Bicycle History
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National Bicycle History Archive of America

Historical Sources / Museums / Exhibits - (Africa, America, Asia, England, Ireland, Europe)

Chronology of the Growth of Bicycling and the Development of Bicycle Technology

by David Mozer

Note: Many people claim credit for inventing the first bicycle.  The answer to the question often depends upon the nationality of who you ask; the French claim it was a Frenchman, Scots claim a Scotsman, the English an Englishman, and Americans often claim that it was an American.  Since the early 1990's the International Cycling History Conferences, has worked to get past the jingoism.  Our current understanding of the history of the bicycle suggests that many people contributed ideas and developments:

Date      Development

1418	Giovanni Fontana, a fifteenth century Italian physician and engineer, is credited with building the first human powered land vehicle -- it had four wheels and used an continuous rope, connected via gears to the wheels. Images and more detailed description don't seem to exist. Source: R. John Way, The Bicycle - A Guide and Manual.
1493	Other bicycle histories websites include a sketches showing a primitive version of a bicycle, purportedly drawn by Leonardo da Vinci, that surfaced in 1974. Experts consider the sketches a hoax: Further examination of the drawings indicates these are not in da Vinci's hand. The speculation that these are a sketch by a pupil after a lost drawing by da Vinci is also considered false. A test to date the document was performed, but the library in Milan (belonging to the Vatican) conceals its negative outcome, see http://www.cyclepublishing.com/history/leonardo%20da%20vinci%20bicycle.html . For a graphic investigation into the ins and outs the Leonardo debate and other controversies about the history of the bicycle see https://leonardosbicycle.co.uk/
1791	Comte Mede de Sicrac is credited with building the "celerifer" - purportedly a hobby horse with two wheels instead of a rocker. Nothing else is known about Mede de Sicrac, not even when he was born or died. This is probably because he never lived. This is now considered a patriotic hoax created by Baudry de Saunier, a French historian in 1891.  It was debunked by a French researcher in 1976.  In fact, a Jean Sievrac (!) of Marseille obtained an import price for a four-wheeled horse drawn coach called celerifer in 1817.  See http://www.answers.com/Q/Who_is_comte_mede_de_sivrac
1817	Variously called the running machine, velocipede, Draisienne and dandy horse, it was invented by Karl Drais, in response to widespread starvation and the slaughtering of horses, the consequence of a crop failure the year before (caused by the eruption of  Tambora, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia). It had a steerable front wheel. This is the first appearance of the two-wheeler principle that is basic to cycling and motorcycling and minimizes rolling resistance. The velocipedes were made entirely of wood and needed to be balanced by directing the front wheel a bit. People then did not dare to lift the feet off safe ground, therefore the velocipedes were propelled by pushing off with the feet.  After a successful harvest in 1817, riding velocipedes on sidewalks was forbidden worldwide, since the velocipeders used the sidewalks, and because they could not balance on the rutted carriageway, the fad passed. It took nearly 50 years, until a roller-skating boom created a new public with a better sense of balance.  For more information see: http://www.karldrais.de/?lang=en&sid=bd15ff8c6ef29db0e7dd1d7e6e1680ae
1839	Another entry in bicycle lore: Kirkpatric Mcmillan, a Scottish blacksmith adapted a treadle-type pedals to a bicycle, is considered a hoax, see the David Herlihy's book.
ca 1845	Heinrich Erdmann Christian Mylius' pedal bicycle (only one fabricated), the Heimat Museum, Themar, Germany. See https://hiveminer.com/Tags/museum,themar
1863	Boneshaker or Velocipede: Made of stiff materials, straight angles and steel wheels make this bike literally a bone shaker to ride over the cobblestone roads of the day. The improvement is a front wheel with peddles -- direct drive, fixed gear, one speed. This machine was officially the velocipede ("fast foot"), but was popularly known as the boneshaker, They also became a fad, and indoor riding academies, similar to roller rinks, could be found in large cities.
1870	Ordinary or Penny Farthing: These are better know as the "high wheelers". It is more comfortable to ride than its predecessor, but it requires an acrobat so they popularity has always been limited. This was the first all metal machine to appeared. (Prior to this metallurgy was not advanced enough to provide metal strong enough to make small, light parts.) The pedals were still attached directly to the front wheel with no freewheeling mechanism. Solid rubber tires and the long spokes of the large front wheel provided a much smoother ride than its predecessor. The front wheels became larger and larger as makers realized that the larger the wheel, the farther you could travel with one rotation of the pedals. You would purchase a wheel as large as your leg length would allow. These bicycles enjoyed a great popularity among young men of means (they cost an average worker six month's pay), with the hey-day being the decade of the 1880's. Because the rider sat so high above the center of gravity, if the front wheel was stopped by a stone or rut in the road, or the sudden emergence of a dog, the entire apparatus rotated forward on its front axle, and the rider, with his legs trapped under the handlebars, was dropped unceremoniously on his head. Here the term "taking a header" came into being. This machine was the first to be called a bicycle ("two wheel").
