History: History of The Bicycle

A bicycle, also called a bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered, pedal-driven, single-
track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A bicycle rider is called
a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bicycles were introduced in the 19th century in Europe, and by the early 21st century, more than 1
billion were in existence at a given time.[1][2][3] These numbers far exceed the number of cars, both in
total and ranked by the number of individual models produced.[4][5][6] They are the principal means of
transportation in many regions. They also provide a popular form of recreation, and have been
adapted for use as children's toys, general fitness, military and police applications, courier
services, bicycle racing, and bicycle stunts.
The basic shape and configuration of a typical upright or "safety bicycle", has changed little since the
first chain-driven model was developed around 1885.[7][8][9] However, many details have been
improved, especially since the advent of modern materials and computer-aided design. These have
allowed for a proliferation of specialized designs for many types of cycling.
The bicycle's invention has had an enormous effect on society, both in terms of culture and of
advancing modern industrial methods. Several components that eventually played a key role in the
development of the automobile were initially invented for use in the bicycle, including ball
bearings, pneumatic tires, chain-driven sprockets and tension-spoked wheels.[10]
History
Main article: History of the bicycle
Wooden draisine (around 1820), the first two-wheeler and as such the archetype of the bicycle
The "dandy horse", also called Draisienne or Laufmaschine, was the first human means of transport
to use only two wheels in tandem and was invented by the German Baron Karl von Drais. It is
regarded as the first bicycle, but it did not have pedals;[18][19][20][21] Drais introduced it to the public
in Mannheim in 1817 and in Paris in 1818.[22][23] Its rider sat astride a wooden frame supported by two
in-line wheels and pushed the vehicle along with his or her feet while steering the front wheel.[22]
Michaux's son on a velocipede 1868
The first mechanically-propelled, two-wheeled vehicle may have been built by Kirkpatrick MacMillan,
a Scottish blacksmith, in 1839, although the claim is often disputed.[24] He is also associated with the
first recorded instance of a cycling traffic offense, when a Glasgow newspaper in 1842 reported an
accident in which an anonymous "gentleman from Dumfries-shire... bestride a velocipede... of
ingenious design" knocked over a little girl in Glasgow and was fined five shillings.[25]
In the early 1860s, Frenchmen Pierre Michaux and Pierre Lallement took bicycle design in a new
direction by adding a mechanical crank drive with pedals on an enlarged front wheel
(the velocipede). This was the first in mass production. Another French inventor named Douglas
Grasso had a failed prototype of Pierre Lallement's bicycle several years earlier. Several inventions
followed using rear-wheel drive, the best known being the rod-driven velocipede by
Scotsman Thomas McCall in 1869. In that same year, bicycle wheels with wire spokes were
patented by Eugène Meyer of Paris.[26] The French vélocipède, made of iron and wood, developed
into the "penny-farthing" (historically known as an "ordinary bicycle", a retronym, since there was
then no other kind).[27] It featured a tubular steel frame on which were mounted wire-spoked wheels
with solid rubber tires. These bicycles were difficult to ride due to their high seat and poor weight
distribution. In 1868 Rowley Turner, a sales agent of the Coventry Sewing Machine Company (which
soon became the Coventry Machinists Company), brought a Michaux cycle to Coventry, England.
His uncle, Josiah Turner, and business partner James Starley, used this as a basis for the 'Coventry
Model' in what became Britain's first cycle factory.[28]
1886 Rover safety bicycle at the British Motor Museum. The first modern bicycle, it featured a rear-wheel-
drive, chain-driven cycle with two similar-sized wheels. Dunlop's pneumatic tire was added to the bicycle in
1888.
The dwarf ordinary addressed some of these faults by reducing the front wheel diameter and setting
the seat further back. This, in turn, required gearing—effected in a variety of ways—to efficiently use
pedal power. Having to both pedal and steer via the front wheel remained a problem.
Englishman J.K. Starley (nephew of James Starley), J.H. Lawson, and Shergold solved this problem
by introducing the chain drive (originated by the unsuccessful "bicyclette" of Englishman Henry
Lawson),[29] connecting the frame-mounted cranks to the rear wheel. These models were known
as safety bicycles, dwarf safeties, or upright bicycles for their lower seat height and better weight
distribution, although without pneumatic tires the ride of the smaller-wheeled bicycle would be much
rougher than that of the larger-wheeled variety. Starley's 1885 Rover, manufactured in Coventry[30] is
usually described as the first recognizably modern bicycle.[31] Soon the seat tube was added, creating
the modern bike's double-triangle diamond frame.
John Boyd Dunlop on a bicycle c. 1915

Further innovations increased comfort and ushered in a second bicycle craze, the 1890s Golden
Age of Bicycles. In 1888, Scotsman John Boyd Dunlop introduced the first practical pneumatic tire,
which soon became universal. Willie Hume demonstrated the supremacy of Dunlop's tyres in 1889,
winning the tyre's first-ever races in Ireland and then England.[32][33] Soon after, the rear freewheel was
developed, enabling the rider to coast. This refinement led to the 1890s invention[34] of coaster
brakes. Dérailleur gears and hand-operated Bowden cable-pull brakes were also developed during
these years, but were only slowly adopted by casual riders.
The Svea Velocipede with vertical pedal arrangement and locking hubs was introduced in 1892 by
the Swedish engineers Fredrik Ljungström and Birger Ljungström. It attracted attention at the World
Fair and was produced in a few thousand units.
Cyclists' Touring Club sign on display at the National Museum of Scotland
In the 1870s many cycling clubs flourished. They were popular in a time when there were not cars
on the market and the principal mode of transportation was horse-drawn vehicles, such the horse
and buggy or the horsecar. Among the earliest clubs was The Bicycle Touring Club, which has
operated since 1878. By the turn of the century, cycling clubs flourished on both sides of the Atlantic,
and touring and racing became widely popular. The Raleigh Bicycle Company was founded in
Nottingham, England in 1888. It became the biggest bicycle manufacturing company in the world,
making over two million bikes per year.[35]
Bicycles and horse buggies were the two mainstays of private transportation just prior to the
automobile, and the grading of smooth roads in the late 19th century was stimulated by the
widespread advertising, production, and use of these devices.[9] More than 1 billion bicycles have
been manufactured worldwide as of the early 21st century.[1][2][3] Bicycles are the most common
vehicle of any kind in the world, and the most numerous model of any kind of vehicle, whether
human-powered or motor vehicle, is the Chinese Flying Pigeon, with numbers exceeding 500 million.
[1]
The next most numerous vehicle, the Honda Super Cub motorcycle, has more than 60 million units
made, while most produced car, the Toyota Corolla, has reached 35 million and counting.[4][5][6][36]

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A bicycle, also called a bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered, pedal-driven, single-

John Boyd Dunlop on a bicycle c. 1915

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