If You're Under 50, You've Probably Never Heard Of It. Why?

Unless you are, um, of a certain age, you've probably never heard of this bike brand.  If you are familiar with the name, you probably know it from another field of endeavor, to which the early history of bicycling is more closely connected than most people might expect.    It also was one of the pioneers in  one of the major technological changes that has transformed bicycles, especially the ones ridden in the peloton.


I have never owned or used a gun, but I would guess that anybody who has would know about the company started in Connecticut by Swedish immigrant Oscar F. Mossberg, who previously worked for bicycle manufacturer Iver-Johnson.  By the time he got his operation going, in 1919, bicycle sales, particularly to adults, were fading.  That is probably the reason he turned his attentions to revolvers and such.

Very little information is available about the bikes.  It seems that some time in the 1950s or '60's, kids' bikes, especially of the "muscle" variety, were being sold under the Mossberg name in department stores.  Like most bikes sold in such outlets at the time, they were made by American manufacturers like AMF and Huffy, but not Schwinn.  Another thing they had in common with such bikes is that they were heavy, with the frames and all of their parts--including one-piece craks--made of mild steel.

Their foray into the adult bicycle market began, not suprisingly, around 1970, early in the Bike Boom .  At first, Mossberg ten-speeds were made by the companies I've mentioned and gradually found their way into bike shops. Later, the company offered lighter Japanese bikes much like other entry- to mid-level ten speeds of the time. Those bikes featured   SunTour and Shimano derailleurs and swaged cotterless cranksets from Sugino, SR and Takagi on carbon steel, or straight gauge Chromoly, frames. 

Mossberg carbon bikes.  From the Fairwheels Bikes site.

In 1972, Mossberg building experimental carbon frames.  One of those would, I imagine, be very collectible, as the special facility built to make it burned down only a year or so into production.  Perhaps the most interesting feature of the company's track frame was adopted by a few bike makers, such as GT, for at least some models:  a third set of rear stays, in addition to the seat and chain stays.  Given the state of carbon bikes at that time, I imagine that those stays would have been necessary to strengthen and stiffen the bikes.

From what little I could find, I surmised that Mossberg ended their venture in the bike business some time around 1980.  Around that time, production of other early carbon fiber frames such as the Graftek also ceased. The then still-primitive state of carbon fiber technology and techniques for using it led to failure of many frames built with the material; bike-builders and manufacturers would not re-discover the material for another decade or so.

Although its presence in the bicycle world was short-lived, it's puzzling that Mossberg bicycles aren't better-known, given the history (however checkered) I've described as well its connection to one of the world's leading firearms manufacturers.

Flying To The Mountain

I know this hasn't much to do with cycling:  the destination and winter haven of  monarch butterflies.

So why am I writing about it?  Well, for one thing, I suppose most of you like the orange-and-black creatures.  Also, one of the most unforgettable sights I encountered on a bike ride was a flock of them lifting off one early fall afternoon at Point Lookout.  If you've ever seen them take off, you know they truly deserve their name.

Forty-one years ago today, western researchers found the "Mountain of Butterflies" in Mexico.  Five years later, it officially became the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.  The site encompasses 56,000 hectares; however, the butterflies--over a billion of them, by some estimate, live on less than five (yes, five, not 5000) of those hectares.

In the language of the local Purepucha people, the name of the Monarch means, "harvest butterfly" because it always arrived when they harvested maize, which was to their diet as rice is in much of Asia.  When Spaniards arrived early in the 16th Century, they noticed that the butterfly and harvest came around El Dia de los Murtes (Day of the Dead) in late October, so the Monarch came to be associated with that day's festival.

Google "doodle" commemorating the discovery of the "Mountain of Butterlies"

The Monarch is always on a journey.  So are we.  I think the luckiest of us are privileged to make significant parts of ours on our bicycles.

The Dangers We Face In Cities

A common misperception about cycling, especially in cities, is that the hazards cyclists face are self-inflicted.  Some media outlets, such as Faux, I mean Fox, News and the New York Post depict us as surly scofflaws who had it "coming to us" when one of us is injured or killed by a driver who was texting.

According this infographic from Chicago Bicycle Injury Lawyers, the truth is quite a bit different:

 

Firefighter Bicycle

There's a good chance you've seen a police officer patrolling his or her beat on a bicycle.  It's a common sight on college campuses as well as in dense urban areas with heavy traffic.  Bicycles can be ridden between buildings, down alleyways and in all sorts of venues too narrow for cars.  Even when few adults were cycling here in the US, constables on two wheels were not an unusual, if not a common, sight.

There is also a long history of postal delivery on bicycles, mainly for the same reasons officers patrol from the saddle.  Mail carriers on bikes aren't as common as cops pedaling on patrol, at least here in the US, but I understand they still pedal through "rain, snow, sleet and hail" in a few places.  And they are still pretty common in some other countries.

Speaking of history:  I've written a few posts about how bicycles have been used in the military.  As commenter Reese Matthews pointed out, bikes aren't particularly good fighting platforms.  In some situations, however, they are good for transport and reconnaissance, especially in terrain in which motor vehicles can't be used.  And, interestingly, the Vietnamese didn't actually ride their bicycles; rather, they used their two-wheelers "as pack animals" to transport equipment and other goods.

I mention all of these facts because of something I came across:

This firefighter bicycle was made by the Birmingham Small Arms Company in the early part of the 20th Century.  Naturally, the hose caught my eye.    The bike also had special accomodations for an axe and a siren.  And look at that headlight!

While it looks distinctive, I don't know how anybody rode it, especially with the "hump" in the top tube--not to mention what the bike must have weighed!  It's easy to see why bicycles have never had as much of a role in firefighting as they have had in conducting wars, patrolling streets and campuses and delivering mail.  Then again, the bicycle contributes to firefighting in a different way:  Many firefighters ride to keep themselves in shape--especially if they have injuries that prevent them from running--or simply for pleasure.  In particular, I have met many firefighters on charity rides, or other kinds of organized rides. 

They serve. And the bicycle helps them.

A Lot Of Good It Did...

Most of us, if we're working for anyone (or any entity) besides ourselves, are evaluated on our performance.  We're rated on a number of factors, some of which vary from job to job.  There are, however, other factors that seem to be more or less universal in personnel evaluations, such as knowledge, efficiency, communications skills and professionalism.

Another such trait is "effectiveness".  Some have tried to measure it, mainly without success.  For example, since No Child Left Behind began in the early "aughts", students' test scores have been used to determine which teachers are effective.  But things aren't that simple:  a bad teacher almost certainly won't get good results, but sometimes a very good teacher can't overcome other things in a child's life that might impair his or her performance.  On the other hand,  in some occupations, effectiveness is easy to see:  folks like salespeople bring in money, mechanics and plumbers fix things that stay fixed and others meet, or help to meet goals. 

I think that effectiveness is easier to see in things:  Effective things do, well, what they're designed to do.  A derailleur that gives quick and precise shifts is effective; so is a brake that stops quickly or gradually, as needed, with a minimum of fuss.

It's also easy to see ineffectiveness, as I saw while riding across the RFK Memorial Bridge today:

Graffiti is a crime?  Someone obviously didn't get the message.