Arthur Adalbert Chase

North Road Club

"A.A. Chase of the North Road Club commenced to ride a cycle in 1887. He is of medium height and sturdy build and came to the front in 1893, when he won 13 first prizes in 14 races. At end of 1894 all the safety records on the path from 51 to 134 miles stood in his name. He has toured America, Australia and the continent."

Champion cyclist

Chase was a champion cyclist from 1896 to 1902. After retiring from the professional cycling scene, he teamed up with his brother F. W. Chase to build motorcycles. Many years after the motorcycle enterprise, he lodged a patent for an exhaust silencer.

Cycling in 1898 was not without hazard, as Arthur found out to his detriment after a five-shilling fine. Not deterred by his run-in with the law, nine months later he was suspended for road racing. He seems to have kept his nose clean for another 4 years, until getting yet another fine at Doncaster Borough Court. Even years later when Arthur had moved to Southend, he was still newsworthy for being in court.

Cycling achievements

Pacing machine

Arthur had been using pacing tandems in the past, and even rode behind an electric pacing tandem when he went up against the famous French cyclist Bouhours in Paris in 1898. The use of a fast pacer was not considered cheating at that time, and this must have motivated Arthur to have a special pacer custom-made to his design. Arthur commissioned a UK firm to build the special pacing machine at the start of 1899. The machine was a tandem, with a rear-mounted 1.75 hp deDion engine. Both riders pedalled, the front one being responsible for steering, the rear for control of the engine. This pacer was capable of 39 mph at top speed.

Tandems

Although Arthur was a champion solo cyclist, he also tried his hand at tandem racing, along with Walters who would ride up front.

Chase Brothers' Motorcycle

Arthur's brother F. W. Chase was a notable motorcycle rider of the time. Freddy started off as a works rider for the BAT motorcycle company in 1902. By 1904, F. W. was well respected for his prowess of the Westerham hill climb, where he employed a low-compression Soncin engine, and was known as one of the experts on engine timing. The brothers built contemporary motorcycles from 1903 to 1906.

There are no known examples of the Chase Brothers' motorcycles left in existence. There is however a reference to a set of photographs in the National Archives of Wales entitled 'Chase Brothers (1903) motor bike that came into the possession of J R Lloyd, Llandderfel'.

Photograph of Freddy from 8 October 1902. The article states the motorcycle employs a 2.75HP engine. FW Chase was a works rider for BAT in 1902, but BAT used a 2.5HP deDion engine. The frame in the picture does not match advertising images of the BAT cycles of the time (and is different to the 1902 BAT in the National Motor Cycle Museum). It is therefore likely that this is the Chase Brothers' prototype motorcycle with Soncin engine.

Movie

A. A. Chase appears in a movie A.A. Chase, the Champion Cyclist in 1902. IMDB entry for the Movie