This is How Bicycles Looked Like 200 Years Ago
Title : This is How Bicycles Looked Like 200 Years Ago
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In 1818, Baron Karl von Drais of Germany patented the design of a two-wheeled running machine or “Laufmaschine,” with two in-line wheels under a seat and handle bars, and was propelled if the rider push off the ground with his feet.
Also called the “Draisine,” the machine was created out of necessity - Drais wanted a ride to substitute for the horses that have starved to death during a volcanic winter in 1815 caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora.
His invention inspired manufacturers from other parts of Europe, like England and France, to create their own two-wheeled contraptions, calling them velocipedes or “dandy horses.”
The contraptions became an instant hit but their popularity was short-lived as many cities passed regulations against the use of velocipedes. The regulations were mainly because of the state of the streets at the time which was rough, so riders took to the sidewalk plowing startled pedestrians aside.
Over the next few decades, numerous innovations popped out — three- and four-wheeled machines propelled by cranks and pedals.
1850: A four-wheeled "pedamotive carriage."
Photo: SSPL/GETTY IMAGES
But it wasn’t until the 1960s that people became courageous enough to take their off the ground and balance on two wheels.
Once that fear was conquered, riders wanted to ride faster. The simplest way to achieve that was to increase the diameter of the front wheel. So wooden wheels were replaced with tensile wire-spoked wheels to accommodate the increase in diameter. The size of the front wheel was only limited by the length of the rider’s legs.
c. 1880
Photo: HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION/CORBIS
1881
Photo: HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
1888: A tricycle with inflated rubber tires built by John Boyd Dunlop, founder of the Dunlop Rubber Company.
Photo: JACQUES BOYER/ROGER VIOLLET/GETTY IMAGES
The new bicycles, with massive front wheels and small rear wheels, were called “penny-farthings,” after the coin and its smaller cousin.
Penny-farthings were used in races by daredevils, but the height of the rider’s seat led to falls. Naturally, there was high demand for a fast bicycle that can still be ridden safely.
1889: The first world cycling championship in Berlin, Germany.
Photo: ULLSTEIN BILD/GETTY IMAGES
c. 1890: "Wheelmen" pose with their penny-farthing cycles.
Photo: CORBIS
1890: A lady mounts a safety bicycle.
Photo: HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
1890: A penny-farthing race in New York.
Photo: GEORGE BARKER/HENRY GUTTMANN/GETTY IMAGES
1891: Victorian cyclists perform a balancing act on a penny-farthing.
Photo: LONDON STEREOSCOPIC COMPANY/GETTY IMAGES
1895: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his wife ride a tandem tricycle.
Photo: HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
1895: Charles Stewart Rolls (right), cofounder of Rolls-Royce, rides a tandem bicycle with a fellow Cambridge University student.
Photo: SSPL/GETTY IMAGES
1895: A seven-man tandem bicycle.
Photo: SSPL/GETTY IMAGES
c. 1896: "The Stearns Sextuplets" attempt to outride a train pulling four cars.
Photo: ?
1895: Men ride penny-farthings down the steps of the United States capitol building.
Photo: FPG/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
c. 1920
Photo: CORBIS
c. 1905
A stuntman rides a bicycle through a loop-the-loop.
A stuntman rides a bicycle through a loop-the-loop.
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