Eagle Bicycle Manufacturing Company based in
Torrington, Connecticut built
bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bic ...
s from 1888-1900.
At one time, Eagle had a capacity to manufacture 20,000 to 30,000 bicycles annually. The company promoted some of their unique features such as
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
rims and
inner tube tires, which are easily detached and repaired. They were one of the earliest to use cold-swaging on the frame joints. Eagle built
high wheels including a 48", 50" and 52" inch high wheel in the 1880s. They weighed 35 to 50 pounds and cost $40 to $150.
In 1890, Frank E. Weaver made one of the first ever USA transcontinental bicycle trips (
Thomas Stevens has claims to the first in 1884) on a 48" Eagle bicycle. Mr. Weaver supplied periodic reports on the
New Haven
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
cross-country trip to Bicycling World, LAW Bulletin and New Haven Palladium.
[TheWheelMan http://www.thewheelmen.org/sections/americanjourneys/shiningsea/regviews/weaver.jpg]
References
External links
Video of riding a HighWheeled Eagle
{{American bicycle manufacturers
Cycle manufacturers of the United States
Torrington, Connecticut