Bicycle—The History

Bicycle—The History is a fine book, if I ever read one. It would make a great addition to your bookshelf. The author traces the origin of the bicycle, its development into the two-wheeler we know today, different types of cycles and the various purposes they served, for example, use as a utility-type vehicle and also for recreation and competition. And it's chock full of fascinating pictures, sketches and posters.

The book shows that the early efforts of inventors—and the responses they received—were quite comical at times. When a determined German inventor named Karl von Drais displayed his design in France, a newspaper reported that "it was no more practical than the mechanical wings" which another German inventor exhibited the previous year. The Journal de Paris concluded that it was of no practical value. I wonder what they would say if they could see it now.

When things are in the early stages of development, they tend to be clumsy and awkward. The early bikes were very heavy, weighing over 50 pounds, since the frame was made of wood and the wheels were iron. I can't imagine the kind of ride that would give!

What surprised me most, is that the bicycle is really a recent invention. Quite recent. The very first design that set the stage for the bicycle was made 192 years ago. The real turning point though, came 50 years later, when mechanical parts (pedals and cranks) were applied to make riding more effective. And the rest of its development from there is easy to imagine.

For a vehicle which is so popular in sport and useful in everyday life, I find it surprising that it began really taking shape as recent as, what, 1867.

Another interesting thing I learned from the book is that there was a longtime interest in producing a vehicle that would not necessitate the use of animals, such as horses, to provide the power. The early sketches show what look like the beginning of the automobile, and not a bicycle. It seems as if it simply did not occur to the earlier inventors that a human could remain balanced on a vehicle with two wheels that were not side-by-side. So the designs were always so that the vehicle would stand on its own.

Karl von Drais was the one who presented this new design—that of a machine with one wheel directly in front of the other with no other support on its sides. Interestingly, it mentions that it isn't clear how von Drais came up with his idea.

Although it has struck me that it's a late invention, what surprises me even more is that the ancient Egyptians hadn't been the ones to come up with the original bicycle design. What with their being such masters of engineering with some of their accomplishments still puzzling present-day experts, I would have thought that if there was anyone to design something with two wheels lined up one behind the other, that balances and carries a human being forward with little effort, it would be the guys from Giza.

But that's all in the past now. I'm just mighty glad that when my parents thought me up, the bicycle was already perfected.

Book rating: 6 Treks! (Oh wait, it only goes up to 5!)