It is not known when the first bike was made, but sketches were done by Leonardo de Vinci in the 15th century. It began to become popular in the 1790, with Frenchman, M. de Sivrac. He was seen in the garden of Palace Royal riding a contraption with two wheels mounted on a wooden frame that resembled a horse. It was called the Velocifere, but there were some problems with it. You could not steer and it did not have any pedals. It was pushed by the feet like a scooter. By removing the ornamental animal head and making some improvements the bike became lighter, graceful in appearance and was steerable. In the 1860's, Scotsman Kirkpatrick Macmillan made a machine of wood and iron. It was pedaled and had a front wheel that could be steered. There was also a brake operated from the handlebars, a spring seat to absorb road shock, and even a fender to protect the rider from dirt thrown up by the rear wheel. In 1865, riding became a craze in France, the United States, and England. One of the next bike models made was called "Ordinary" which enabled the rider to travel high speed over rough terrain. As the 1890 approached, inventors put efforts into developing what came to be called the "safety bicycle." The first time anyone saw two wheels of equal size, pedals driving the rear wheel through a system of chains and sprockets (like our modern bikes) was 1884. The "Rover" was produced in England in 1886 and it looks like one of today's bikes. This bike was a model of the "safety bike," and started the beginning of the modern bicycle as we know it. Illustrated history books show pictures of bicycles designed specifically to accommodate women's long skirts. In 1890, a French woman by the name of Mlle Dutrieux gained professional status as a racer for the Simpleson Lever Chain Company. She was competing against men in international racing events. Around the turn of the century a person named Sturmey-Archer developed the multiple-speed rear hub. Sturmey-Archer was from England. This was better than the rest of the bikes because it allowed the cyclist to set the speed to three different ratios with a flick of the tiny lever on the handlebars. This the distance over hilly terrain and gave the bike higher speeds. Soon after Surmey-Archer's invention became popular in the 30's, the derailer system of shifting gears appeared on bikes in France and Italy. The derailer system was better than Sturmey-Archer's invention because it allowed the rider five to ten speeds. Because the first derailer systems were expensive and hard to operate, they were used only by racers. It was not until the late 50's that the mechanism had been refined to the point that it began to appear on European touring bikes. It was not until the 60's that Japan manufactures brought the cost down and made the ten speed available to the general user. Even though these complex bicycles were growing more popular weighed in from 30 to 50 pounds (ouch!), the frames tended to be soft, or springy and flexible. Soft, flexible frames provided riding comfort, but this really isn't good because most of the rider's power is being absorbed by the frame. By using a better metal the biker's power was sent into the rear wheel making the bike faster. The road biking was become a craze in the United States and Europe, companies began sponsoring races just to bring their names and products to public attention. Manufacturers were researching to improve their bikes just to get the slightest edge over the competition. Biking was becoming a big market and even continuing today, huge technological improvement and advances are being made. Lightweight Wheels Engineers discovered that the lighter the tire is the better it will respond and the faster it will go. Reducing the tires by 10 pounds was like taking 20 pounds off the frame. Toe clips Before toe clips were invented the pedals went around 360 degrees while the riders foot only went around 180 degrees. The rider was not getting the full power that the bike offered. With the invention of the toe clips the rider can always be using his power no matter what part of the pedal rotation he is at. This invention gave the rider about a 20% advantage over a rider without a toe clip. Handlebar design The first bikes had the handlebars at waist level. This was bad for the rider because the riding position was upright. Having the riding position upright the riders body was a major source of wind resistance. Riders began to notice this so they bent the handlebars allowing them to ride in the crouched position. This cut wind resistance by about 30%. Riding in this position also allowed the biker to put more power into the pedal stroke, thus going faster.
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