Dan Albone
| Dan Albone | |
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Dan Albone in 1905
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| Born |
12 September 1860 Biggleswade, Bedfordshire |
| Died | 30 October 1906 (aged 46) |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Inventing the light farm tractor and the Ivel Safety bicycle. |
Daniel Albone (12 September 1860 – 30 October 1906) was an English inventor, manufacturer and cyclist. He invented the first successful light farm tractor, and the Ivel Safety bicycle.
Born 12 September 1860 at Biggleswade, Bedfordshire to Edward and Edith Albone. The youngest of eight children, they lived at the Ongley Arms inn, between the Great North Road and the River Ivel. For his ninth birthday he received a Boneshaker bicycle, and so began his long association with cycling. By the age of 13, he had designed and built his own bicycle, complete with suspension, and was winning local races. On leaving school, he undertook an apprenticeship with a Biggleswade firm of millwrights and engineers, Thomas Course & Son of Hitchin Street.
Albone won over 180 cycling prizes, including winner of the:
In 1885 he was a founder member of the North Road Cycling Club, dedicated to cycle racing. It attracted other national cycling champions, such as George Pilkington Mills and Monty Holbein.
At the age of 20 he founded the Ivel Cycle Works in the yard of the Ongley Arms, making bicycles for himself and his fellow sports cyclists. His first products were the Ivel Light Roadster and the Ivel Racer. In 1882 he introduced the Ivel Tricycle, and in 1884, in collaboration with Laurence Huber the Ivel Automatic Steerer tricycle.
In 1885 John Kemp Starley exhibited his Rover Safety bicycle at the Stanley show. Albone copied this idea, and combined it with the Hillman, Herbert and Cooper cross frame design to produce the Ivel Safety cycle, in April 1886. This became very popular with sports cyclists. On 5 October 1886 George Pilkington Mills, on an Ivel Safety, achieved a world record 24-hour distance of 294.5 miles (474.0 km).
Albone went on to invent a tandem safety bicycle with Arthur James Wilson, cycle pump clamps with Richard Tingey, and a child carrier accessory for his cycles. By 1893 a general downturn in the economy had put many cycle manufacturers out of business, and Albone put the Ivel Cycle Works into voluntary liquidation.
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