1872	Friedrich Fischer (German) invented a precision ball bearing making machine, which mass-produces steel ball bearings. Ball bearings were patented by Jules Suriray in 1869.
1876	Browett and Harrison (English) patent an early caliper brake.
1878	Scott and Phillott (English) patent the first practicable epicyclic change-speed gear fitted into the hub of a front-driving bicycle.
1878	The first American manufacturer of cycles begun with the Columbia Bicycle at the Weed Sewing Machine Company factory in Hartford, Ct. The first regular trade catalogue was twenty pages long. The first bicycles were the 60" High Wheelers and sold for $125.00 when sewing machines sold for $13.00.
1879	Henry J. Lawson (English) patents a rear wheel, chain-driven safety bicycle, the “Bicyclette” (his earlier models were lever driven).
1880	Thomas Humber (English) adapts the block chain for use with his range of bicycles.
1880's	While the men were risking their necks on the high wheels, ladies, confined to their long skirts and corsets, could take a spin around the park on an adult tricycle. These machines also afforded more dignity to gentlemen such as doctors and clergymen. Many mechanical innovations now associated with the automobile were originally invented for tricycles. Rack and pinion steering, the differential, and band brakes, to name a few!
1880	Bicycle Activism: Good roads society organized by bicyclist and lobbied for good roads -- paving the way for motor vehicles!
1881	Gustave Trouvé experimented with electric drive on a Starley Coventry Lever Tricycle. Ove the next twenty years inventors made significant development on electric power assist bikes. See https://www.electricbike.com/e-bike-patents-from-the-1800s/
1884	Thomas Stevens struck out across the country, carrying socks, a spare shirt and a slicker that doubled as tent and bedroll. Leaving San Francisco at 8 o'clock on April 22, 1884, he traveled eastward, reaching Boston after 3700 wagon trail miles, to complete the first transcontinental bicycle ride on August 4, 1884. After a pause, he continued east, circumnavigating the earth, and returning to San Francisco on Dec 24, 1886. See Around the World by Bicycle and Around the World on a Penny Farthing - Reenactment.
1885	Bicycle Playing Cards are introduced and become the most recognizable brands of playing cards sold in the United States.  They are currently manufactured by the United States Playing Card Company.
1888	Pneumatic tire: First applied to the bicycle by John Boyd Dunlop, a Scottish born veterinarian, working in Ireland, who was trying to give his sickly young son a more comfortable ride on his tricycle. Now that comfort and safety could be had in the same machine, and the product was getting cheaper as manufacturing methods improved, everyone clamored to ride the bicycle.
1890	Safety Bike: As the name implies the safety bike is safer than the ordinary. The further improvement of metallurgy sparked the next innovation, or rather return to previous design. With metal that was now strong enough to make a fine chain and sprocket small and light enough for a human being to power, the next design was a return to the original configuration of two same-size wheels, only now, instead of just one wheel circumference for every pedal turn, you could, through the gear ratios, have a speed the same as the huge high-wheel. Initially, the bicycles still had the hard rubber tires, and in the absence of the long, shock-absorbing spokes, the ride they provided was much more uncomfortable than any of the high-wheel designs. Many of these bicycles of 100 years ago had front and/or rear suspensions. These designs competed with each other, your choice being the high-wheel's comfort or the safety's safety, but Dunlop's pneumatic tires innovation tolled the death of the high-wheel design. This is basically the same design as standard contemporary bikes. The safety bike allowed large numbers of people to take up cycling. Bikes were relatively expensive so use was somewhat restrict to the elite.
1890	Mass Production: The bicycle helped make the Gay Nineties what they were. It was a practical investment for the working man as transportation, and gave him a much greater flexibility for leisure. Women would also start riding bicycles in much larger numbers.
1890s	Kittie Knox, an African-American bicyclist from West End, Boston, was an activist for the integration of the League of American Bicyclists, and broke racial barriers to enter (and win) cycling races and contests.
