Velocipede

Velocipede is the general name given to the earliest pedal-driven bicycles and tricycles of the 1860s, most notably the French-developed machine that fitted pedals and cranks directly to the front wheel of what had previously been a foot-propelled hobby horse, or draisine. Built with wooden or, later, metal wheels and rigid frames with no suspension, early velocipedes earned the nickname boneshaker for the rough ride they gave over the cobblestone and rutted roads of the period, since their iron-shod or solid rubber tires transmitted every irregularity directly to the rider. The velocipede brief vogue in the late 1860s and early 1870s established pedal propulsion as the basis for every bicycle design that followed, even as its direct front-wheel-drive layout was soon superseded by the larger front wheel of the penny-farthing and, later, the chain-driven safety bicycle.