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Pro bike: Major Taylor’s 1903 Peugeot track bike

Pro bike: Major Taylor's 1903 Peugeot track bike

Marshall “Major” Taylor was unquestionably the most dominant track cyclists of his era, and one of the greatest of all time.

A prolific track rider with multiple world championships and world records, Major Taylor earned his nickname as a kid performing bike stunts wearing a military uniform outside an Indianapolis bike shop. Just a few years later, still in his teens, Taylor was already a world-class bike rider but had to move to Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1895 to escape Indianapolis’ “whites only” tracks. In 1898 alone, Taylor would score 29 wins, nine seconds, and 11 third places to add to the seven world records he already owned.

Winning the World Sprint Championships in 1899 and 1900, Taylor became the first Black man to win a cycling world championship and only the second Black athlete to win any sporting world championship after boxer George Dixon won the bantamweight world title in 1892. Following those World Championships successes, Taylor went on to win 113 races and racked up another 48-second place from 1901-1903, a truly outstanding return.

The Indiana State Museum is set to open an exhibition looking at the life of the great Major Taylor (1878-1932). The “Major Taylor: Fastest Cyclist in the World” exhibition will take visitors on an exploration of the world champion and record-breaking Indianapolis native’s life and career. The US Bicycling Hall of Fame was kind enough to send over a pile of photos of one of Taylor’s bikes, specifically a track bike from 1903, which will be at the Indiana State Museum.

Taylor’s bike is a Peugeot fixed wheel track bike, with a steel frame and wooden rims with 36 spokes front and rear. Taylor was fastidious about his bike position, as such his bike was highly adjustable with quick fore and aft adjustment of both the saddle and the bars. The bike, owned by the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame, can usually be found in the organisation’s permanent collection in Davis, California. But for the next seven months, the bike is on display as part of the Major Taylor exhibition.
Riders tended to race much more in the saddle and the 17.5″ / 44cm flared bars are designed for seated control. Taylor credited his low position, unique at the time, with part of his success. Credit – US Bicycling Hall of Fame.  




The bike’s chainring looks relatively small with just 28 (skip-tooth) one-inch-teeth spaced out on the front chainring compared to tody’s mamoth chainrings…
… but paired to a nine tooth cog on the rear it is the equivalent of a 56 X 18 combination today.
The stem is adjustable in reach by sliding the bar clamp, which also rotates for height adjustment. Taylor originally raced with a similar stem using round tubes, but later moved to the angular non-slip version seen here. The adjustable stem design became known as the Major Taylor stem. Credit – US Bicycling Hall of Fame.  
Taylor raced in Europe during the first decade of the 20th century, including his hugely successful 1903 season based out of Paris, France. Note the bike in this photo features the earlier round tube adjustable stem.
“I won my races easily due in a great measure to my position on my wheel. It was distinct from that of any other rider on the track- in fact, it was my own invention which was made necessary when I adopted extension handle bars for my sprint races. I was a pioneer among the sprint riders to adopt the extension handle bars. Today the extension handle bars and the position I perfected for myself on my racing wheel, are accepted as the standard by bicycle sprinters the world over.” – Major Taylor
“On the rivet”, the saddle is largely similar to those used by riders around the world for decades to come.
Wooden rims were the norm at the turn of the century and pneumatic tyres were a relatively new introduction to track racing having only existed for a decade at this time.
Pedals and straps, technology that wouldn’t change much for another 80 years.

Taylor’s bike was donated to the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in the 1990s by Joe Côté of Worcester. Côté, who raced bicycles in New England in the 1930s, acquired a collection of Taylor’s bicycles and rode them in July Fourth Parades, telling anyone interested about Taylor’s legendary exploits. The Taylor bike remains one of the Hall of Fame’s most popular pieces at its location in Davis, California.

The exhibition opens on March 5 and runs through October 23. In the meantime, we thought we would take a look at a bike Taylor raced in Europe in the first decade of the 20th century. The bike is owned by the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame, which is lending the bike to the Indiana State Museum for the duration of the exhibition.

For more information and to book tickets for the exhibition visit IndianaMuseum.org

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