| Several inventors and innovators | | | | the return to smaller wheels made for a |
| contributed to the development of the | | | | bumpy ride. The next innovations |
| bicycle. Its earliest known forebears | | | | increased comfort and ushered in the |
| were called velocipedes, and included | | | | 1890s Golden Age of Bicycles. In 1888, |
| many types of human-powered vehicles. | | | | Scotsman John Boyd Dunlop introduced the |
| One of these, the scooter-like dandy | | | | pneumatic tire, which soon became |
| horse of the French Comte de Sivrac, | | | | universal. Soon after, the rear |
| dating to 1790, was long cited as the | | | | freewheel was developed, enabling the |
| earliest bicycle. Most bicycle | | | | rider to coast without the pedals |
| historians now believe that these | | | | spinning out of control. This refinement |
| hobbyhorses with no steering mechanism | | | | led to the 1898 invention of coaster |
| probably never existed, but were made up | | | | brakes. Derailleur gears and |
| by Louis Baudry de Saunier, a | | | | hand-operated, cable-pull brakes were |
| 19th-century French bicycle historian. | | | | also developed during these years, but |
| However, the term hobbyhorse was later | | | | were only slowly adopted by casual |
| applied to the first documented ancestor | | | | riders. By the turn of the century, |
| of the modern bicycle, first introduced | | | | bicycling clubs flourished on both sides |
| to the public in Paris by the German | | | | of the Atlantic, and touring and racing |
| Baron Karl Drais in 1818.[citation | | | | were soon extremely popular. |
| needed]. | | | | Successful early bicycle manufacturers |
| The ancestor of the bicycle was first | | | | included Englishman Frank Bowden and |
| created by a German Baron, Karl Drais, | | | | German builder Ignaz Schwinn. Bowden |
| who invented and patented his machine in | | | | started the Raleigh company in |
| 1817. So the first bicycle ride was from | | | | Nottingham in the 1890s, and was soon |
| his residence town Mannheim to the | | | | producing some 30,000 bicycles a year. |
| suburb Rheinau. A number of these | | | | Schwinn emigrated to the United States, |
| draisines or dandy horses still exist, | | | | where he founded his similarly |
| including one at the Paleis het Loo | | | | successful company in Chicago in 1895. |
| museum in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. | | | | Schwinn bicycles soon featured widened |
| These were pushbikes, powered by the | | | | tires and spring-cushioned, padded |
| action of the rider's feet pushing | | | | seats, sacrificing a certain amount of |
| against the ground. The Draisienne had | | | | efficiency for increased comfort. |
| two in-line wheels connected by a wooden | | | | Facilitated by connections between |
| frame. The rider sat astride and pushed | | | | European nations and their overseas |
| it along with his feet, while steering | | | | colonies, European-style bicycles were |
| the front wheel. | | | | soon available worldwide. By the |
| Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick | | | | mid-20th century, bicycles had become |
| MacMillan refined this in 1839 by adding | | | | the primary means of transportation for |
| a mechanical crank drive to the rear | | | | millions of people around the globe. |
| wheel, thus creating the first true | | | | In many western countries, the use of |
| "bicycle" in the modern sense. His | | | | bicycles levelled off or declined as |
| system employed a pair of treadle drives | | | | motorized transportation became |
| connected by rods to a rear wheel crank, | | | | affordable and car-centred policies led |
| rather like a steam locomotive's | | | | to an increasingly hostile environment |
| driveshaft. Although the design was | | | | for bicycles. In North America, bicycle |
| copied by at least two other Scottish | | | | sales declined markedly after 1905, to |
| builders, it was overtaken in popularity | | | | the point where, by the 1940s, they had |
| and influence by an inferior one. | | | | largely been relegated to the role of |
| In the 1850s and 1860s, Frenchmen Ernest | | | | children's toys. However, in other parts |
| Michaux and Pierre Lallement took | | | | of the world, such as China, India, and |
| bicycle design in a different direction, | | | | European countries such as Germany, |
| placing the pedals on an enlarged front | | | | Denmark, and the Netherlands, the |
| wheel. Their creation, which came to be | | | | traditional utility bicycle remained a |
| called the "Boneshaker", featured a | | | | mainstay of transportation; its design |
| heavy steel frame on which they mounted | | | | changed only gradually to incorporate |
| wooden wheels with iron tires. Lallement | | | | hand-operated brakes, with internal hub |
| emigrated to the United States, where he | | | | gears allowing up to seven speeds. In |
| recorded a patent on his bicycle in 1866 | | | | the Netherlands, such so-called 'granny |
| in New Haven, Connecticut. The | | | | bikes' have remained popular, and are |
| Boneshaker was further refined by | | | | again in production. In the early 1980s, |
| Englishman James Starley in the 1870s. | | | | Swedish company Itera invented a new |
| He mounted the seat more squarely over | | | | type of bicycle, made entirely out of |
| the pedals so that the rider could push | | | | plastics. The plastic bicycle was |
| more firmly, and further enlarged the | | | | however a commercial failure. |
| front wheel to increase the potential | | | | In North America, increasing |
| for speed. With tires of solid rubber, | | | | consciousness of physical fitness and |
| his machine became known as the | | | | environmental preservation spawned a |
| ordinary. British cyclists likened the | | | | renaissance of bicycling in the late |
| disparity in size of the two wheels to | | | | 1960s. Bicycle sales in the US boomed, |
| their coinage, nicknaming it the | | | | largely in the form of the racing |
| penny-farthing. The primitive bicycles | | | | bicycles, long used in such events as |
| of this generation were difficult to | | | | the hugely popular Tour de France. Sales |
| ride, and the high seat and poor weight | | | | were also helped by a number of |
| distribution made for dangerous falls. | | | | technical innovations that were new to |
| The subsequent dwarf ordinary addressed | | | | the US market, including higher |
| some of these faults by adding gearing, | | | | performance steel alloys and gearsets |
| reducing the front wheel diameter, and | | | | with an increasing number of gears. |
| setting the seat further back, with no | | | | While 10-speeds were very popular in the |
| loss of speed. Having to both pedal and | | | | 1970s, 12-speed designs were introduced |
| steer via the front wheel remained a | | | | in the 1980s, and today most bikes |
| problem. Starley's nephew, J. K. | | | | feature 18 or more speeds. By the 1980s, |
| Starley, J. H. Lawson, and Shergold | | | | these newer designs had driven the |
| solved this problem by introducing the | | | | three-speed bicycle from the roads. In |
| chain and producing rear-wheel drive. | | | | the late 1980s, the mountain bike became |
| These models were known as dwarf | | | | particularly popular, and in the 1990s |
| safeties, or safety bicycles, for their | | | | something of a major fad. These |
| lower seat height and better weight | | | | task-specific designs led many American |
| distribution. Starley's 1885 Rover is | | | | recreational cyclists to demand a more |
| usually described as the first | | | | comfortable and practical product. |
| recognizably modern bicycle. Soon, the | | | | Manufacturers responded with the hybrid |
| seat tube was added, creating the | | | | bicycle, which restored many of the |
| double-triangle, diamond frame of the | | | | features long enjoyed by riders of the |
| modern bike. | | | | time-tested European utility bikes. |
| While the Starley design was much safer, | | | | |