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Bicycle History1490 DaVinci drawing

1815 Hobbyhorse by Karl von Drais, Germany

1861 Velocipede by Pierre Michaux, France

1839 Treadle cycle by Kirkpatrick Macmillan, Scotland

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In the quest for more speed, the velocipede evolved into the “ordinary.”

The “ordinary”

1.5 m

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1885 Rover “Diamond Frame” Safety by John Starley in England

1888 Pneumatic tire developed by John Boyd Dunlop in Scotland

Modern RearDerailleur

Rover Safety Bicycle

1895 Derailleur gears

1895 - 1970 Nothing significant happened in the development of the bicycle

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The Revolution since 1970

New materials (composites, titanium, aluminum)

Cross-over technologies (aircraft, skiing)

Mass production

Increased environmental consciousness

Bikes are “cool” again

Mountain bikes

Human powered vehicles

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The Bicycle Today The world’s 800 million bikes outnumber cars by two to one

Bike production outnumbers car manufacture by 3 to 1

In Asia alone, bicycles transport more people than do all the cars worldwide

The bike is the most energy-efficient mode of transport: one US study found that to cycle one mile burns 35 calories, to walk uses 100 calories, while a car’s engine burns 1,860 calories

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Bicycle Facts - continued

Each mile of highway consumes about 25 acres of land

The average motorist spends four hours a day either driving, maintaining, or earning the money for a car

Americans spend a billion hours a year stuck in traffic, wasting two billion gallons of gas at a cost of $10-30 billion

In one hour, a lane of highway can carry twice as many people riding bikes as those traveling by car

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