History of Bicycle

Various innovators contributed to the history of the bicycle by developing pioneer human-powered vehicles. The known ancestors of today's modern bicycle were known as draisines, hobby horses, or push bikes. Being the first human means of transport to make use of the two-wheeler principle, the draizine (running machine), invented by the German Baron Karl von Drais, is regarded as the forerunner of the modern bicycle. It was introduced by Drais to the public in Mannheim in summer 1817 and in Paris in 1818. Its rider sat astride a wooden frame supported by two in-line wheels and pushed the vehicle along with his/her feet while steering the front wheel.

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). Another French inventor by the name of Douglas Grasso had a failed prototype of Pierre Lallement's bicycle some years earlier. Many inventions followed using rear wheel drive, the best known being the rod-driven velocipede by Scotsman Thomas McCall in 1869. The French design, made of iron and wood, developed into the "penny-farthing" (ordinary bicycle), a retronym, since there were then no other kind. 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 very high seat and poor weight distribution.

Additional development increased comfort and ushered in a second bicycle trend, the 1890s' Golden Age of Bicycles. In 1888, Scotsman John Boyd Dunlop introduced the first practical pneumatic tire, which soon became universal. Soon after, the rear freewheel was developed, enabling the rider to coast. This modification led to the 1898 invention of coaster brakes. Derailleur gears and hand-operated cable-pull brakes were also developed during these years, but were only slowly adopted by casual riders.