Inc. Bicycle Comes to Auction

            (Cloudy and rain)

An 1876 Saint Nicholas Bicycle

   I frequently visit Copake Auction Inc. to see their exceptional collection of vintage, old, and antique bicycles that they have for sale. If you need a place to see these marvels of an old era, and even recent era, this is the place to visit. You could not do any better than visiting a museum, and there are not that many bicycle museums to see in the world. 




St. Nicholas transitional high wheel ordinary made in Chicago, Illinois
50" ( 1.27 m diameter wooden spoked wheel with strap steel tire,
retains front brake. Excellent restoration on custom museum stand.
Good condition
Circa 1876




The circular platform is for stepping to get to the seat.
remember the wheel itself is 50" ( 1.27 m) in diameter.

I can't even imagine how inefficient the bicycle was to ride, ash well as to try and get some speed out of it. And think of the weight. Today's carbon-fiber bicycles can be under 10 pounds (about 4.3 kg).
This bicycle probably would weight in at 30-40 pounds (12-16 kg)!

When you stop,via a brake, you'd have to drive the bike next to a high box, or step to be able to get off it.









What's great about Copake Auctions Inc. is how many photos they present for each listing.
If you like to look at details, it's amazing just how much information there is. Of course, the more modern bicycles (1950's) have much more detail to see.

I selected this particular one because of its age. When you think of American history, 1876 would have been the centennial year of the USA. The terrible Civil  had ended only 11 years earlier. There were terrible Indian Wars that inevitably took over much the Native land and discriminated the Native American Indians.  The First Transcontinental Railroad (USA) was construction between 1863-1869, with the famous last spike photo driven into the railroad tie in 1869.

Now that's history, and this bicycle certainly would have contrasted with the what was happening during that time!

Thanks for dropping by, 
and as always,
have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be.
Stacey
my e-mail address is: toysearcher@gmail.com







                  
                           

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