The bicycle ranks as one of the most
enduring, most widely used vehicles in the world, with
more than a billion produced during almost two hundred years of
cycling history. This book offers an authoritative and
comprehensive account of the bicycle's technical and
historical evolution, from the earliest velocipedes
(invented to fill the need for horseless transport during a shortage of
oats) to modern racing bikes, mountain bikes, and
recumbents. It traces the bicycle's development in terms
of materials, ergonomics, and vehicle physics, as carried out
by inventors, entrepreneurs, and manufacturers.
Written by
two leading bicycle historians and generously
illustrated with historic drawings, designs, and
photographs, Bicycle Design describes the key stages
in the evolution of the bicycle, beginning with the counterintuitive
idea of balancing on two wheels in line, through the
development of tension-spoked wheels, indirect drives
(employing levers, pulleys, chains, and chainwheels), and pneumatic
tires. The authors examine the further development of the
bicycle for such specific purposes as racing,
portability, and all-terrain use; and they describe the
evolution of bicycle components including seats, transmission, brakes,
lights (at first candle-based), and carriers (racks,
panniers, saddlebags, child seats, and sidecars). They
consider not only commercially successful designs but also
commercial failures that pointed the way to future technological
developments. And they debunk some myths about bicycles
-- for example, the mistaken but often-cited idea that
Leonardo sketched a chain-drive bike in his notebooks. Despite the
bicycle's long history and mass appeal, its technological
history has been neglected. This volume, with its
engaging and wide-ranging coverage, fills that gap. It
will be the starting point for all future histories of the bicycle.