1894	Change In Social Order: Betty Bloomer's bloomers become very popular. Ladies, heretofore consigned to riding the heavy adult size tricycles that were only practical for taking a turn around the park, now could ride a much more versatile machine and still keep their legs covered with long skirts. The bicycle craze killed the bustle and the corset, instituted "common-sense dressing" for women and increased their mobility considerably. American Music and women bicyclists. Women and bicycles.
1894 1894	Bamboo bikes are manufactured. The bicycle messenger business started in California when the Pullman Railway Strike halted mail delivery West of the Mississippi and the Bay Area in particular. Arthur C Banta, the owner of Victor Cyclery, Fresno, is credited with the idea to delivering the mail by bicycle. Totaling 210 miles, divided into 8 relays of approximately 30 miles, and taking 18 hours, the route offered to carry a letter via bicycle from one end to the other for $0.25. See https://www.missionbicycle.com/blog/210-miles-120-years-ago
1894-95	Annie Cohan Kopchovsky (a.k.a. Annie Londonderry) was a Latvian Jewish immigrant to Boston, who traveled around the world by bicycle.  She started in Boston in June 1894 on her Sterling bike and finishing her ride in Chicago in Sept 1895. She was probably the first woman to take a bicycle on a world trip. Reports suggest that she traveled mainly on ships and trains -- riding her bicycles mostly to and from the main ports.  She was sponsored by The Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Co.
1895	Ignatz Schwinn and Adolph Arnold formed Arnold, Schwinn & Company to produce bikes.  Albert Pope purchased 75 small bicycle manufacturers to form the American Bicycle Company.
1895	One of the first patent for electric bicycle was issued to Ogden Bolton Jr.
1896	"Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel. It gives woman a feeling of freedom and self-reliance." Susan B Anthony
1897	An African-America army corps road 2000 miles from Montana to St. Louis - an amazing story. The Stuhr Museum made a video, "The Bicycle Corps: America's Black Army on Wheels" (2000).
1898 1899 1900	Major Taylor was the American cycling sprint champion, and he topped all European champions as well. Taylor was one of the first black athletes to become a world champion in any sport. (Major Taylor is celebrated in number of  books.)  See also: The Major Taylor Association, The Major Taylor Society and The Major Taylor Velodrome.
1899-1901	Bicycles first used in conflict in the Second Anglo-Boer War in South Africa.
1903	Internal hub gears invented by Sturmey Archer.  By 1930 these were used on bikes manufactured around the world.  The dominance continued until the 1950s when the parallelogram derailleur was introduced, though internal geared hubs still are used. See also Sturmey Archer Bicycle Hubs.
1920	Children's Bikes: The focus of planning and development of the transportation infrastructure was the private automobiles. Bicycles use declined and the bicycle was considered primarily as children's toys. Kids bikes were introduced just after the First World War by several manufacturers, such as Mead, Sears Roebuck, and Montgomery Ward, to revitalize the bike industry (Schwinn made its big splash slightly later), these designs, now called "classic", featured automobile and motorcycle elements to appeal to kids who, presumably, would rather have a motor. If ever a bike needed a motor, this was it. These bikes evolved into the most glamorous, fabulous, ostentatious, heavy designs ever. It is unbelievable today that 14-year-old kids could do the tricks that we did on these 65 pound machines! They were built into the middle 50s, by which time they had taken on design elements of jet aircraft and even rockets. By the 60s, they were becoming leaner and simpler.
1923	Bosch launches a dynamo (magneto) bicycle lighting system.
1930	Tullio Campagnolo patents the quick release hub.
1930's	Schwinn introduced the fat tire, spring fork, streamline Excelsior, designed to take the abuse of teenage boys, which was the proto-mountain bike. The Schwinn Excelsior frames became the model for the early mountain bikes almost fifty years later. See Classic Cycles
1934	Recumbents banned from racing. This had the effect of putting the recumbent bicycle design in the closet for fifty years, until it was re-discovered, primarily by MIT professor David Gordon Wilson and his students.
1938	Thomas M McDonald filed for a patent for a hub motor. This is the basic technology used in most electric bike motors to this day.
1938	Simplex introduced their cable shifted derailleur.
	Historic European footage of unusual bikes from the late 1930s and early 1940s. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdlpJqHxLxk
1940	Women bicyclists in the French Resistance, by Rebecca G. Halbreich, published in Ex Post Facto, San Francisco State University, CA., 1994
1950s	Tullio Campagnolo introduced cable-operated, parallelogram derailleur.  Campagnolo.  For two decades Campagnolo equipment dominated true racing bikes. Eventually, he acquires 135 patents.
1958	Women ride in the first-ever World Championships on the road and track.  Balina Ermolaeva becomes the first women's World Sprint Champion; Elsy Jacobs takes the road race.
