Cycling and Motoring Notes.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 15 April 1914, Page 4

Cycling and Motoring Notes.

__oiu I.lie Dun'iop Rubber Company ui Australasia for the week ending , April -*tli, 1914. ***** The Dunlop Rubber C'oiupauy is m receipt of a cablegram from Xew Zealand stating that Timaru Cycling Club has succeeded in covering 100 miles in connection with the Dunlop relay teams compeUtion i)L the smart time of 4hrs •'SOmins 50 2-ssecs. The fastest ten miles relay was recorded by Tozer in '-.Oniins 51 2-osecs. This performance places the Timaru team second in the competition, and robs the Xorth Suburban Club (Perth) of second place, they now falling back to third position. Another good run last week was that of the Yarram Club (Victoria) their team registering 4lirs '{Tniius lOsecs for the "century." The lending team in the test is that of the Coburg Cycling Club, their time -Ihrs 28mins 13s :>-ssees being the faslsst up to date. As the hist month of this interesting competition has now been entered upon there will be keen rivalry during (he nexi few weeks to decide which club teams arc going to win the tln-ee valuable placed prizes of £100, £50, and £20. The special prize of £10, to be awarded . the rider who establishes the fastest relay, looks like going to the West Australian crack--C. J. Senior - who leads with a record of 2f)inins ITsees, equal to 2mins -52 sees for every mile of the out and home journey of ten miles. The competition closes on April -"iOth.

Mr Arthur Wall, the inventor of tjve auto-wheel, which is now tloing so well in England, has, after some months of careful experimenting, now produced an exceedingly interesiing attachment in the form of a tiny power unit of 1 h.p. combining a two-speed and freeengine device which can he filled to any roadster bicycle in a few minutes. A very strong company has beeii formed to develop this device, and it is anticipated that something like 10,000 will be turned out in the course of iho next twelve months at a price l of £10 each. The unit complete only scales about 2(.)lbs, hence the running costs should be very low. The ratios of two-speeds are 7i to 1 and Hi to 1. The top gear is used for running along the level, and the low gear for climbing hills; down hill the machine is put into free engine, and the rider can free-wheel just as if the engin had never been fitted. The method of driving the rear wheel of the bicycle and also of attaching . the power unit is extremely simple. A ring of Ferodo, about lit ill diameter, is clipped to the nearside spokes of the rear bicycle wheel, and an underframe which is practically the backward extension of the chain stays, carries the 1 h.p. engine on the near and the petrol and oil tanks on the offside of the wheel. By means of gearing, two pairs of rollers can be engaged to grip the inner and outer surfaces of the Ferodo disc, both pairs of rollers being driven by the engine and held in contact with the ring by means of a spring AYlien one pair of rollers is gripping and driving the Ferodo ring, the other pair is out_ of action, and when this second pair is ; i cng-ig?-*\K-nt the first is, of eou" so, in >,i erative. When neither is in action a free-engine position is obtained by means of suitable gearing one pair of pulleys drive thehigh gear and another the low, the transmission for both being enclosed in extremely neat aluminium cases. As tlie device is not yet patented in countries full details of this interesting , invention are not yet available. In the meantime an experimental model has been produced, and very satisfactory results have been obtained on the road with it.