Bike history

Information about bicycles and scooters until 1817 is doubtful. So, the drawing of a two-wheeled bicycle with a steering wheel and a chain transmission, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci , or to his student Giacomo Caprotti , according to many, is a fake ^[1] . The stained glass window in the church of St. Egyidius in the English village of Stoke Poges depicts a human figure on something like a scooter ^[2] , which N. Pevzner calls "the image of a funny horse made in the XVII century ( C17 representation of a hobby horse)." ^{[3] A} scooter allegedly of 1791 attributed to Count de Sivrac ( Comte de Sivrac ) - falsification of 1891 , invented by the French journalist Louis Baudry. In fact, there was no Count de Sivraq, the prototype was Gene Henry Sivrack, who received permission in 1817 to import four-wheeled carriages. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

The legend ^[7] about the serf-craftsman-craftsman Efim Artamonov was born in the Urals , from the Tagil factory village (now the city of Nizhny Tagil ), who designed the bike around 1800 . ^[8] According to this legend, the inventor made a successful run on his bicycle from the Ural workers' village of the Tagil factory village to Moscow (about two thousand miles). ^[8] This was the first bike ride in the world. On this journey, the serf Artamonov was sent by his owner, the owner of the plant, Akinfy Demidov , who wanted to surprise Tsar Alexander I with a “strange scooter” (“ Artamonov’s Bicycle ”). ^[8] For the invention of the bicycle, Artamonov with all his family and all offspring was granted freedom from serfdom. ^[8] Artamonov’s bicycle is allegedly stored in the Nizhny Tagil Museum of Local Lore . As shown by a chemical analysis of iron, a bicycle from the Nizhny Tagil Museum turned out to be a home-made article of the late 19th century (made no earlier than 1870 ), made according to English samples ^{[9] [10] [11]} .

As for Artamonov himself, he was first mentioned in the book of V. D. Belov “ Historical sketch of the Ural mining plants ” ( 1898 edition, St. Petersburg ): “During the coronation of Emperor Paul, and therefore in 1801 , the workshop of the Ural plants "Artamonov ran on the bicycle he invented, for which, by order of the emperor, he received freedom with all his offspring." In fact, Paul I was crowned in 1797 , and in 1801 - Alexander I. Belov makes no reference to documents confirming his astounding find. They were not found later. No mention of Artamonov could be found either in the camera-and-furrier ceremonial magazines of 1796 , 1797 and 1801 , nor in the "agenda on the death of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Pavel Petrovich", nor in the description of the coronation of His Imperial Majesty Alexander Pavlovich, nor in " list of all the graces poured out his late emperor Paul I on the day of his coronation 5 on April 1797 year ", nor in the archives of the Office of the NN Novosiltsev, established in 1801 , and covers an examination of technical inventions, nor on the list of materials repostnyh inventors and published in "Notes of the Fatherland" PP Svinyin ( 1818 - 1830 ). No other documents were found that would confirm Belov’s story.

The prototype of the legend may have served as the serf inventor E. G. Kuznetsov-Zhepinsky , who actually received the free (together with his nephew Artamon) in 1801 for his inventions. However, Kuznetsov did not design a bicycle, but a car with a verstometer and a musical organ.

In 1817, German professor Baron Karl von Dres of Karlsruhe created a model, and in 1818 he patented the first two-wheeled scooter , which he called the “Laufmaschine”. The Dreza scooter was two-wheeled, equipped with a wheel and looked as a whole, like a bicycle without pedals; the frame was wooden. In English and French, the invention was called a trolley ( Draisine and draisienne respectively) in honor of the inventor. ^[12] . After some time, the invention became popular in the UK, where he was nicknamed the “Dandy Hors”. Many British carriage manufacturers began to produce their own scooters; the most notable of these was Denis Johnson of London, who announced at the end of 1818 the release of an improved model. ^[13] The word "bicycle" ( vélocipède ) was coined by the French inventor Joseph Nisefort Niepce to refer to the advanced Drez scooter equipped with a height-adjustable saddle . ^{[14] A} possible reason for the invention was that the previous year, 1816, was “A Year Without Summer” . Then, due to the eruption of the Tambora volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, almost the entire Northern Hemisphere suffered the most severe climatic anomaly in history, which catastrophically affected the harvest, caused hunger and reduced the number of horses. ^[15]

In the years 1839 - 1840, the smith Kirkpatrick Macmillan in a small village in the south of Scotland improved the invention of Drez by adding pedals and a saddle. Thus, Macmillan created a bicycle similar to a modern one. The pedals pushed the rear wheel, with which they were connected by metal rods through connecting rods. The front wheel was turned by the wheel, the cyclist was sitting between the front and rear wheels. Macmillan's bike was ahead of its time and remained little known.

In 1845, the Englishman R.W. Thompson patented an inflatable tire, but it turned out to be technologically imperfect.

