BICYCLES

A series of inventions during the 1800s resulted in the introduction of the safety bicycle in 1876. It was the direct ancestor of the modern bike and the first commercially successful bicycle. It had wheels that were equal in size, making it easier and safer to ride than its "high-wheeler" predecessor. The industry proliferated and by 1900 more than 10 million people in the United States owned bicycles. In the years preceding the U.S. manufacture of automobiles (which began around 1900) the bicycle became an important means of transportation and recreation.

As with other inventions, the bicycle was a result of the work of several innovators. In 1817 German Baron Karl von Drais de Sauerbrun developed a device that resembled a scooter, the drasienne. The device was later improved by Scotsman Kirkpatrick Macmillan (1813–1878), who in 1839 added pedals to the vehicle, creating the world's first real bicycle. In 1870 English inventor James Starley (1830–1881) designed a bicycle with a large front wheel and a small rear wheel. He named it the Ariel. The invention was also called a "penny-farthing" (after two different-sized British coins), the "high-wheeler," and the "ordinary." Though the bicycle was easier to pedal and faster (one revolution of the pedals turned the front wheel once), its high center of gravity made it unstable and even dangerous. The innovation of the tricycle, or velocipede, improved the design of the Ariel by giving it the added stability of the third wheel.

But it was not until the safety bike was developed in 1876 that the bicycle's popularity began to rise. Invented by Englishman H.J. Lawson, the bicycle had wheels of equal size and a bike chain (to drive the rear wheel). This practical design was improved again in 1895 when air-filled tires were added. Mass production of the safety bicycle began in 1885.

After the advent of the automobile the bicycle continued to figure prominently in American life. Bicycle riding became a leisure pursuit that rivaled baseball in popularity. Cycling clubs emerged. The tandem, a bicycle built for two, allowed American youths an opportunity for courtship. The bicycle industry yielded some of the great innovators in transportation, including bicycle designer Charles Edward Duryea (1861–1938). Duryea demonstrated the first successful gas-powered car in the United States with his brother Frank (1869–1967). Brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright (1867–1912; 1871–1948), who owned a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, used their skill they learned at their trade to build the first airplane.