| Do you remember that first bike. I surely do, I had | | | | to me, but the new faster, lighter cycle was born |
| wheels, I was mobile, I could go anywhere and did. | | | | Now a safer way to cycle |
| Transportation was cool. I am sure many of you have | | | | During the later part of the 1870's the high wheel bike |
| fond memories of your first bicycle. The first ride was | | | | was instrumental in creating a new cycling craze. The |
| an adventure and great fun. | | | | drawback to this was many people could not ride |
| On this page I want to bring you a little history of the | | | | these tall and hard to ride machines. |
| vintage bicycle. The bicycle has come along way from | | | | Manufacturers looked to a safer design, and the |
| a few boards with wheels attached to the mechanical | | | | tricycle was the answer. James Starley was one of |
| marvel of today. | | | | the first tricycle designers with his lever operated trike |
| The first bicycle had two wheels and no pedals. | | | | of 1876 and the following year saw his design of the |
| Known as the Draisienne or Hobbyhorse this machine | | | | continuous chain on the Coventry Rotary. |
| was presented to the public in Paris France in 1819. | | | | Over 350 models of these machines were available to |
| Designed by Baron von Drais, this bicycle was simply a | | | | the British public with a large variety of steering and |
| wooden frame with two wheels which the rider sat on | | | | brake systems along with other special features such |
| and pushed along with his feet while steering the front | | | | as an improved transmission system. |
| wheel with a handle bar. The hobbyhorse was | | | | All of these improvements added to the popularity of |
| duplicated by builders in many countries around the | | | | cycling in general and made the machines much safer |
| world. Some of the best were produced in England by | | | | for the public to use |
| Denis Johnson and were knows as the velocipede. | | | | High wheel design modified for safety. |
| Compared to early models these machines were | | | | While making tricycles, bicycle builders were also |
| better built and much lighter. Because of poor roads | | | | working with the two wheel design to improve safety. |
| and hard wheels these bicycles were a punishing ride | | | | Lowering the center of gravity was one way used to |
| and the hobbyhorse lost favor with the public during | | | | reach their goal. By moving the rider behind the front |
| the 1820's | | | | wheel and adding pedals with levers, the rider was |
| At last a better way to make it go. | | | | closer to the ground while still being able to reach the |
| 1860- A better way to make it go. Before 1860 many | | | | pedals of the still large front wheel. |
| people thought a rider could not keep their balance | | | | This design along with the tricycles served the market |
| very far not having their feet on the ground. This idea | | | | well until the mid 1880's. Again a new design arrives |
| was proven wrong by many new builders of bicycles. | | | | with many improvements. From the British this time a |
| The addition of pedals to provide forward motion was | | | | design which moved the rider even farther back and |
| the answer to make it go and it was found that a rider | | | | lower to the ground. This was done by reducing the |
| could balance and steer the machines quite well. | | | | size of the front wheel. They used a gear and chain |
| These changes to the velocipede brought new interest | | | | system which turned the wheel faster than the pedals |
| to cycling world wide, however the interest did not last | | | | to compensate for the reduced size of the driven |
| as these bicycles were much to heavy, hard to steer | | | | wheel. The bicycle known as the Kangaroo by Hillman, |
| and slow. The pedals only allowed one revolution of | | | | Herbert and Cooper led many builders to adopt their |
| the drive wheel.This design did however give a base | | | | own version of this design |
| for development in the coming years | | | | The Modern Bicycle Arrives |
| Lighter and Faster | | | | Builders continued improving on the designs of the |
| In Britain, as popularity of the velocipede fell off, the | | | | 1850's to bring a safer more comfortable bicycle to |
| search went on for a lighter and faster bicycle. The | | | | market. These improvements became known as the |
| search was led by the cycling sportsmen, cycling clubs | | | | safety bicycle, featuring a lower and longer profile with |
| and the growing bicycle manufacturing industry. | | | | a chain-drive to the rear wheel. This design with both |
| British bicycle builders, by 1870, had built a new type of | | | | wheels the same size set the rider between them and |
| velocipede with a large front wheel made possible by | | | | the pedals below the rider. Setting the front forks at an |
| a new way to construct the wheels. The new wheels, | | | | angle enabled the rider to easily reach the handle bars |
| known as suspension wheels, used wire spokes, and | | | | to steer the bike. |
| rubber mounted on the rims to make for a much lighter | | | | As with any new designs they were not perfect, |
| and smoother riding wheel. The rear wheel was made | | | | however many new things were on the way to |
| smaller to save weight. Also around this time period | | | | improve the comfort of the bicycle. The largest single |
| the tubular frame began to be used on most models. | | | | improvement was the pneumatic tire. The bicycle was |
| The riders of these cycles sat over the front wheel to | | | | now a safe and reliable mode of transport. |
| be able to reach the pedals, which looks a little scary | | | | |