William Henry James Grout (1839–1915) was a pioneering inventor and manufacturer of bicycles.
Grout grew up in Hackney and established the Tension Bicycle company in Stoke Newington.[1] He patented the Grout Tension Bicycle in 1870 which introduced several innovations including hollow forks to save weight, rubber tyres for a better ride and adjustable spokes which could be tensioned to align the wheel.[2] He also devised a portable version of a Ordinary bicycle penny-farthing, whose front wheel could be dismantled into four sections for carrying.[3]
References edit
- ^ "W. H. J. Grout", Grace's Guide to British Industrial History, 2012
- ^ Wiebe E. Bijker (1997), Of bicycles, bakelites, and bulbs, MIT Press, p. 35, ISBN 978-0-262-52227-4
- ^ Herlihy, David V. (2006), "Portable Bicycles", Bicycle: The History, Yale University Press, p. 314, ISBN 978-0-300-12047-9
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