1962	Renaissance: President's Council of Physical Fitness. Renewed interest in bicycle for recreation and fitness. This was the seed of a new major bicycle boom that accelerated through the 60's. The "English 3-speed" was the fancy consumer model of the time. Before the end of the decade it was the 10-speed derailleur "racing bike" which dominated the American market (the derailleur had been invented before the turn of the century and had been in more-or-less common use in Europe since).
1969	Audrey McElmury is the first American to wins the first World Road Cycling Championship, in Brno, Czechoslovakia, opening the door for American women to compete regularly in World Road cycling competition.
1970	Earth Day: Increased awareness of westerns civilization's level of consumption of natural resources, air pollution, and destruction of the natural environment. This generated a new spurt in the growth of bicycle sales and bicycling, especially around college campuses.
1973	Oil embargo: Fuel shortages and shifts in relative price of transportation options created an environment which encouraged bicycle commuting. Many of the new recruits to bicycling stuck to it after the end of the embargo and became enthusiasts. There was also reinvigorated interest in the engineering of bicycles, including renewed interest recumbents and fairings.
1976	Bikecentennial organized thousands of Americans to ride coast-to-coast to celebration the United States' bicentennial.  The project raised the profile of bicycle touring in North America and continues to this day as the Adventure Cycling Association.
1977	The prototype of the mountain bikes were first developed in Marin Co, California, north of San Francisco.  Joe Breeze, Otis Guy, Gary Fisher, and Craig Mitchell were the earliest designers, builders and promoters.
1978	A new round of steep oil prices increases further encouraged bicycling. More bikes than cars were being sold in the USA. Triple chain-ring cranks had become widely available, adding to the types of terrain and range of conditions that bicyclists could challenge.
1980's	Renewed interests in health and fitness, by the middle- and upper-class perpetuated the acceptance and growth of commuting, recreational and touring bicycling.
1980's	Bike messengers develop shoulder backs to carry large envelopes flat.  The style migrates into general use as an alternative to back packs, rucksacks and purses.
1980's	Aerobic exercisers take the padding out of bike shorts and use them in exercise class.  The style migrates into general use -- some wearers haven't exercised in decades.
1984	Tour de France Feminine run for the first time (winner: Marianne Martin.)
1984	Women's road race included in the Olympics for the first time (winner: Connie Carpenter.)  Successes by American racing cyclist in the 1984 Olympics drew attention and added prestige to cycling. The ranks of racing cyclists grew substantially.
1984	Cogs began to be added to the rear gear cluster the number of speeds increased from 15 to 18, 21 and 24.
1984	Three-time national XC champion Jacquie Phelan founds the Women's Mountain Bike and Tea Society; the first formal outreach organization for women.  WOMBATS is dedicated to introducing women to mountain biking in a fun, non-competitive environment.
1986	Department of the Interior and Nielson surveys show that bicycling is the third most popular participatory sport after swimming and general exercise.
1990	Shimano (Japanese) introduces integrated brake/gear levers.
1992	Vector Services Limited offered and sold an electric bicycle dubbed Zike. Since the oil crisis of 1973 there was renewed interest in electric power assist bikes and inventors and engineers improved the batteries, components and controls for ebikes. The next year, Yamaha builds the first mass-producible crank-drive pedelec motor supporting and reinforcing active pedaling.
1994	Sachs (SRAM) introduces PowerDisc, the first mass-produced hydraulic disc brake system.
1996	Mountain Bike compete at the Olympic Games for the first time in Atlanta, GA USA.
1998	Ebikes begin a period of rapid growth in Asia (China and India, in particular) and Europe. Worldwide they are the fast growing segment of the bicycle market in the new millennium.
2000	Rohloff Speedhub 14 speed internal hub gearing system, with no overlapping ratios and a gear range as wide as a 27-speed derailleur system.
2002	Campagnolo introduces 10 cog rear cluster, allowing for 30 speed bicycles.
2009	Shimano introduces the first commercially successful electronic shift system, the Di2. Early products had been developed by Sun Tour (1990), Mavic (1992), Sachs (1994), and Campagnolo (2005)
2010s	Dockless bike share systems are developed in China. They grew to involve over 100 cities and millions of bicycles.
2013	Dutch cyclist Jonkheer Sebastiaan Bowier broke the previous world speed record for unassisted cycling in a Human Powered Vehicle, clocking in at 133.78 kilometers per hour, over a 200 meter stretch.
2017	Dockless bike share system are introduced into North America, some companies include ebikes in their fleets.

