The First Bicycle

There is a bit of controversy regarding when the first bicycle came about but most historians now believe that the earliest bicycles where invented in the late 1700’s in Europe, specifically in german and french areas. The German Baron Karl Drais von Sauerbronn invented the "Laufmaschine" or "Running Machine", a type of pre-bicycle. The steerable Laufmaschine was made entirely of wood and had no pedals; a rider would push his/her feet against the ground to make the machine go forward. Sauerbronn's bicycle was first exhibited in Paris on April 6, 1818. The celerifere was another similar early bicycle precursor invented in 1790 by Frenchmen, Comte Mede de Sivrac, however, it had no steering and thus didn’t catch on very quickly.

After that the next development was the “Penny Farthing” which is more commonly known as the “high” or the “ordinary” bicycle and it was first invented in 1871 by British engineer James Starley. The Penny Farthing came after the development of the 'Hobbyhorse', and the French 'Velocipede' or 'Boneshaker', all versions of early bikes. However, the Penny Farthing was the first really efficient bicycle, consisting of a small rear wheel and large front wheel pivoting on a simple tubular frame with tires of rubber.

In 1873 Jamse Starley, and English inventor, produced the first machine incorporating most of the features of the so-called ordinary, or high-wheel, bicycle. The front of Starley's machine was as much as three times as large in diameter as the rear wheel.
The modifications and improvements of the next 15 years included the ball bearing and the pneumatic tire. These inventions, along with the use of weld-less steel tubing and spring seats, brought the ordinary bicycle to its highest point of development. The excessive vibration and instability of the high-wheel bicycle, however, caused inventors to turn their attention to reducing the height of the bicycle. About 1880 the so-called safety, or low, machine was developed. The wheels were of nearly equal size, and the pedals, attached to a sprocket through gears and a chain, drove the rear wheel. This opened up the convenience and safety of bicycling for men and women of all ages and made it a lot more accessible to people needing transportation.
The safety bicycle was universally adopted by manufacturers in the U.S. The improved safety machine had wheels of equal size, hollow steel tubing, coaster brakes, adjustable handlebars, and other improvements. American cyclists increased greatly in numbers and became strong supporters of a nationwide movement for improved roads. In 1899 the American production of about 1 million bicycles a year was valued at more than $31 million. Yet by 1909, with the rise of the motorcycle and the automobile, the U.S. bicycle industry was nearly nonexistent.
In the 1960s and '70s, as air pollution from automobile exhaust caused great concern, and the energy crisis worsened, the popularity of the bicycle increased tremendously. Some areas set up bike lanes and special bike paths. An emphasis on physical fitness in the 1970s and '80s added to this popularity, and an estimated 82 million bicycles were in use in the U.S. in the mid-1980s. Most popular was the lightweight ten-speed touring bike, modeled after European racing models, with cable-and-caliper hand brakes and narrow, high-pressure tires. For recreation, the all-terrain bike, with waffle-tread tires and a heavier frame, was rugged, safe, and maneuverable. Bicycle popularity has also increased with growing concern over gas prices and other financial obligations with regards to maintaing a car.