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Welcome to Becoming Sage, where the ordinary becomes extraordinary!
My name is Elan Baumgarten. This episode will help get you up to speed on the history of the bicycle. Well, perhaps up to speed isn’t quite the right word. It is history after all! What you will learn - is the astounding history of the bicycle and how it came to be a transportation titan, coming short only to automotive transportation like cars. And even then, there are major health benefits to exercising, something that using a bike to get around makes even easier and more accessible to those with busy schedules. It all started in the early 19th Century Germany with a man named Karl von Drais. He is widely considered to be the father of the bicycle. He is the farthest back precedent for anything bikes. He was a German baron who invented something known as the running machine. That name might make you ask yourself why the first bike was for running. The answer is that it actually resembled modern day push-bikes used by small children. It was propelled using your feet pushing off the ground - not pedals. It also didn’t have brakes and practically no steering system - unless you count leaning your body to try and shift the machine’s direction. It was incredibly popular, but that didn't last long. In 1850, a form of tricycle was invented with three very large wheels. Then, the French took their turn with the early bicycles. By the 1860s, many different inventors had taken their turn with these contraptions. In fact, these inventors made it, for the most part, into what they are today. Some referred to these contraptions as “bone shakers”. Now that is quite the ominous name. They were manufactured en masse starting in 1869 in the UK. They faced many copy cats who created similar contraptions during the same time period. Starting in 1870 the Penny Farthing was invented. It enjoyed popularity for the next decade or two, but it was dangerous and hard to use. The massive front wheel was responsible for incredibly long distances being covered in every rotation, but they also made it hard to get on and harder when you hit the floor. And they did not wear helmets in the 19th Century. John Kemp Starley created the safety bike in 1885, which really did look like a modern day bike. Both the front and back wheels were the same size and they were both much smaller than those of the Penny Farthing, which is probably the first image to come into your head when you think of a “pre-bike bike”. The first bike races were conducted using these contraptions. The low center of gravity on the safety bike is what’s largely responsible for the increased factor. By this point bikes kind of just went crazy across the world. There was a craze in Europe and the United States, but they were a hit almost everywhere. They represented ideals of individuality and freedom - the same things that teenagers today associate with learning how to drive. In 1920 the “kid’s bike” was invented. This massive hunk of metal was designed to be the safest possible option for children who wanted to go bike. They also designed it to appeal to teenage boys. This was especially important to their marketing model as automobiles started to gain popularity. Schwinn, a bike manufacturing company founded by Ignaz Schwinn and Adolf Arnold, was responsible for adding additional springs for suspension in the frame. This was great for bikes getting repeatedly beaten up by teenagers. They started making their bikes in 1895, but they were soon used by many groundbreaking bikers. For example: Charles Murphy, also known as mile-a-minute Murphy was the first person to travel 60 miles an hour on a bike. The current record, as of 2018, is over 183 miles per hour. From the seeds of these early bicycles, many sports have sprouted. Road racing, track cycling, mountain biking, and cyclo-cross are all biking sports that are widely popular - and there are more on top of that! There is such a wide range of biking sports that there are tons of different appeals to lots of different people. Mountain biking, for instance, tends to have a great appeal with skiers and snowboarders! Bikes are a common tool used for getting around. Cities have even started implementing rentable electric bikes at stations around their city. You can use them to get around and then just leave them. Then someone else can rent! There are also personal electric bikes, some of which can read speeds of 60 miles per hour - the same speed that was groundbreaking in 1899. These bikes move so fast that is is important they are used safely. Some even have age requirements - but you don’t need a license to operate any kind of electric bike in the United States. There are so many bikes out there - over a hundred million are produced every single year. Thank you for listening to Becoming Sage - to learn about the riveting history of the bicycle. This is Elan Baumgarten, catch us next time for another extraordinary history!