Cycling
has a tremendous history unknown to many who ride today's modern
"vehicle".
Cartwheels with spokes
are reported to have been used in Mesopotamia over 4,000 years
ago. It is also said that the Chinese used wheels with spokes
over 6,000 years ago. No one at that time however latched onto
what now seems to be the obvious use for these items, ie. one
behind the other and to use this as a mode of transport.
The history of cycling
has had an immense influence on the technologies, industries
and sports events of today. The story of the bicycle starts
in 1817 when Baron von Drais of Baden invented a 'running machine'
to help him move more quickly around his forests.
The 'Draisienne', seen above, as it was known, briefly became
a fashionable toy for the upper classes in Paris and London,
and was much copied by other manufacturers. In subsequent years,
many craftsmen designed 2, 3 or 4-wheeled vehicles powered by
human energy - otherwise known as 'velocipedes'.
A Scottish blacksmith, Kirkpatrick Macmillan, earned himself
a five shilling fine in around 1840 for knocking over a child
on a ride from Dumfries to Glasgow. But the bicycle didn't experience
its first proper breakthrough until the French mechanic Pierre
Michaux attached cranks to the front wheel of a Draisienne in
the 1860s.
This led to a craze for cycling on both sides of the Atlantic.
With the outbreak of war between France and Prussia, James Starley
of the Coventry Machinists Company took up the challenge of
refining the French 'boneshakers'. He increased the front wheel
diameter to allow greater speed, which led to the familiar 'penny-farthing'
design.
At the same time, Starley and others improved the technology
of gears, brakes and wheels, both on bicycles and less dangerous
alternatives such as tricycles. In 1885, John Kemp Starley (James'
nephew) invented the 'Rover' bicycle, which overcame the dangers
of a large front wheel by attaching gears and cranks to the
rear wheel instead.
In 1888, John Boyd Dunlop invented pneumatic tyres - competitions
then proved that a 'safety' bicycle with pneumatic tyres could
easily match the daredevil speeds of the penny-farthing. This
established the standard design that has survived to the present
day.
Since then, bicycles have
had a huge impact on society. JK Starley went on to form the
Rover car company, and many other transport pioneers - such
as Henry Ford and the Wright Brothers - also began as cycle
mechanics.
Cycling opened up new horizons for people in the nineteenth
century by allowing them to travel beyond their home community
- this was especially important for women, and can be seen now
also in the developing world. Finally, competitive cycling provided
one of the earliest forms of mass spectator sport in modern
times.
Our thanks go to Dr Paul
Rosen for the above contribution. When he's not writing informative
sections for us he can be found at the Science & Technology
Studies Unit, University of York, e-mail address pjr8@york.ac.uk
Dr Paul Rosen is also the author of Framing Production: Technology,
Culture and Change in the British Bicycle Industry (MIT Press,
2002). Paul has also written the section covering Cycle Commuting.
