Bicycles are one of the most popular forms of transportation in modern cities today. Particularly in some parts of China and in the Dutch countries, bicycles are used as the main means of transportation. In addition to being an economical and environmentally friendly means of transportation for adults and teenagers, the bicycle is also popular with children as a toy. In the United States, schoolchildren ride bicycles to school. Children and toddlers learn their first attempt at independence and autonomy by riding a bike. Today, cycling activities and health and wellness activities involving cycling are also emerging and being recognized as new forms of sports, showing that the bicycle has indeed not lost its functional appeal for activities. human.
What most people don’t know is that the modern bicycle has been in development for some time. Human beings now enjoy the transportation, recreation, and health benefits of cycling due to some very relevant inventions and innovations that resulted in the modern bicycle, more commonly now called as the bicycle, that we have today.
The documented history of the modern bicycle dates back to the early 19th century with the invention of “velocipedes,” or human-powered vehicles. These velocipedes are used and moved using the rider’s legs and feet. One of the most prominent examples of the velocipede is the push bicycle or “draisines,” which was introduced to France by the German baron Karl von Drais in 1818. Draisines, like modern bicycles, had two in-line tires that were connected by a wooden seat. where the cyclist sits while pushing with his feet.
The innovation in draisines came around 1839 with the Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan. MacMillan added a mechanical handle to the final wheel. This addition in design and structure brought the velocipede much closer to the modern bike we have today. Between the 1950s and 1960s, further innovations were made to the bicycle. Two Frenchmen, Ernest Michaux and Pierre Lallement, added a new dimension to bicycle design by increasing the diameter of the front wheel and fitting pedals to it. Aside from the front pedal features, this bike was now made of a steel frame that was mounted on wooden wheels wrapped with metal or iron tires. But because the tires were not proportionate to the frame and its rear wheels, this design failed; and although the metal tires and iron wheels are stronger, their heavy and uneven weight made movement difficult. No wonder this new bike was called a “boneshaker.”
The 1885 innovation in the new bicycle fixed some of the “Boneshaker’s” design and operating problems. JK Starley, Shergold and Lawson reduced the diameter of the front wheel. They also moved the seat further back from the front wheels and hooked up the chain drive so the rider didn’t have to pedal on the front wheels. This made the “Dwarf” safer for the rider, not to mention more balanced and easier to ride.
Other relevant innovations emerged around the 1880s and 1890s, adding new design features to the bicycle that made it more comfortable to use and with applied physics, this ultimately made the bicycle one of the forms of transportation, sports and recreation. dearest we have. today.
