7 James Starley 7There he invented and patented new models, and many of
his features are used in modern sewing machines.
In 1868 Starley became interested in bicycle improve-
ment. At that time the bicycle trade was dominated by
French-made velocipedes (vélocipèdes de pedale), iron-framed
and wooden-wheeled vehicles whose hard ride earned
them the sobriquet of “boneshaker”—though innovations
such as solid rubber tires and wire-spoked wheels helped
to soften the ride. Starley’s first bicycle, the Coventry, was
quickly followed by the Ariel (1871), notable for its use of
centre pivot steering. The Ariel had a 48-inch (122-cm)
front wheel and a 30-inch (76 -cm) rear wheel. Considered
the first true bicycle by many historians, the Ariel was the
immediate precursor of the high-wheel “ordinary” bicycle
and was the standard of bicycle design for the next decade.
Starley also invented and manufactured a tangentially
spoked wheel, with the spokes connected to the hub at a
tangent. His design was a great improvement over radially
spoked wheels and is still in use. In 1876 he introduced the
highly successful Coventry tricycle and the following year
incorporated into it the patented use of the differential
gear in conjunction with chain drive.
The ordinary’s cranks were directly connected to the
front wheel, so that its speed was limited by pedaling
cadence and wheel diameter. Larger front wheels went
faster and handled better on bad roads, but mounting and
dismounting required skill, and the rider sat almost directly
over the large front wheel. From that position he could be
pitched forward onto his head by road hazards. By the
1890s the term “penny-farthing” had come into use as a
pejorative for ordinaries, comparing the front wheel to the
large British penny and the rear wheel to the much smaller
farthing (quarter-penny). Yet even as the ordinary was
developing, numerous designs offered safer alternatives.