Show WOMEN ON WHEELS nay Arc Likely Soon to Discard Skirt While on the Road Two of tho leading firms of bicycle manufacturers in this country have recently re-cently expressed the opinion that within with-in five years there will be no i ifference between the wheels used by men and women In other words they believe the day is not far off when all women devoted to wheeling will discard skirts on the road and wear what is now usually usual-ly referred to as the rational or reformed re-formed dress They say thero is no reason rea-son ivhy women who wear costumes de signed to enhance tho comfort enjoyment enjoy-ment and safety of bicycling should mot have wheels equal in every respect to those the men ride In other words the sex of the rider wilf cut no fignre in the manufacture of bicycles and women will no longer have to put up with wheels whose model specially designed for skirt wearers is necessarily inferior to those made for men in strength lightness light-ness and ease of propulsion The courier of this new era in bicycling bi-cycling seems to have arrived A wheel is just beginning to appear in the streets of this city and Brooklyn that is intended for women though it has the diamond frame heretofore seen only in the safeties made for men In no respect does it differ from the finest high grade and high priced roadsters used by the sterner sex except that the diameter of both wheels is from two to four inches smaller than thrt of the mens machines and the frame is accordingly so much nearer the ground The wheel is mounted by the step or pedal mount in vogue among men riders and is of course intended only for those women who wear the rational dress JJ 4 It is possible that not a few women patrons of the wheel will look askance I at this innovation but if they will take I tho trouble to compare it with their own wheels they are certain to agree that it has its advantages Women are not physically so strong as mepand yet the wheals they ride weigh from five to eight pounds more then mens roadsters This is a discrimination against tho fair sex reaching the proportions of a grievance If women are not to be al wed to enjoy the exhilarating and health giving bicycle bi-cycle on equal terms with thO men they have wrongs that Miss Ar jVj j y tos pot included in her category The new wheel however weighs only 28 pounds which is two to five pounds less than most of the high grade mens roadsters of exactly the same strength of frame This is the crowning advantage and it is secured chiefly by doing away with the skirt guards which are the unsightly un-sightly and not wholly protective feature fea-ture of womens bicycles and by saving the extra weight required for the unscientific un-scientific and clumsy frames devised for riders wearing skirts Undoubtedly there are many women who much as they enjoy bicycling would rather give up their wheels than appear in costumes more comfortable and safer than those they are now wearing wear-ing Every one of them will say however how-ever that bicycling in its present phase places limitations upon their enjoyment of it that are not imposed upon their husbands and brothers It is an inter sting and an important question how to surmount the difficulties and make all Wen and women free and pqual bicyclers bi-cyclers Wo believe the solution of the problem prob-lem will be found in a sensible bicycle costume for women and we do not think that our countrywomen will be slower than their sisters in Europe to recognize tho advantages of a bicycle dress reform and to dress accordingly The young women who are perfectly certain that they would rather die than wear one of the modest and tasteful bicycle bi-cycle suits which are now seen by scores on out streets are likely before they sie married to see them so commonly in use that they will not call for special remark Awhile ago the bicycle costume cos-tume was a topic in the mouth of every resident of Paris Today the hoodlums of that capital are so ungallant as to hoot at the exceptional women whq still insist on wheeling through the parks ba ordinary street attire We predict that the new bicycle or something like it will soon be a recognized rec-ognized feature In the wheeling world New York Sun |