1895 Langton Combination tricycle
Brixton Cycle Works, London
19″ Frame
28″ Front wheel
26″ Rear wheels
Inch pitch chain, fixed wheel
A ‘combination’ or ‘convertible’ bicycle or tricycle has a removable top tube so that it can either be ridden by a gentleman (with the top tube fitted) or a lady wearing a skirt with the top tube removed. This style became popular around 1890 and the design was still being used up to the early 1900s.
This is the only known surviving example of the Langton tricycle. It is an older restoration, and it is in good all round condition. It appears to have been a special order for a customer as it has a smaller frame than would be usual for a tall gentleman. Tricycles were very expensive compared to a bicycle, so they were usually ordered by a customer individually in a size that suited them best. The example illustrated below is from 1891. The one featured on this page is from 1895, as its screw in pedals and wider seat post were introduced in that year. The company apparently continued supplying them until 1898.
It’s in good all round condition and ready to ride.
LANGTON & Co
Builder of pneumatic tyred safeties and tricycles in the late 1880s and 1890s. The ‘Langton’ was made before 1892. In 1885 the firm had an address at 313 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton. At that time it was advertising the ‘New Merlin Tricycle’ made by licence under Bricknell and Quatremaine’s patent. Quatremaine had taken out patent.
The firm exhibited at the Stanley Shows where in 1893 there was on display a tandem with eccentric bracket adjustment, a bicycle with high bracket and a lady’s machine with twin, curved tubes. It acquired additional premises at 315 Coldharbour Lane by c.1893 and showed a ‘Giraffe’ type at the 1893 Stanley Show. The ‘Langton’ was still being advertised in 1898.
[Ray Miller’s Encyclopedia]
THE REMOVABLE TOP TUBE
