Dolanarc1

There is a Major Taylor exhibit coming up this year in Indiana, Mar 5--Oct 23.

Because I enjoy cycling history, everything from bikes to the development of the sport.

Q) does anyone know what ratio of gearing the boy's used in Major Taylors time ? Remember they were riding 1" pitch chains.

Just curious.

KerryIrons

I have no specific numbers but I know that those guys were fast, even by today's standards, and they really knew how to spin. Something like 21t chain ring and 7t rear cog.

Koyote

https://usbhof.org/usbhof-loans-one-...diana-exhibit/

63rickert

There is a way to know for sure. Find a clear image and count. I had a quick look at the google image gallery just now and while there is no immediate answer some photos looked promising.

So while someone might prove the following wrong here are some general indications. They rode way lower gears than you think. Taylor does look like he has a big enough chainring, maybe 24 or 25. Sprocket looks small, imaginable it could be a 7, for that period and for anyone else an 8 would be far more likely. On the outdoor tracks they did use a wider spread of different gears than would be common in later years

Taylor did rely on power and did race mostly on big outdoor tracks where he could wind up a big gear. His one and only effort at riding six day was a disaster. For everyone else of the era sixday was the whole sport. The indoor tracks were very small meaning a gear limit was often in place. Talking to riders I knew from the 1920s and 1930s (you said you wanted an historian) 24x8 was pretty normal, anything bigger than 25x8 unusual and most tracks would not have allowed it.

One ride that sticks in my mind would be Othon Ochsner’s 1919 Swiss pursuit championship. He told me about it a couple times. Pursuit then was 10,000 meters and tactical. Geared at 23x8 which everyone else thought was absurdly large. He won by knockout so no final time. However Swiss Timing was there and he did 4000 meters (the modern distance) in 5:03.

Koyote

There's another way to know for sure: follow the link I provided in the post right above yours. Quote:

"The Taylor bicycle, a Peugeot brand single gear track racing bicycle with steel frame and wooden wheel rims, is part of the USBHOF permanent collection and is owned by the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame. The bicycle is typical of an era when bicycle riders remained seated at alltimes during races. The bike’s chainring has 28 one-inch-teeth spaced out on the front chainring and just nine on the rear cog—sprinter’s gearing, equivalent to today’s 56 X 18 combination."

Wildwood 

Major Taylor Cycling Wear Jerseys Shorts Jackets Caps Licensed Kits
no affiliation.

63rickert

I was likely typing when you posted.

Even in the small photo at your link it shows clearly that is one big ring connecting to a big sprocket. I don’t see anything like that in competition photos. It is also functionally equivalent to the 25x8 suggested in my post.

Taylor predates even the riders I knew. It was an era when lots of things got a trial run. The mechanical reason for running a huge 28 ring would be that the 9 at the back will run smoother than an 8. Especially true with the rough chains of the era and with inch pitch. Same thing happened many years later when British TT riders would use 56 and 58 chainrings even when they were not going to use that with the top 13 cog.

CliffordK

Would the gearing change based on the race? Motorcycle Paced? Various distances of track races from 1/4 mile to 2 miles?

Iride01 

When you get to the exhibit count the teeth on the front ring and then divide that by the teeth on the back. Then you'll know the ratio.

It doesn't matter whether the pitch is 1/2", 1" or any other spacing between the links.

JohnDThompson 

Major Taylor's autobiography is available as a free book on Google Books:

https://books.google.com/books?id=56...uAQ6AF6BAgIEAE

Dolanarc1

Thanks Guys,

The gearing you all mentioned, ( 25x8--24x9 etc. sounds realistic for the outdoor tracks of the time. I was told a few years back by a very respectable and knowledgeable cycliing friend that they were using equivalent of 50X14 or 25X7, It's possible , I did doubt it. I met and conversed with some of the World's top sprinters from 1948--1958 i.e Reg Harris and Jan Derksen, they were racing on 46X14 regularly and gearing up for Worlds on 48X14.
Nothing really changed with gearing for 30 yrs after this time and then the change started, It's very common for the best sprinters today to be training on 66X12, thats 148"
And the big Dutch boy Harri could be racing on 64X12, he's a beast.

indyfabz

He also raced indoors at MSG.

chaadster

What size wheels was Taylor using?

63rickert

28” Palmer. Created June/July 1892 by John Palmer and B.F. Goodrich. This size is now called 700C or 622BSD.

chaadster

Thank you!

jfouellette

I downloaded the book. Very interesting as he also describes the discrimination he faced.

From the Montreal Bicycle Club web page:

The races at Queens park were held before a capacity audience of 12,000.In the half mile championship race it was widely felt that Major Taylor had won and yet the judges ruled against him. This caused a large uproar in the crowd. However Taylor accepted the judge's decision like a gentleman, earning him much praise. Taylor went on to win the sprint 1 mile professional title becoming only the second black man in history to be a world champion in any sport. (The first was Canadian Black Boxer George Dixon)

https://montrealbicycleclub.weebly.c...-montreal.html

63rickert

OOPS. We all have egg on our face. Go to page 86 of Taylor’s book. He mentions using gears of 88” and 92”. We had best take him at his word.

This would be calculated on a 28” Palmer wheel. Using 27” was a much later British conceit. So that gives 22x7 and 23x7. I thought the cog in photos looked too small to be an 8. The chainrings I see also look bigger than 23 so now will check from p.86 on to see if he mentions gears further.

That he was known for big gears comes to me from Jimmy Walthour,Jr. 92” is huge for the era. Jimmy’s father did race Taylor. This historian would very much like to hear more of OPs conversations with Harris and Derksen.

I’ve not read Taylor in 50 years. Details will slip. But I should know better than to opine w/o checking original documents

63rickert

OK, think I’ve found all the gear references. 92” was his usual sprint gear. Just once in Chicago in 1899 he experimented racing a 114” gear. Won with it, did not like it. Once had to use a borrowed bike with something bigger than 92 and it did not go well. The 88” mentioned above was for training. Basically he rode 23x7. In current terms calculating from nominal 27” it would be called 88.7”. Same as Reg Harris.

TPL

Inch pitch has NO effect on ratio

1oldtrackie

Gordon,

Most of the gearing at that time was anywhere from 70 inch to over 100 inch. Most of the racers bikes back then had many different gearing ratios to choose from.

Example:
1896 Barnes "White Flyer" came with a 72 inch gear
1896 Cleveland "Racer" came with a 76 inch gear
1897 Syracuse "Racer" came with a 7,8 or 9 rear sprocket and 17 - 23 front sprocket as options
1898 Crescent "Racer" came with a 77 inch gear
1896 Racycle "Racer" came with a 67, 70, 73, 76, 81, 84, 90, 93 or a 105 inch gear
1903 Columbia came with an 88 inch ( 22x7 )
The "Orient" that Major Taylor rode in 1898/99 came standard with 22 front 7 rear - options 18 to 26 front and 6,8 and 9 on the rear

Hope this helps as these are from my catalogues. I have many more options from different manufacturers if we need more answers.

Bill

Dolanarc1

Thank you to 1oldtrackie, these gears you quoted make a lot of sense based on the conditions and Velodromes they raced on at the time.

1oldtrackie

Here's an example from a 1916 catalogue for the Tribune Racer - Gearing is 96 inch