Bicycle History

Today I thought I'd give a little rundown of the development of the "people's nag." It was a winding route that finally led to the development of the safety bicycle, characterized by a low mount, equal size wheels, chain-driven rear wheel, and inflatable tires.

While it is arguably not a bicycle, the draisine was clearly an important early step in the history. The draisine was the first "velocipede," a term coined by it's inventor, the German baron Karl von Drais. The root of the word, from the latin for fast foot, highlights the fact that the draisine was actually more of a running support. He introduced the draisine in 1817, and while it garnered attention, it never really caught on. One of the biggest problems is that it didn't really go up hills very well, in fact most people had to get off and push, which kind of defeats the purpose. The fact that it was made of wood with heavy metal wheels probably made it a bitch to push.

After the draisine failed to really fulfill the requirements, people returned to the idea of a horseless carriage, which for most meant three or four wheels. The next several decades where filled with an increasingly bizarre collection of trikes and 4 wheelers. I'm not going to bother mentioning them because I just don't care.

In 1867, the first modern bicycle showed up in Paris. It was created by a carriage maker named Pierre Michaux, and was the first time pedals were attached directly to the hub of the front wheel. It was a a direct drive, what today is called a fixie. While it caught on quick, there was still a lot of public skepticism. Not to mention the cost was astronomical, a years salary for the average working man. It also had some significant problems..imagine trying to pedal and turn at the same time. Not to mention the heavy steel wheels and wooden frame would have been incredibly clunky, which is why early bicycles were called "boneshakers."


Now for the weirdest development in bikes, the "ordinary" or "penny-farthing." I never really understood why people rode bikes with such huge front wheels, but it makes sense if you think in terms of gearing. Modern bikes have larger cogs on the front crank, with a set of smaller cogs on the rear wheel. The idea was the same, by making the front wheel larger each rotation was able to produce more motion ad faster speeds. Eventually the front wheels were over 55" tall, and the saddle had moved up to keep the riders center of gravity close to the middle of the wheel. It doesn't take much to realize that a header from one of these things could do some serious damage.