1890 Overman Victor Spring-fork Safety (Project)

c1890 Overman Victor Spring-fork Safety (Project)

30″ Wheel with solid tyre

This fascinating project is the front end of a Victor Springfork safety bicycle, one of the most radical cycle design features to have come out in the 1880s and 1890s. Though it was an American innovation, as you can see in my photo, William Bown also sold a version of it in England. I believe that was because Wm Bown was the world’s primary patent-holder for the use of bearings in bicycles, and the two companies did an exchange.

The springfork front end has been completely restored and is waiting to be mated with a safety bicycle rear end.