1869 "Killingworth" Velocipede

[Jesse McCauley]

Ca. 1869 "Killingworth" Velocipede
Unattributed Connecticut Builder

Mainspring stamped from the Killingworth Carriage Spring company of Clinton, CT.
Pedals from the Pickering New York Company
Wheels from the New Haven Wheel Co. of New Haven, CT built on the Sarven patent.

A machine built with a great deal of combined skills with which such craftsmen ultimately created the bicycle industry.

 

[mike cates]

I like the blacksmith work on the front tapering spiral which has one more turn than that of most other makers and the rolled under and tapered ends of the supports that the rider would rest his legs onto when coasting down a hill.
Unusual machine and maker.
Mike Cates, CA.

 

[Jesse McCauley]

Interesting image of Pierre Lallment, also of Connecticut, who is credited with the first US patent for a pedal-driven velocipede.
Remarkably similar to the machine I have in my dining room.

 

[mike cates]

Oh..... I also overlooked the multiple pedal reach hole positions on the crank arms. Most velocipedes had fixed crank pedal throw lengthss on the crank arms. Slotted (or multiple hole pedal adjustments like on this model) didn't appear until the advent of the highwheel bicycle in the later 1870's and demonstates the forward thinking of these velocipede makers in allowing fitting the machine to riders with different leg lengths and also the ability to make the leverage ratio longer for easier hill climbing and slower riding speeds or higher in the shorter positions for faster cranking speeds of the driving wheel rotation on flat land.
Mike Cates, CA.