Evolution of Bike Frame. GIF by Power Meter City

Infographic 50 Years of Bicycle Design

Infographic and narrative: 58 Milestones from Bicycle History

Infographic: Evolution of the Bicycle

National Bicycle History Archive of America™
Curator: Leon Dixon

"The rising interest in bicycle history has brought about an increasing demand for old bicycle information. As enthusiasts and collectors become more sophisticated, the quality of information becomes more important. Unfortunately far too little accurate information exists, despite a growing number of collectors, vendors, books, publications, etc. Furthermore, it is a hit-and-miss proposition when seeking personalized answers to specific needs and questions.

"Normal histories of most bicycle companies are non-existent or poorly documented. Information regarding specific years, precise details, and clear explanations of specific models is either non-existent or obscure at best. Nearly every bicycle book ever published completely deletes or glosses over the history of American-made bicycles of the period of 1920 to 1965. The few books which have attempted to address this era have been riddled with inaccuracies and/or missing information. Thus, the National Bicycle History Archive of America (NBHAA)™ has been organized to provide accurate and detailed information."

What is NBHAA?
It is an archive of historical materials related to bicycles. Materials of NBHAA have been around informally since the 1970s. However since 1993, The Archive has been actively in the process of formally organizing both itself and the history of bicycles. A computerized database is being compiled and an index will soon be available to interested parties, organizations, schools and libraries via the Internet at www.nbhaa.com.

NBHAA focuses on the history of American bicycles and the American bicycle industry. This interest also includes history of bicycle dealers, wholesaler/distributors, industry personalities, etc. Of course the bicycles themselves are a central focus of The Archive.

What does the NBHAA Contain?
NBHAA is a library of over 60,000 original catalogues, photos, books, documents related to bicycles (mainly domestic, but including much foreign). NBHAA also contains over 300 old original bicycle films such as Six Day Bike Rider and the 1930s safety film, On Two Wheels. The time range of the serious historical data starts in the 1860s and stretches to the 1970s. Additional pieces lead up to the present.

Examples of some original printed matter are bound volumes of League of American Wheelmen (L.A.W.) bulletins from the late l800s to the 1930s; CTC Gazettes from 1800s to the 1930s; mint, autographed turn-of-century books from Thomas Stevens, Major Taylor, Karl Kron and others; one of the first known English language bicycle books (from 1869); a nearly complete run of Columbia bicycle catalogues from 1877 through 1990; industry trade publications such as American Bicyclist, Bicycle World, Bicycle Journal, - and much more. Photos range from tin types to 8xl0 glossies to color transparencies.

Archives of several bicycle (and bicycle-related) companies including Cleveland Welding Company, Shelby, Delta Electric, TroxeI, Colson, Whizzer Motor Bike, Bowden (Bomard), H.P. Snyder, D.P. Harris, Sears Roebuck, Spiegel, Montgomery Ward, Western Auto, Murray-Ohio, Monark-Silver King, Mead Cycle, Manton & Smith and many others have been largely saved and categorized. These archives include original catalogues, photos, factory letters, dealer books, original advertisements and related data.

Of special interest is the historical area of Classic Bicycles (1920 through 1965). These were the deluxe (usually American) bicycles with streamlined styling, fat tires, built-in gadgets such as lights, horns and speedometers. These bicycles were particularly well known to the baby-boomer generation.

NBHAA is still seeking to acquire photos, movies and historical catalogues and printed information

How to Contact NBHAA?
Write, call or E-mail. Be sure to enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for replies. Due to the volume of inquiries, we cannot provide unlimited identifications without a minimum fee. Also be sure to enclose photographs of any bike or part in question.

Address: NBHAA, PO Box 787, Davis, CA 95617
Tel: 714-335-9072. Email: OldBicycle(at)aol.com

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