Are you a bike rider? Do you ride your bike to work, school, or just use your bike for recreation? If so, then you are probably fairly familiar with the mechanics and the joy of bike riding. However, the invention of the bike has a very interesting history that you, as a bike rider, might find enlightening. With the Tour de France upon us, we’re going to take this opportunity to look at how bicycles not only gave us one of the greatest races ever, but how they changed history! Did you know that bikes were the reason for the pavement of roads? Read on to find out 25 facts about the history of bicycles!
25
First introduced in the 1800s in Europe, today over 1 million bikes have been produced
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia24
That's twice as many as the number of cars that have ever been manufactured
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia23
In many parts of the world, bikes are the primary mode of transportation
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia22
The precursor to the bike was the dandy horse, a bike looking vehicle that required the rider to push with his or her feet
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia21
It was introduced in Germany and France in 1817
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia20
Following this, Frenchmen Pierre Michaux and Pierre Lallement decided to put a crank drive with pedals on the dandy horse
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia19
This came to be known as the velocipede
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia18
The first velocipedes were nicknamed boneshakers
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia17
They got that name because the ride was so uncomfortable
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia16
Imagine riding on a wrought iron frame with wooden wheels and tires made of iron.
Source: wikipedia, Image: adamleadbetter via flickr15
Around this time Kirkpatrick MacMillan, a Scottish blacksmith, received what has been labeled the earliest recorded cycling traffic offence for knocking over a little girl. He also claimed to have invented the first bicycle.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia14
He was fined 5 shillings
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia13
The first machine to be called a bicycle, however, was the penny-farthing, which developed out of the French velocipede
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia12
They typically had larger front wheels
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia11
Because the pedals were attached directly to the front wheel, bicycle makers realized that the larger they made that wheel, the farther you could go with each pedal
Source: wikipedia, Image: alpat via flickr10
The introduction of the penny-farthing coincided with the birth of cycling as a sport
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia9
In the 1880s, the safety bicycle replaced the penny-farthing as the most popular bike
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia8
You can probably guess why the new bike was called a safety bike just by looking at it...the front wheel was no where near as dangerously huge
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia7
The reason for this was the development of the chain drive. Now the back wheel could provide power and the front wheel could steer
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia6
Bikes have changed little over the course of the last century although bicycles are no longer called "safety-bicycles"
Source: wikipedia, Image: pexels.com5
Today, some of the only bicycles that don't follow the diamond-frame, safety-bike model are recumbent bicycles that allow their riders to recline
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia4
Of course hand brakes, gears, and other little add-ons were eventually developed
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia3
All of these developments led to the biggest "bike boom" boom on record in the 1890s
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia2
You probably thought that roads weren't paved until cars came around? Nope! Roads began to be paved because everyone was riding safety bicycles!
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia1
First organized during this bike boom in 1903, the Tour de France has been held every year since then except for pauses during the World Wars
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaLists Going Viral Right Now
Show Us Your Love
Join Over 2 Million+ List25 Fans
Show Us Your Love
Join Over 2 Million+ List25 Fans
