Sir Roger de Coverley would probably have called this a case of 'much to be said on both sides,' and suggested that experience should determine the result.
Future developments in connection with motor bicycles will no doubt be concerned with spring frames and two-speed gears. Already some interesting work in these directions has been done, and in the latest types of Excelsior motor a spring head is employed which greatly reduces the vibration transmitted to the handle-bars. One drawback to the use of the motor bicycle in hilly districts is that the motor only gives out its full power when running at the normal speed. When going uphill the speed of the motor naturally slackens, and consequently the engine does not give off its standard capacity. To overcome this difficulty inventors are studying the matter from two different points of view. Some are in favour of the use of motors of higher capacity than those now in general use, while others are experimenting with two-speed gears, arguing that it is better to have a small engine kept steadily running, and so developing its full power notwithstanding the gradient, the low gear being used for hill climbing. The Chapelle, which is constructed on these lines, has already proved its capacity in several French races, and the Phœnix motor bicycle has just been introduced with a two-speed gear as a leading feature. Motor cycling, although hitherto enjoyed only by the male sex, is likely to prove attractive to ladies in the future, and already machines have been specially introduced for their benefit. The motor is placed below the bottom tube, and ample protection is afforded in the way of dress-guards, &c.
The novice need have no fear of his motor bicycle. It is not a haphazard aggregation of bits of metal, and although there arc bicycle motors composed of more than 140 separate pieces, they present no unfathomable mystery. But the mechanism requires understanding, and we advise the intending motor cyclist carefully to study the chapters on Petrol Engines, Ignition, &c., in this book. A clear understanding of these
