Product Description
La Chaine Simpson
TITLE: La Chaine Simpson
ARTIST: Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec
CIRCA: 1896
ORIGIN: France
Fine art giclee print on heavy acid free archival paper using 100+ year fade resistant inks.
POSTER SIZING: The three smaller size posters are printed to the exact size and will fit readily available standard sized frames. The larger sizes have the first dimension exact (31 in. x ZZ in.) (38 in. x ZZ in.). The second dimension (ZZ) may be longer or shorter depending on the proportion of the original poster.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec poster from the 1896, Constant Huret riding with a Simpson chain behind the Gladiator tandem pacer at the Velodrome de la Seine.
The Simpson Chain or Simpson Lever Chain was an English-made bicycle chain invented by William Spears Simpson in 1895. The design departed from the standard roller bicycle chain: it was composed of linked triangles forming two levels. The inner level was driven by the chainring and the outer drove the rear cog. Instead of teeth, the chainring and cog had grooves into which the rollers of the chain engaged.
Simpson made claims, widely discredited, that the levers of this chain provided a mechanical advantage that could amplify energy produced by the cyclist. Simpson hired top cyclists such as Constant Huret (depicted in Toulouse-Lautrec's poster) and Tom Linton (of Paris-Bordeaux fame), and the Gladiator Pacing Team from France to race for high stakes in England for the Chain Matches. His teams were largely successful.