In 1862, Pierre Lalman , A 19-year-old master in the manufacture of baby strollers from Nancy (France), saw the “dandy horses” and came up with the option to equip it with pedals - on the front wheel. ^[16] Lalman did not know anything about Macmillan's bike, and his car had to be pedaled, not pushed. In 1863, Lalman moved to Paris, where he made the first bicycle, reminiscent of modern ones.

In 1864, the Lyon industrialists, the Olivier brothers, appreciated the potential of the Lalman machine and, in collaboration with coach engineer Pierre Michaud, began the mass production of “dandy horzes” with pedals. ^[17] Michaud guessed to make the bicycle frame metal. According to some reports, Michaud came up with the name “bicycle” for the device. After working with Michaud-Olivier for a short time, Lalman went to America, where in November 1866 he patented his invention. Obviously, Pierre Lalman should be considered the actual inventor of the bicycle.

Since the 70s of the XIX century, the “ penny-farthing ” scheme began to gain popularity. The name describes the proportionality of the wheels, for the penny coin was much more than farthing . There were pedals on the “penny” hub of the front wheel, and the rider’s saddle was almost directly on top of them. The high seat height and center of gravity, shifted to the front wheel, made such a bike very dangerous. An alternative to them were three-wheeled scooters .

In 1867, the inventor Kauper proposed a successful design of a metal wheel with spokes. In 1878 , the English inventor Lawson introduced a chain drive into the construction of a bicycle.

The first bike, similar to those used today, was called Rover - "Wanderer." It was made in 1884 by the English inventor John Kemp Starley and has been produced since 1885 . Unlike the penny-farthing bike, the Rover had a rear-wheel chain drive, identical wheels in size, and the driver was sitting between the wheels. Bicycles of this design are called safe (Safety) ^[18] , and the word Rover in many languages ​​still means a bicycle (Polish Rower, Belarusian Rovar, Western Ukrainian Rover [Rov`er]). Rover became a huge automobile concern and lasted until April 15, 2005 , when it was liquidated due to bankruptcy. In Russia, safe bicycles, due to the identical size of both wheels, were called bisiclets ^[19] or bicycles ^[20] from the (French bicyclette ), however, later this word practically went out of use ^[21] .

In 1888, Scot John Boyd Dunlop invented rubber inflatable tires. They were technically more advanced than those patented in 1845, and were widely used. After that, the bicycles got rid of the nickname "bone shakers." This invention made cycling much more convenient, which contributed to their popularization. ^{[22] The} 1890s were called the golden age of bicycles.

Although the bicycles of the 1890s were in many respects similar to modern ones, but since they were usually made of rusting steel (they did not know how to cook stainless steel yet) and were not painted, they required laborious maintenance (cleaning, lubrication, washing with gasoline or kerosene) after each trip. The description of “regular bicycle cleaning” in a 1895 book covers 4 pages. ^[23]

In 1898 , pedal brakes and a freewheel mechanism were invented, which made it possible not to pedal when the bike rolled itself. In the same years, hand brakes were also invented, but they did not immediately find widespread use.

The first folding bike was made in 1878 , the first aluminum ones in the 1890s , and the first ligade (sometimes called rikambent, a bike that you can ride in a lying position) - in 1895 (and in 1914 the mass production of ligades by the company " Peugeot ").

The first gearshift mechanisms belong to the beginning of the 20th century. However, they were imperfect. One of the first ways to change gears used on sports bikes was to equip the rear wheel with two sprockets - one on each side. To switch speed, it was necessary to stop, remove the rear wheel and turn it over, again locking and pulling the chain. The planetary gear shift mechanism was invented in 1903 and became popular in the 1930s . The speed switch, in the form in which it is used today on most bicycles, was invented only in 1950 by the famous Italian cyclist and bicycle manufacturer Tullio Campagnolo .

Bicycles continued to improve in the second half of the 20th century. In 1974, the mass production of bicycles from titanium began , and in 1975 from carbon fiber . In 1983, a bicycle computer was invented. In the early 1990s, the index speed shifting system became widespread.

During the 20th century, interest in bicycles experienced its peaks and dips. Since about 1905 , bicycles in many countries, in particular in the USA , began to go out of fashion due to the development of road transport. Traffic police often regarded cyclists as obstructing the movement of cars. By 1940, bicycles in North America were considered toys for children. Since the late 1960s, bicycles have again become fashionable in developed countries, thanks to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and the general awareness of the importance of environmental issues.

In the USSR, at the end of the 20th century, the most common bicycle models were (sorted by ascending size): "Kid", Friend , Butterfly , Lyovushka , "Champion", Veterok , Olimpik , Shkolnik , Eaglet , Cross , Kama , Desna , Salute , Uralets , Ukraine , Minsk, Stork , Urals , Tourist , Sputnik , Start-highway . There were several models for children with detachable side wheels - "Friend", "Little Humpbacked Horse", "Bear", "Lyovushka", "Olympic", "Bunny-3".

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