Spoke patterns

Excluding odd exceptions, wooden spoked wheels are spoked radially, with no spoke crossover. And – again with odd exceptions – this practice continued of radially spoked wooden wheels with wooden spokes for early cycle-like machines (hobby horses/ velocipedes etc).

Often, motorcycle club quiz questioners ask: ‘Who was the first…?’ type questions. Thus, in this vein ‘Who ran the first two-wheel rider training school?’ In 1818, Londoner Denis Johnson took out a patent for his velocipede, on which the rider sat astride to paddle or run along the road for propulsion. This design was similar to the slightly earlier Laufmaschine (running machine) patented a year earlier by Karl von Drais.

Another of Johnson’s claims to fame is he ran what was probably the first velocipede riding school in the UK, and likely the world.

The practice of all wooden, radially spoked wheels for cycles, velocipedes, tricycles and quadricycles continued into the development of rider powered, often by pedals and/ or levers fixed to a wheel or two wheels, such as the Michaux boneshakers and others of this type, and a raft of quads.