| Rambler | |
| Producttype: | Bicycle |
| Country: | United States |
| Introduced: | 1878 |
| Related: | Rambler automobile |
Rambler was an American bicycle brand manufactured by the Gormully & Jeffery Manufacturing Company (G&J) in Chicago from 1878 to 1900 and subsequently by the American Bicycle Company.
The Rambler brand was created in 1878 by Thomas B. Jeffery, who co-founded G&J in Chicago with R. Philip Gormully. At the time, low prices often took precedence over quality but in manufacturing the Rambler, G&J used several more costly techniques, such as using brass-brazed joints instead of more common non-brazed welds, which improved the quality of the bicycle.
In 1897, Jeffery built his first Rambler automobile, a simple single cylinder car with bicycle wheels and a forerunner of the 1901 Rambler Model A.[1]
Jeffery sold his stake in the successful bicycle company in 1900 to the American Bicycle Company to focus on automobiles after favorable responses to his exhibition of a $900 runabout at auto shows.[2] At the time, G&J was the second-largest bicycle manufacturer in the US.[3]
The Rambler's body featured flared metal tubing for extra strength at the joints, which were brazed by immersion in molten brass. These techniques continued even after Gormully & Jeffery and Rambler became brands of the American Bicycle Company.