Quadrant suspension safety – Quadrant Tricycle Co., Birmingham, England – 1889

Quadrant suspension safety – Quadrant Tricycle Company, Birmingham, England – 1889 Model with No. 19 with a front spring-mounted wheel. It is in the original condition with the original paint and original nickel. The manufacturer’s catalogue doesn’t contain any bicycles with this spring system. The only information can be found in the magazine "Bicycling News" of 25 January 1990, in a report about the Stanley Show of 1889, where a prototype of the Quadrant front spring-mounted wheel was exhibited. It is quite probable that the bicycle exhibited in London in 1889 is the one shown in the photograph. The bicycle absorbs shocks very well and reacts rapidly to even small unevenness. But you have to ride completely straight. Any even slight movement of the handlebars or attempts to turn a corner twists the wheel rim with the tyre. The weak springs are not capable of keeping the rim in the plane of the wheel when turning a corner. Any faster ride would immediately end in a fall. An excellent example of how a prototype on paper or a drawing looks functional but cannot be used when it is made.