Edmund Hugh Hodgkinson

Edmund Hugh Hodgkinson was a British bicycle inventor who in 1896 patented the Gradient three-speed gear changing system, one of the very earliest proposals for a derailleur. The patent application in 1896 (patent 1570), described a system in which For the purpose of altering the speed of the gearing two or more pinions of different sizes are provided and arrangements made for shifting the driving chain from pinion to pinion. ("pinion" = "sprocket" in modern terms) The Gradient system based on these ideas was introduced commercially in 1900.

Edmund Hugh Hodgkinson

Edmund Hugh Hodgkinson was a British bicycle inventor who in 1896 patented the Gradient three-speed gear changing system, one of the very earliest proposals for a derailleur. The patent application in 1896 (patent 1570), described a system in which For the purpose of altering the speed of the gearing two or more pinions of different sizes are provided and arrangements made for shifting the driving chain from pinion to pinion. ("pinion" = "sprocket" in modern terms) The Gradient system based on these ideas was introduced commercially in 1900.