William Henry James Grout (1839–1915) was a pioneering inventor and manufacturer of bicycles. He patented the Grout Tension Bicycle in 1870 which introduced several innovations including hollow forks to save weight, rubber tyres for a better ride and adjustable spoke

Spoke

A spoke is one of some number of rods radiating from the center of a wheel , connecting the hub with the round traction surface....

s which could be tensioned to align the wheel. He also devised a portable

Portable bicycle

A portable bicycle is a bicycle that has been designed to be small and light enough for easy carrying. It is usually dismantled to make a convenient bundle and the frame often has a folding action to facilitate this. The design of a portable bicycle involves a trade-off between easy of carrying...

 version of the penny-farthing

Penny-farthing

Penny-farthing, high wheel, high wheeler, and ordinary are all terms used to describe a type of bicycle with a large front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel that was popular after the boneshaker, until the development of the safety bicycle, in the 1880s...

, whose front wheel could be dismantled into four sections for carrying.