History of
the Bicycle
Take a look at the Cervelo S3. This bike was
used by Frank and Andy
Schleck at the Bejing Olympics. The S3 is
Cervelo's most aerodynamic road frame.
The frame weighs 990g for the standard
version..
Now have a look at the bikes from the past, I
cannot see Bjarne
Riis ordering any of these for the team
next season.
| The Walking
Machine |
 |
| In 1817
Baron von Drais invented a walking machine
that would help him get around the royal
gardens faster: two same-size in-line wheels,
the front one steerable, mounted in a frame
which you straddled. The device was propelled
by pushing your feet against the ground, thus
rolling yourself and the device forward in a
sort of gliding walk. The machine became
known as the Draisienne or hobby horse. It
was made entirely of wood. This enjoyed a
short lived popularity as a fad, not being
practical for transportation in any other
place than a well maintained pathway such as
in a park or garden. |
| The Velocipede
(Boneshaker) |
 |
| The
next appearance of a two-wheeled riding
machine was in 1865, when pedals were applied
directly to the front wheel. This machine was
known as the velocipede ("fast foot"), but
was popularly known as the bone shaker, since
it was also made entirely of wood, then later
with metal tires, and the combination of
these with the cobblestone roads of the day
made for an extremely uncomfortable ride.
They also became a fad, and indoor riding
academies, similar to roller rinks, could be
found in large cities. |
| The High Wheel
Bicycle |
|
|
In 1870 the first all metal
machine appeared. (Previous to this metallurgy
was not advanced enough to provide metal which
was strong enough to make small, light parts
out of.) The pedals were still attached
directly to the front wheel with no
freewheeling mechanism. Solid rubber tires and
the long spokes of the large front wheel
provided a much smoother ride than its
predecessor. The front wheels became larger and
larger as makers realized that the larger the
wheel, the farther you could travel with one
rotation of the pedals. You would purchase a
wheel as large as your leg length would allow.
This machine was the first one to be called a
bicycle ("two wheel"). These bicycles enjoyed a
great popularity among young men of means (they
cost an average worker six month's pay), with
the hey-day being the decade of the
1880s.
Because the rider sat so high
above the center of gravity, if the front wheel
was stopped by a stone or rut in the road, or
the sudden emergence of a dog, the entire
apparatus rotated forward on its front axle,
and the rider, with his legs trapped under the
handlebars, was dropped unceremoniously on his
head. Thus the term "taking a header" came into
being.
|
| The High Wheel
Tricycle |
 |
| While the men
were risking their necks on the high wheels,
ladies, confined to their long skirts and
corsets, could take a spin around the park on
an adult tricycle. These machines also afforded
more dignity to gentlemen such as doctors and
clergymen. Many mechanical innovations now
associated with the automobile were originally
invented for tricycles. Rack and pinion
steering, the differential, and band brakes, to
name a few! |
|
The High Wheel
Safety
|
 |
| Improvements
to the design began to be seen, many with the
small wheel in the front to eliminate the
tipping-forward problem. One model was
promoted by its manufacturer by being ridden
down the front steps of the capitol building
in Washington, DC. These designs became known
as high-wheel safety bicycles. Since the
older high-wheel designs had been known
simply as bicycles, they were now referred to
as "ordinary bicycles" in comparison with the
new-fangled designs, and then simply as
"ordinaries." |
| The Pnuematic-Tired
Safety |
 |
The pnuematic tire
was first applied to the bicycle by an Irish
veterinarian who was trying to give his young son a
more comfortable ride on his tricycle. This
inventive young doctor's name was Dunlop. Sound
familar? Now that comfort and safety could be had
in the same package, and that package was getting
cheaper as manufacturing methods improved, everyone
clamored to ride the bicycle. This 1898 Yale uses a
shaft drive to dispense with the dirty
chain.
It was a practical
investment for the working man as transportation,
and gave him a much greater flexibility for
leisure. Ladies could ride a much more versatile
machine and still keep their legs covered with long
skirts. The bicycle craze killed the bustle and the
corset, instituted "common-sense dressing" for
women and increased their mobility considerably. In
1896 Susan B. Anthony said that "the bicycle has
done more for the emancipation of women than
anything else in the world." |
Bicycling was so
popular in the 1880s and 1890s that cyclists formed
the League of American Wheelman (still in existence
and now called the League of American Bicyclists).
The League lobbied for better roads, literally
paving the road for the
automobile. |
| The Kid's
Bike |
|
| Introduced
just after the First World War by several
manufacturers, such as Mead, Sears Roebuck,
and Montgomery Ward, to revitalize the bike
industry (Schwinn made its big splash
slightly later), these designs, now called
"classic", featured automobile and motorcyle
elements to appeal to kids who, presumably,
would rather have a motor. If ever a bike
needed a motor, this was it. These bikes
evolved into the most glamorous, fabulous,
ostentatious, heavy designs ever. It is
unbelievable today that 14-year-old kids
could do the tricks that we did on these 65
pound machines! They were built into the
middle '50s, by which time they had taken on
design elements of jet aircraft and even
rockets. By the '60s, they were becoming
leaner and simpler. |
 |
Check out - Click on
the link below..
http://www.pedalinghistory.com/PHhistory.html
|
