50. BICYCLE- THE PERENNIAL FAVOURITE
Man has invented countless things since the dawn of history. It is doubtful if any of them can match the bicycle in beauty and utility. The greatness of the bicycle is that unlike other machines invented by man, it supplements human effort without supplanting it,is propelled by human energy without being a burden or danger to the environment. It is easy to assemble and maintain. And until recently it used to be really affordable even to the poor.
From its inception in the late 19th century, the basic model of the bicycle has hardly undergone any change, though lot of technical improvements have been made. Like in most things, it is the basic model which is the most useful, and is simply elegant.
Early memories
My earliest memory is sitting on a folded towel placed on the frame top tube on a bicycle , with my uncle riding home after watching the movie Ram Rajya in Trichy late in the night. Some years later, I sat on the rear carrier as my uncle was pushing the bicycle, while engaged in serious discussions/arguments with my mother as we were returning from watching K.Subramaniam's film Githa Gandhi. This was in Salem. The bicycle was a very familiar sight from early days. The postman always came on one, as also the newspaper vendor.
Learning to ride the bicycle
Learning to ride the bicycle
We learned to ride the bicycle when we were about 12 years old. One senior boy in our group had learned it first and he agreed to teach us. Those days we had shops hiring bicycles by the hour- the charges being 2 annas for an hour. We used to hire from one K.S.Mani, whose bikes were marked KSM on the rear mudguard. They would only give us 4 annas per week at home, so we could practise only for about 2 hours a week. But we learned it quite fast, though not without falls, cuts and bruises.Riding was easy, the essence was getting on the seat, controlling the speed and learning to brake, without losing balance! Slow cycling was an event in our school sports!
There was always a stage when we learned to pedal without sitting on the saddle! This was called "monkey pedalling" in Tamil, குரங்கு பெடல் and it was a great favourite as we felt we were really doing some circus act! But it was a necessity for boys who were rather short and who had only a 24" bicycle at home, as in the following illustration! Their legs would not reach the pedal if they sat on the saddle!
Different Models
At this stage, we learned the names of various bikes. There was the Sen-Raleigh group of Calcutta which made four famous brands: Raleigh, Robin Hood, Humber, Rudge. The Raleigh was highly regarded, but Robin Hood caught my fancy.
Beautiful Raleigh bike of the 50s!
from: www.sheldonbrown.com
These were matched by Hercules, Phillips and BSA brands made by TI Cycles of Madras. Here, Hercules caught our fancy. Hercules was considered tougher than Raleigh, and KSM would only give us Hercules bikes for practise. He said that they were so tough nothing would happen (to the bike) even if we fell! There were other brands like Atlas and Hind, with some local names like Royal Supreme. Mani's words came true when we hired a Hind bike from someone else one day, and the frame got cut when we fell!
20" or 22" bike was the favourite of the boys, while elders preferred the 24" height. Two saddles/ seats were famous then: Brooks and Wittkop.
Fitting a lamp to the bike was a requirement those days, if we had to use the bike after sun set.Also, the rear mudguard should have a fixture with a piece of red glass (later plastic). I remember Miller lamps were the ones used, with their own dynamo. With it came a rear lamp too.
The bike was not complete without a bell. It used to be very simple, but effective. We did not use it much, but we thought it added to the beauty of the bike. The postman would always sound the bell! Later, we had many fashionable models in bells. There was always the fear of losing the bell if the bike was parked in public places.
Today, people talk of transfer of technology, manufacturing at different places, etc. The Raleigh people were pioneers in this- they entered into collaboration with local dealers to manufacture their bikes in different countries and this measure is one which really benefited people in Asia and Africa. The Sen-Raleigh factory was set up in India- one of the largest then- in 1952. The Raleigh group later acquired the TI group in England so that most of the bikes manufactured in India then belonged to this group. But their collaboration in China became the largest in the world.
This picture is from Wikipedia.Creative commons, licence 2. I am unable to cite the reference because of the Chinese letters!
I had been fond of Robin Hood since schooldays,so the first bicycle I bought was a Robin Hood! It was complete with a light and dynamo, carrier at the rear, a wire basket at front, half chain guard, etc. Nagpur was then a small place, which one could cover end to end on a bicycle in under half an hour. Bicycle was the common mode of transport, along with cycle rickshaw.
The logo on the Robin Hood bicycle. But mine was an Indian make.
Mix and match!
I found out that it was a rather light cycle, and it was hard to pedal against the wind. Friends advised me to go in for a Hercules, which was heavier. But its hub was considered rather hard! The problem was solved by having a Raleigh hub fitted to the Hercules wheel and the result was quite nice. The bike was steady, and the ride was smooth!
I was then in Ahmedabad where the traffic was heavier. I used my bike to go to my workplace but one day my neighbour advised me rather strongly against riding a bicyle in that chaotic traffic,reminding me that I was not getting any younger, and I took to public transport, reserving the bike for week end rides.
