1900 Lady’s Centaur No 1
with Underslung down tube
Front and rear rim brakes (Bowden rear)
23″ Frame
28″ Wheels. Original front tyre: ‘The Edinburgh Pneumatic’
Frame No 63208
Freewheel hub
Centaurs are mythological creatures. Their bicycle equivalent was no less wondrous when new, due to the high standard of innovation.
For example (as you can read further down the page), the company adopted the Bowden cable-operated rim brake ahead of other manufacturers, providing an efficient rear brake ready fitted to their bicycles by 1899. This machine has it, as well as a front rim brake of unique design, one of the first to be fitted.
The Centaur No 1 also features an underslung down tube (again you can see close up details on this page). In the side profile catalogue illustrations the only discernible difference is that the ‘loop’ in the loop frame does not ‘kick upwards’ at the lower rear end like the other models. The Science Museum has a similar model in their collection.
The Centaur name is stamped into the pedal cranks. The frame number can be found at the top of the steering head. I expect it originally had a chaincase (there were two types on offer, a metal Centaur one and a Dover celluloid one). The handlebars are covered with silver paint to protect them. I assume the Centaur was a repainted many years ago. It’s in good mechanical condition and ready to ride. The front tyre is its original, an ‘Edinburgh Pneumatic’ that holds air and can be ridden.
1899 CENTAUR CATALOGUE EXTRACTS
BOWDEN CABLE OPERATED REAR RIM BRAKE
The Bowden mechanism was invented by Irishman Ernest Monnington Bowden (1860 to April 3, 1904) of 35 Bedford Place, London, W.C.The first patent was granted in 1896 (English Patent 25,325 and U.S. Pat. No. 609,570), and the invention was reported in the Automotor Journal of 1897 where Bowden’s address was given as 9 Fopstone Rd, Earls Court. The principal element of this was a flexible tube (made from hard wound wire and fixed at each end) containing a length of fine wire rope that could slide within the tube, directly transmitting pulling, pushing or turning movements on the wire rope from one end to the other without the need of pulleys or flexible joints. The cable was particularly intended for use in conjunction with bicycle brakes, although it had the potential for other applications. The Bowden Brake was launched amidst a flurry of enthusiasm in the cycle press in 1896. It consisted of a stirrup, pulled up by the cable from a handlebar mounted lever, with rubber pads acting against the rear wheel rim. At this date bicycles were fixed wheel, additional braking being offered by a ‘plunger’ brake pressing on the front tyre. The Bowden offered extra braking power still, and was novel enough to appeal to riders who scorned the plunger arrangement, which was heavy and potentially damaging to the (expensive) pneumatic tyre. The problem for Bowden was his failure to develop effective distribution networks and the brake was often incorrectly, or inappropriately fitted, resulting in a good number of complaints being aired in the press. Its most effective application was on those machines fitted with Westwood rims which offered flat bearing surfaces for the brake pads.
The potential of the Bowden cable and associated brake was not to be fully realised until the freewheel sprocket became a standard feature of bicycles, over the period 1899-1901, and increasing numbers of applications were found for it, such as gear change mechanisms. It is reported that “on 12th January 1900 E. M. Bowden granted a licence to The Raleigh Cycle Company of Nottingham”, whose directors were Frank Bowden and Edward Harlow. At this signing they became members of ‘E. M. Bowden’s Patent Syndicate Limited’. The syndicate included, among others, R. H. Lea & Graham I. Francis of Lea & Francis Ltd, and William Riley of the Riley Cycle Company. The Raleigh company were soon offering the Bowden Brake as an accessory, and were quick to incorporate the cable into handlebar mounted Sturmey-Archer (in which they had a major interest) gear changes. Undoubtedly this is why E. Bowden and F. Bowden are sometimes confused today.
SCIENCE MUSEUM LADY’S CENTAUR
UNDERSIDE OF THE BOTTOM BRACKET:
UNDERSLUNG DOWN TUBE
