Paul de Vivie lays out the recipe for a practical touring bike including the requirement for many gears, all with a freewheel. It’s hard to imagine today, but there appears to have been a real discussion about the relative merits of having all your gears with a freewheel action, having a multi speed fixed set up or even having a mixture of freewheeling and fixed gears.

(Source gallica.bnf.fr/ Bibliothèque nationale de France)

• Publisher: T.C.F. Revue Mensuelle
• Country: France
• Date: January 1901
• Derailleur brands: de Vivie, Columbia, Hirondelle, Peugeot, Whippet
• Derailleurs: none