History of bikes
History of bikes
A bicycle is a vehicle consisting of two wheels attached to a frame and steered by a fix tandem, and propelled by the shaire force of the user who put pressure on pedals that make the wheel spin. The invention of the bicycle date far back to the 17th century, and since then has been constantly modified during the past decades to reach the bicycle who know today.
The first bicycle , a wooden scooter-like vehicle, named a �celerifere,� was invented by Comte Mede de Sivrac of France. It consisted of two big wheels connected to a wooden beam. At that time, there were no handlebar, no pedals, instead the rider sat on a cushion and pushed his feet against the ground. In 1817, Baron Karl von Drais of Germany invented a improved model called a �draisienne, which added a steering bar connected to the front wheel. Twenty years later, a Scottish blacksmith, Kirkpatrick Macmillan, added foot pedals to the Draisienne.
In the 1870�s came a bike called a penny- Farthing.
It consisted of a huge front wheel, 1.5 meters tall,
and a very small back wheel. The advantage of this
model was that it could travel a greater distance with
a single turn of the pedals. But because it the wheels
were so tall, the bicycle was unstable and many people
wouldn�t try it.
In 1885, J. K. Starley, an English bicycle manufacturer, producted the first commercially successful bicycle. It was much lower than the penny-Farthing with two wheels of the equal size, making the bicycle much more stable. It was the first bicycle that incorporated the design and parts of today�s bike. Later, the iron tires were replaced with solid rubber tires and patented name �bicycle� was given to it.
Years later, with the coming of the industrial revolution, the bicycle industry lost ground and almost disappeared. The 1900�s brought the invention of cars, and the bike sales dropped dramastically. But since the 1960 and 1970�s, air pollution, and the need for physical fitness has prompted many people to choose bike riding as a form of exercise and transportation, and the biking industry exploded. The advantages of bikes are far greater than any other types of transportation: there cheap, there fast, there don�t pollute the planet and they�re enjoying to ride and provide greated physical activity that leads to a better health. Today, there are many types of bikes, each adapted for the terrain and the activity.
The Mountain bike
This type of bike was greated over...
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