1894 Premier Model A93 with Helical Tubing

1894 Premier Model A93

with Helical Tubing & Left-Hand Chainwheel

Frame Number 89120

 

This Victorian Premier is one of the most exciting finds I’ve encountered so far, in over thirty years of the vintage vehicle hobby. It particularly fascinates me because it sports two features that made the Premier stand out from its competitors: helical tubing and left-hand chainwheel. In an age of homogenous vehicle design, I’m drawn to styles that are different.

 

 

Only a few Premier bicycles from this era have survived so, historically, this is an important machine.

 

 

I am able to positively identify this Premier as 1894 because I managed to decipher the word ’1894′ when I rubbed away the paint at the near-side top of the seat tube (below). My best guess so far for the partly readable words above ’1894′ is ‘PATENTED 1892.’

 

 

Manufacturers were eager to reduce the weight of bicycles in the formative years of bicycle development. The reward for a successful company would be a bicycle that could be more easily ridden by women – the female market was to be a major factor in the first ‘bicycle boom years’ around 1895.

 

Helical tubing was introduced by Premier in 1892. It revolutionized tube design. You can easily see the helical spirals in the photo above.

However, it’s easy to see now, in retrospect, that the first few years were experimental: the helical tubing on 1893 and 1894 Premier bicycles was too thin, and the frames were weak. The top tube of this bicycle has a large hole in it (above & below), and other parts of the top tube have pin-holes. I will need to devise a strategy for repairing this.

 

 

 

 

 

This bicycle was found with its original major components intact, missing only grips, mudguards, saddle and seat tube. The wheels are not correct, but will do for now. I’ve added handlebar grips and a saddle (and put a chain in place) for these photos. I’ll locate more appropriate parts in due course.

 

The most exciting aspect of this discovery is documenting the correct fittings and tying up the frame number with its year of manufacture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FRONT END

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HELICAL TUBING

 

PREMIER LEFT-HAND CHAINWHEEL

 

As you can see in these photos, Premier fitted the chainwheel on the left side (near-side).

 

 

In the early years of development, bicycles might have a chainwheel on either side. There was no standardization at this time.

 

 

But marque specialist Roger Armstrong explains that Premier used a left-hand chainwheel for a longer time than seems logical, up until the end of the 19th century:

‘Helical tubing was not the only Premier oddity. Before the turn of the century Premier cycles also had left-hand drive. That is to say, the chain was on the left side of the machine. This sort of eccentricity was understandable during the development phase of the safety bicycle.  Several other makers used left-hand drive prior to 1895; Sparkbrook was one. But by 1895 left-hand drive was an anachronism and by 1896 positively archaic. Having the drive on the left side of the machine leaves the rider vulnerable to soiled clothing or worse when wheeling the machine. This could be a matter of some importance in the society cycling era when the bicycle was to many a mere fashion accessory, bare ankles infra dig amongst female riders and dresses very long. This feature may also have made the make unpopular with racing cyclists who frequently need to change gearing. Interchangeable chainwheels made the Raleigh popular with racers, so it might follow that non-standard drive on a particular make would have the opposite effect.

Left-hand drive unaccountably persisted on Premier bicycles until the end of 1899 when the growing popularity of the freewheel, and the drive for standardisation in the industry seem to have prompted a change. Left-handed Micrometer freewheels were however made and are now extremely rare. The reason for hanging on to left-hand drive is difficult to fathom. Here we have a company calling itself the ‘Largest Cycle Maker in the World’ with factories not only in Coventry but also in Germany & Austria. There were depots in France, Switzerland, Australia, Finland, India, Russia and Belgium. An international company of high repute, an innovator as we have seen, patronised by royalty and winner of many design and manufacturing awards, yet they clung to an obsolete design feature for at least seven years after its time had passed. Was the company catering for a niche market in left-handed riders or had it become set in its ways? Quite possibly the company management were out of touch with their market.The directors were no longer active cyclists and this was a weakness that occurred in other cycle manufacturing companies later on. Whatever the reason, left hand drive is now one of the features that particularly appeal to me as a collector and historian, though the survival rate of pre-1900 Premiers is not high.’ *

 

PREMIER PEDALS

 

 

 

 

 

This was how it was found.

 

FRAME NUMBER UNDER BOTTOM BRACKET

 

 

TOP OF SEAT TUBE

 

 

 

REAR AXLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

*  Roger Armstrong is a bicycle collector and historian, and the marque specialist for Premier cycles. This article appeared in Boneshaker, issue 167, Spring 2005.