Daniel Rudge (1840 – 26 June 1880) was a British engineer who built high-end

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. B ...

s and

velocipede A velocipede () is a human-powered land vehicle with one or more wheels. The most common type of velocipede today is the bicycle. The term was probably first coined by Karl von Drais in French as ''vélocipède'' for the French translation ...

s. Rudge invented the adjustable

ball bearing A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races. The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...

bicycle hub (British Patent No 526) in 1878. The French racing

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

Charles Terront, renowned for winning the first

Paris–Brest–Paris Paris–Brest–Paris (PBP) is a long-distance cycling event. It was originally a 1,200 km () bicycle race from Paris to Brest and back to Paris in 1891. The last time it was run as a race was 1951. The most recent edition of PBP was held on 18� ...

event in 1891, used Rudge's axles with much success thereby bringing world attention to Rudge. In the years before John Dunlop invented the pneumatic

tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...

, Rudge addressed the rough ride by producing a four-bladed, spring-suspended fork in 1887. Rudge Ordinary Bicycle Rev

After Rudge's death, his company was merged with ''The Tangent &

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

Tricycle Company'' to form '' D. Rudge & Co.'' which in 1894 became '' Rudge Whitworth Cycles''. By 1911, the ''

Rudge Whitworth Cycle Company Rudge Whitworth Cycles was a British bicycle, bicycle saddle, motorcycle and sports car wheel manufacturer that resulted from the merger of two bicycle manufacturers in 1894, Whitworth Cycle Co. of Birmingham, founded by Charles Henry Pug ...

'' was also manufacturing

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

s. After the company fell on hard times in the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the music company EMI bought the ''Rudge'' name. EMI produced bicycles under the Rudge name from 1935 until 1943 when they sold the name to

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

External links

glossary entry on "Whitworth"
by Sheldon Brown
Daniel Rudge by Derek Beddows
1840 births 1880 deaths British inventors Place of birth missing {{UK-cycling-bio-stub