In 1878 James Carver from Nottingham introduced a bicycle with hollow spokes. At first the spokes were quite thick, but in later years it became gauge 12, which is a quite normal size. Comments of the time were full of compliments about the strength and light weight of these hollow spokes.
On the website of Robert Sterba are pictures of a mid-1880's model, and some additional information.
Click one of the pictures for a link to this very, very special roadster:
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