Will Robertson of the Washington Bicycle Club riding an American Star Bicycle down the steps of the United States Capitol in 1885

The American Star Bicycle was invented in 1880 by G. W. Pressey and manufactured by the H. B. Smith Machine Company in

Smithville, Burlington County, New Jersey Smithville was a village in Eastampton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey. It was originally established as Shreveville in 1831 by Jonathan and Samuel Shreve as a textile village on the Rancocas Creek. It was purchased by Hezekiah Bradl ...

. It was characterized by a small wheel in front to avoid the problem of tipping forward inherent in other high wheelers. A Star bicycle was photographed being ridden down the steps in front of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

in 1885 to demonstrate its

longitudinal stability In flight dynamics, longitudinal stability is the stability of an aircraft in the longitudinal, or pitching, plane. This characteristic is important in determining whether an aircraft pilot will be able to control the aircraft in the pitching pla ...

, and Star bicycles were used for the sport of

bicycle polo Cycle polo, bicycle polo, or bike polo (''polo-vélo'' in French; ''Radpolo'' in German) is a team sport, similar to traditional polo, except that bicycles are used instead of horses. There are two versions of the sport: grass and Hardcourt B ...

in the mid-1880s. Pressey sued Smith in 1887 for royalties. The name "Star" was attributed to the double star arrangement of the

spokes A spoke is one of some number of rods radiating from the center of a wheel (the hub where the axle connects), connecting the hub with the round traction surface. The term originally referred to portions of a log that had been riven (split l ...

Details

The small front wheel, in diameter, steered, and the large rear wheel, in diameter, provided the forward driving force and bore most of the rider's weight. The light load on the front wheel was reported to have made it skittish on loose surfaces such as sand and gravel. American Stars incorporated

pneumatic tires A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which t ...

very soon after they were developed, and braking was provided by a

spoon brake A bicycle brake reduces the speed of a bicycle or prevents it from moving. The three main types are: rim brakes, disc brakes, and drum brakes. Most bicycle brake systems consist of three main components: a mechanism for the rider to apply the ...

acting on the rear wheel and actuated by a lever on the right handlebar. A pair of independent

treadle A treadle (from oe, tredan, "to tread") is a mechanism operated with a pedal for converting reciprocating motion into rotating motion. Along with cranks, treadmills, and treadwheels, treadles allow human and animal machine power in the absenc ...

mechanisms collected power from the rider's legs instead of a crank. Power from each treadle was transferred to the rear wheel by a leather strap over a

ratchet mechanism A ratchet (occasionally spelled rachet) is a mechanical device that allows continuous linear or rotary motion in only one direction while preventing motion in the opposite direction. Ratchets are widely used in machinery and tools. The word ''r ...

. ''(See image in gallery below.)'' The attachment point of the leather strap could be moved to provide multiple

gear ratios A gear train is a mechanical system formed by mounting gears on a frame so the teeth of the gears engage. Gear teeth are designed to ensure the pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping, providing a smooth transmission ...

, and both treadles could be pressed simultaneously for a brief increase in torque. A spring attached to the ratchet rewound the strap when the foot was raised. This treadle arrangement also allowed riders of different sizes to ride the same bike comfortably without modification, as the pedals were not constrained to trace a circle about an axle. An undated advertisement lists prices from $75 to $120, depending on wheel size and finish, which varied from "plainly finished machine; painted and striped" to "all nickled and polished, except the rim, which is painted and striped in gold."

Variations

Smith also offered

tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes, ...

s in 1887 and 1888 and patented a steam tricycle in 1889. At the first

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about 6 ...

Fair in 1884,

Lucius Copeland Lucius Day Copeland was a pioneering 19th-century engineer and inventor from Phoenix, Arizona who demonstrated one of the first motorcycles, the Copeland steam bicycle, a steam-powered A steam engine is a heat engine that performs me ...

demonstrated his steam bicycle, one of the first

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

s, a steam-powered Star high-wheeler. It was claimed to have traveled in 4 minutes, at a steam pressure of , and carried enough water and fuel to run for an hour. "American Star" was also a brand name used by a Japanese bicycle manufacturer in the 1960s and 1970s.

Songs

The Smith Machine Co. commissioned several musical compositions to promote the American Star Bicycle. In 1882, Chas. W. Nathan composed the ''Star Bicycle Gallop'' for piano, and in 1883, John Ford composed ''The Star Rider. Song & Chorus'' for piano and voice, which was provided on the back cover of advertisements for American Star Bicycles.

Gallery

File:Star Bicycle.jpg, American Star Bicycle File:American Star, 51 inch, HB Smith Machine Company, Smithfield, NJ, 1885.JPG, 1885 51-inch American Star File:1884 Copeland Steam Cycle (replica) The Art of the Motorcycle - Memphis.jpg, 1884 Copeland Steam Cycle (replica) The Art of the Motorcycle – Memphis, USA File:American Star Bicycle Drivetrain, 1884.jpg, 1884 American Star Bicycle

drivetrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

showing leather straps wrapped around independent ratchet mechanisms and attached to one of two pegs on lever arms –

Batavus Batavus BV is a Dutch bicycle manufacturer, owned by the Accell Group European Cycle conglomerate. Batavus Intercycle Corporation was the leading manufacturer of bicycles and mopeds in the Netherlands during the 1970s. During its most productiv ...

museum, Heerenveen, The Netherlands

References

External links

Image of a man riding an American Star bicycle in the Jubilee Parade, Enumclaw, 1939
at the

Museum of History and Industry The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) is a history museum in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest private heritage organization in Washington state, maintaining a collection of nearly four m ...