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A bicycle, or bike, is a pedal-driven land vehicle with two wheels arranged in line. First introduced in 19th century Europe, it evolved quickly into its current design. With over one billion in the world today, bicycles provide the principal means of transportation in many regions and a popular form of recreation in others.
Main article: History of the bicycle
No specific time or person can be identified with the invention of the bicycle. Its earliest known forebears were called velocipedes, and included the scooter-like dandy horses of the French Comte de Sivrac, dating to 1790, and German tax collector Karl von Drais, who rode his 1816 machine on his rounds. All the aforementioned were literally pushbikes, in that they were powered by the action of the rider's feet against the ground. A Scottish blacksmith, Kirkpatrick MacMillan, is credited with adding a treadle drive mechanism in 1840, for the first time enabling the rider to lift his feet off the ground. MacMillan is also reported to have been the first cyclist to receive a traffic fine, after knocking over a pedestrian.
In the 1850s and 1860s, Frenchman Ernest Michaux and his pupil Pierre Lalloment placed pedals on an enlarged front wheel. Their creation, aptly called the Boneshaker, featured a heavy steel frame on which were mounted wooden wheels with iron tires. The boneshaker was further refined by James Starley in the 1870's. He mounted the seat more squarely over the pedals, so that the rider could push more firmly, and further enlarged the front wheel to increase the potential for speed. His machine became known as an ordinary. British cyclists likened the disparity in size of the two wheels to their coinage, nicknaming it the penny-farthing. This model was difficult to ride however, and the high seat and poor weight distribution made for dangerous falls.
The dwarf ordinary which followed addressed some of these faults, by reducing the front wheel diameter and setting the saddle farther back. Pedaling was accomplished by levers or off-set pedals, and gearing was added, thus compensating for speed loss. However, having to both pedal and steer via the front wheel remained a problem. Starley's nephew, J. K. Starley, J. H. Lawson, and Shergold solved this problem by introducing rear wheel drive, using a chain. Starley's 1885 Rover is usually described as the first recognisably modern bicycle. These dwarf safeties, or safety bicycles, were so-named for their lower seating hieght and better weight distibution. Soon the seat tube was added, creating the double-triangle, diamond frame of the modern bike.
While the Starley design was much safer, the return to a smaller wheels made for a bumpy ride. However, subsequent innovations increased comfort and ushered in the 1890s Golden Age of Bicycles. In 1888 Scotsman John Boyd Dunlop introduced the pneumatic tire, which soon became universal. Shortly thereafter the rear freewheel was developed, enabling the rider to coast without the pedals spinning out of control. This refinement led to the 1898 invention of coaster brakes. Derailleur gears and hand-operated, cable-pull brakesThis article lists the different types of bicycle braking systems. Early bicycles such as the high wheeled penny-farthing bikes had no brakes as we would recognize them. A rider who wanted to stop had to jump off the bike as it was moving. Unsurprisingly were also developed during these years, but were slow to be adopted by casual riders. By the turn of the century, bicycling clubs flourished on both sides of the Atlantic, and touring and racing were soon the rage.Successful early bicycle manufacturers included Englishman Frank Bowden and German builder Ignaz Schwinn. Bowden started the RaleighSee also Raleigh, North Carolina and Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh is a British bicycle manufacturer who are based in Nottingham in central England. Raleigh was founded in 1895 and soon became one of the words largest bicycle manufacturers. At its height in company in Nottingham in the 1890s, and soon was producing some 30,000 bicycles a year. Schwinn emigrated to the United States, where he founded a similarly successful company in Chicago in 1895Events January events January 5 Dreyfus Affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. February events February 14 First showing of Oscar Wilde's last play The Importance of Being Earnes. SchwinnThe Schwinn Bicycle Company was founded in Chicago in 1895 by Ignaz Schwinn, and grew to become the dominant manufacturer of American bicycles through most of the 20th century. The story of its rise illustrates many principles of sound business operations bicycles soon featured widened tires and spring-cushioned padded seats, sacrificing some efficiency for increased comfort. Facilitated by connections between European nations and their overseas colonies, European-style bicycles were soon available worldwide. With mass production and reduced prices, by the mid- 20th century19th century 20th century 21st century more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901- 2000 in the sense of the Gre bicycles had become the primary means of transportation for millions of people around the globe.
In many western countries the use of bicycles leveled off or declined as motorized forms of transport became affordable and as car-centered policies lead to an increasingly hostile road environment for bicycles. In North America, bicycle sales declined markedly after 1905Events January-April January 22 Massacre of Russian demonstrators at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, one of the triggers of the abortive Russian Revolution of 1905. January 26 The Cullinan Diamond is found near Pretoria, South Africa at the Premier, to the point where by the 1940Events January-February January 5 FM radio is demonstrated to the FCC for the first time. January 6 World War II: Mass execution of Poles, committed by Germans in the Poznan, Warthegau. January 12 World War II: Russia bombs cities in Finland. February 2 Fs, they had largely been relegated to the role of children's toys. In other parts of the world, such as ChinaThis article is on the geographic and cultural entity. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation). China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , Hanyu Pinyin: Zhongguo, Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a country in continental East Asia with some oute, India, and some European countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, the traditional utility bicycle remains a mainstay of transportation, their design only gradually changing to incorporate hand-operated brakes and the internal hub gears alowing up to 7 speeds.
In North America, increasing consciousness of physical fitness and environmental preservation spawned a renaissance of bicycling in the late 1960s. Bicycle sales in the United States boomed, largely in the form of the racing bicycles long used in such events as the hugely popular Tour de France. First these cycles, and then the mountain bikes which followed, virtually eliminated the three-speed bicycle from American roads. These specialized designs led many American recreational cyclists to demand a more comfortable and practical product. Manufacturers responded with the hybrid bicycle.
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