1899 Beeston Humber Light Roadster (with Detachable Joints)

1899 Beeston Humber No 1 Freewheel Light Roadster

with Humber Patent Detachable Joints

27″ Frame

28″ Wheels

Duplex Front Fork

Duplex Chainstay

Backpedal Brake

plus Bowden Rear Brake with twist-grip control

Humber Saddle and Toolbag

Matching Nickel Rat trap Pedals

Frame No 74264

(Now sold)

As one of the world’s top cycle manufacturers, Humber bicycles at the turn of the century offered a very wide range of options. Though gears were still a few years away (only the two-speed ‘Hub Gear’ was available, and riders did not yet see the point of gears), there was a great variety of brakes on offer at this time: there were front pull-up or push-down brakes and, for the rear end, Bowden cable brakes, backpedal brakes, coaster brakes and calliper brakes, all recently introduced.

By spending £5 more than the top of the range ‘No 1’ featured here, a customer could opt for the ‘Beeston Humber Modele d’Or’ which allowed a customer to choose every option listed in the Humber catalogue. The machine featured here has many extra specifications:

Detachable frame (which can be unbolted and stored in a box)

Duplex front fork and duplex chainstay

Backpedal brake, plus Humber’s unique twist-grip cable-operated Bowden rear brake

Humber script saddle (with new leather top) and toolbag

Beeston Humbers fitted with multiple extras were actively promoted by Humber, as every machine thus sold became a first class mobile advertisement for the company.