Massey-Harris Model 6

This Massey Harris Model 6 features all the elements of the Safety Bicycle as it matured in the later 1890's.

The bicycle had two wheels of the same size, direct front steering and a straight seat tube to complete the diamond frame. It was very light, and its pneumatic tires offered a pleasant, vibration-free ride.

But there’s a twist. The Model 6 featured an enclosed shaft drive. You pedalled the cranks just as you would any would any other Safety, but the cranks turned a bevel gear instead of chain. The gear turned a shaft that turned more bevel gears at the rear hub, and this drove your wheel.

Designers thought a shaft drive might be cleaner and more efficient than a chain. As was the case with so many aspects of the Safety Bicycle, the balance of trade-offs between cost, performance and maintenance ultimately lay with the chain drive and not the drive shaft.