Export of Indian Bicycles
Export of Indian bicycles used to be in the news occasionally. When I came to Madras I had occasion to discuss it with some executive
of TI Cycles. They were nice people. He explained to me that they were facing an uphill task. The steel they got for the frame rod had high carbon content and it was not acceptable in world markets. They had to further process the steel to reduce the carbon content which involved heavy power consumption and hence cost. This made export very difficult. There was the additional problem of third country insurance claims, which would be beyond the means of any Indian company. Was not the Govt aware of these things? What did the export promotion bodies do? He told me plainly that instead of talking to Delhi bureaucrats, one could talk to a buffalo! Those Indian industrialists and entrepreneurs who struggled and survived in the socialist era were really heroes and real freedom fighters!
Bicycles with gears
of TI Cycles. They were nice people. He explained to me that they were facing an uphill task. The steel they got for the frame rod had high carbon content and it was not acceptable in world markets. They had to further process the steel to reduce the carbon content which involved heavy power consumption and hence cost. This made export very difficult. There was the additional problem of third country insurance claims, which would be beyond the means of any Indian company. Was not the Govt aware of these things? What did the export promotion bodies do? He told me plainly that instead of talking to Delhi bureaucrats, one could talk to a buffalo! Those Indian industrialists and entrepreneurs who struggled and survived in the socialist era were really heroes and real freedom fighters!
Bicycles with gears
I had first seen a bike with gears in the school days, when a teacher, one D.Timotheus had such a bike. It was a rare sight. He would not let anyone come near it. He also practised homeopathy outside school hours and the bike would be parked in a corner inside the shop. We were very eager to handle it, but he would not let us near it! One day, one of us could lay his hand on it and just meddled with the gear rod, which was fixed to the frame rod! The teacher could not identify the boy, but shouted in the class enough, but also explained that the gear should be handled only when the bike was in motion. Valuable lesson!
But it was not easy to fit a gear to Indian bicycles even in the 70s.That was the time of socialist pattern. Even getting a good cycle tyre was a problem- the Dunlop tyre which was considered good was only available in the black market. The municipality collected a tax on the bicycle and gave a tin token which had to be fitted in the bike with a screw! Riding double was an offence. I still remember a letter to the editor published in the Tamil Daily, "Dinamani". The correspondent had written that the pillion rider could easily get down in case of need, but how could the rider unload a parcel weighing 30 or 40 pounds? What was the sense in permitting loads without limit, when people who weighed much less were prevented from riding pillion? We disregarded the rule most of the time, but had paid the fine when caught!
Bicycle Etiquette
Riding the bike had its own etiquette. We would always get down when we saw a school teacher or a known elderly person. We would always offer to carry any baggage or other things carried by elders, especially women, whether they were known or not. We would get down when we saw a roadside temple! In the beginning, we would get down even when we sighted a policeman! When we saw an elder or teacher ahead of us, we would slow down, and would never overtake or go past them! Oh, what days they were!
Bicycles- decline and return
But it was not easy to fit a gear to Indian bicycles even in the 70s.That was the time of socialist pattern. Even getting a good cycle tyre was a problem- the Dunlop tyre which was considered good was only available in the black market. The municipality collected a tax on the bicycle and gave a tin token which had to be fitted in the bike with a screw! Riding double was an offence. I still remember a letter to the editor published in the Tamil Daily, "Dinamani". The correspondent had written that the pillion rider could easily get down in case of need, but how could the rider unload a parcel weighing 30 or 40 pounds? What was the sense in permitting loads without limit, when people who weighed much less were prevented from riding pillion? We disregarded the rule most of the time, but had paid the fine when caught!
Bicycle Etiquette
Riding the bike had its own etiquette. We would always get down when we saw a school teacher or a known elderly person. We would always offer to carry any baggage or other things carried by elders, especially women, whether they were known or not. We would get down when we saw a roadside temple! In the beginning, we would get down even when we sighted a policeman! When we saw an elder or teacher ahead of us, we would slow down, and would never overtake or go past them! Oh, what days they were!
Bicycles- decline and return
Development of the automobile had marginalised the bicycle and today, there are motorised two wheelers even in the villages. The villagers consider it a sign of 'progress' to ditch the bicycle and buy a motorbike. In all the advanced countries, there is a craze for cycling now, both for its health benefits and beneficial effects on the environment! Cycling is promoted as a leisure activity, and exotic models of bicycles are being introduced. Facilities to hire bicycles are coming up! Naturally enough, the develpoing nations are copying the trend!When I went to Delhi in 1965, I found tracks dedicated to the bicycle, but they all disappeared in the name of progress! It is almost impossible to cycle in Indian cities now due to the automobile mania, but some essential activities/ services are still done with the bicycle.
What we as youngsters did informally and routinely and freely, is now sought to be promoted professionally, as a formal activity and for a fee! Yet, so long as the monster of the automobile is not eliminated,, the bicycle cannot regain its lost glory and its place on the road.
In Copenhagen, cyclists have won against the automobiles! There,1,60,000 bikers cover 1.3 million kilometres each working day. Can it happen in Delhi? Yes, if the sun rises in the West!
picture from:www.treehugger.com.
Your Blog content is very good. Thanks for sharing the information. Hibird cycle based in Ludhiana Punjab, India, is a manufacturer of bicycles and bicycle related products.
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