Rudge Tricycle ca 1885 3602-103

Rudge ca 1885 Tricycle

Daniel Rudge was born in January 1841 in Wolverhampton. Rudge, a skilled engineer, became interested in bicycles through his friend Walter Phillips. In 1869 Walter Phillips and George Price became interested in the new cycle industry. Price was primarily interested in the business end of cycle manufacture, whereas Phillips was interested in the actual making of cycles. The two realised that to successfully manufacture cycles they would need a skilled engineer to design parts and sort out any mechanical problems.
Daniel Rudge was approached about manufacturing a velocipede designed by Phillips. A deal was struck and Rudge was soon producing cycles in a small workshop, with Henry Clarke supplying the wheels. By the end of 1874 Daniel Rudge had manufactured a small number of high bicycles. His first machines were nothing out of the ordinary as they ran on regular plain bearings.
Around this time a Frenchman who had met Henry Clarke during his army service called on him riding a French velocipede. Both Daniel Rudge and Henry Clarke were taken on how the French velocipede ran with ease. They determined to find out the mechanical advantage of the French machine. It is said that that they got the Frenchman drunk and then dismantled his machine to find that it ran on ball bearings instead of the more traditional plain bearings common on the cycles of the day.
By 1878 Rudge had established as a manufacturer of high quality bicycles. Never satisfied with other makers’ designs and construction, Rudge invented numerous innovations. In 1878 he took out British Patent No 526 for his adjustable ball bearings. These bearings were fitted to his high bicycles and improved their efficiency. Rudge cycles soon gained a reputation for fast starts and thus became extremely popular. Rudge machines were often handicapped 20 or 30 yards behind other racers. Because of this publicity the demand for Rudge cycles increased.
In the early summer of 1880 Daniel Rudge fell ill for the last time. He died at a hospital for the terminally ill in London on 26th June 1880 of cancer, at the age of 39.
The sales of Rudge cycles remained excellent for several months after his death, but with nobody to run the company the company seemed doomed. Rudge’s widow Mary with the assistance of Walter Phillips arranged the sale of the Rudge cycle concern to George Woodcock of Coventry. The sale arrangement included a cash sum plus a regular pension for Mary Rudge. In exchange Woodcock acquired the famous adjustable ball bearing patent 526 and the services of some of Rudge’s former employees. (courtesy Derek Beddows, see http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/Museum/Transport/bicycles/Rudge.htm )
The tubular steel frame of this tricycle has recently been nickel plated. A differential gear is fitted near the right-hand side wheel, steering works via a cranked handle, and braking with a band brake next to the driven chain wheel. Several parts bear the number “145”. The tricycle is fitted with four patent ball bearings no. 526 (1878) and Morgan’s Patent chain. A pannier rack with wicker basket is positioned behind the well-sprung saddle. Front wheel diameter is 20 inch, rear wheels are 44 inch in diameter. Handlebar height is 100 cm, width 95 cm, length 165 cm. A paractical accessory is the bell next to the steering handle. This well-preserved tricycle spent many years in the Falmignoul cycle museum.