Evolution of a Bicycle

Ever wondered the history of the bike? Where it came from, why it's here? What the early bikes looked liked? How they evolved?

If you read on, you can find out and take a short history lesson too!Let's have a short history lesson here.

Bikes-

In 1817, Baron von Drais made a 2 wheel bike like machine without pedals. This machine was propelled by your feet pushing on the ground like a scooter. It was called the Draisienne. It was also made entirely out of wood. It did not last long as it could only be used on well maintained roads. This "walking machine" lead to the making of what we now know as the bicycle.

In 1865, pedals were added and were installed on the front wheel, like a little kid's tricycle. This early form of the bicycle was nicknamed the Bone Shaker. It's real name was the Velocipede(fast foot). It was nicknamed the Bone Shaker because it was made from wood. Later on it had metal "tires".
This again was a fad, and was used in indoor riding areas. Similar to an ice rink, but for the Velocipedes those rinks were only found in big cities.


1870 was when the first all metal bicycle appeared. They also had pedals attached to the front wheel. They had rubber tires on them, compared to the other ones which did not. The rubber tires and the long spokes helped make it a much more smoother ride then the previous bikes. Due to the big front wheel, you could travel longer distances with 1 pedal stroke. The longer your legs, the larger front wheel you could have. This was the first one to actually be called a bicycle. These bikes where easy to fall off
though. The rider sat high above the center of gravity, so a pebble or pot hole could make the rider fall. Usually these bikes had a 56 inch front wheel. The rear wheel including the tire was 18 inches. The front wheel took 60 spokes and the rear one took 20. This bike usually weighed 60 pounds, give or take. These bikes were expensive! (they cost about half a year's salary)


For women, or "higher class" men there was another form of these, the tricycle. Later on, the High Wheel bicycle began to get redesigned. They flipped it around so that the the small wheel was the front wheel. With that, it became safer.

Metallurgy began improving too, so therefore the bike got another overhaul and was redesigned. They went to the Bone Shaker bike style, and now had 2 same sized wheels. With that, the metal was also strong enough to make a sprocket and chain that a human could power. These still had the hard rubber and longer shock absorbing spokes that the high wheel bike did. They were also less comfortable to ride than the high wheel bike.

Some of these even had front or rear suspension! We are taking about 100 years ago! These new bikes where nicked named "Safety" because they were a lot safer then the High Wheel bike. Still the High Wheel and this where competing against each other. It was either be safer with the "Safety" or a more comfortable ride with the High Wheel bike.

This next bike though led the High Wheel bike to its death.
It started off when a young inventor named "Dunlop" put pneumatic tires on his son's tricycle for a more comfortable/better ride. With that, the frame got a better design. It looked more like today's hard tails and road bikes. These bikes offered more comfort and safety for a better price due to improvements in manufacturing. Everyone was starting to want/get a bike. Keep in mind, all this stuff was happening in the the 1880-1890's.

Also with these improvements more ladies started to ride bikes instead of trykes. They could still wear their lady-like clothing and be proper for the era. Biking was so popular in the late 1800's that there was a group called League of American Wheelman. It was created for getting better roads and stuff for cycling. That group is still around today. It is known as the League of American Bicyclists.

After WW1 the main bike manufactures (Mead, Sears Roebuck, and Montgomery Ward) started to make bikes that
more appealed to kids. They featured an automobile and motorcycle look that would appeal to the kids.
Those "kids" bikes looked like our Cruiser bikes today.

From than, bikes just started to get more and more like what we ride today. I would add in a whole bmx and mountain bike history, but that is a whole different blog. Bikes have changed and improved so much over the past 100+ years. Just look at where we started and where we are now. Imagine where we will be in a 100 years. Heck, even 50! What/how do you think bikes will change and improve in the next 50-100 years? Keep that question in the back of your head.

~Ryan/Dotca