A bicycle is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other, ridden by a person called a cyclist. Baron Karl von Drais introduced the two-wheeled dandy horse, or draisine, in Germany in 1817 and 1818, a pedal-less machine propelled by pushing the feet against the ground; French inventors Pierre Michaux and Pierre Lallement added cranks and pedals to an enlarged front wheel in the 1860s to create the velocipede, the first mass-produced bicycle design, and wire-spoke wheels, patented in 1869, led to the tall penny-farthing. J.K. Starley's Rover, built in Coventry, England and introduced in 1885, is usually described as the first recognizably modern bicycle, with a chain drive connecting the pedal cranks to the rear wheel, and John Boyd Dunlop's 1888 pneumatic tire greatly improved comfort and performance. More than a billion bicycles exist worldwide, with China's Flying Pigeon model alone accounting for roughly 500 million units produced, and the bicycle is widely described as the most common vehicle of any kind on Earth, used for transportation, recreation, fitness and competitive sport.
Facts
SignificanceThe chain driven safety bicycle design that emerged around 1885 set the basic upright two wheel configuration still used today, and the bicycle's development drove component innovations, including ball bearings, pneumatic tires, chain driven sprockets, and tension spoked wheels, that later proved essential to the automobile. 1 Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Bicycle
WikipediaWikipedia Bicycle article, lead section, third paragraph, opening sentence on the safety bicycle
The basic shape and configuration of a typical upright or "safety" bicycle, has changed little since the first chain-driven model was developed around 1885.
Wikipedia Bicycle article, lead section, fourth paragraph, on the bicycle's effect on industrial development
The bicycle's invention has had an enormous effect on society, both in terms of culture and of advancing modern industrial methods. Several components that played a key role in the development of the car were initially invented for use in the bicycle, including ball bearings, pneumatic tires, chain-driven sprockets, and tension-spoked wheels.
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