# History of the bicycle
The history of the bicycle is the two-century development of a human-powered, two-wheeled vehicle, from the pedal-less running machine of 1817 through the pedal-driven velocipede, the high-wheeled ordinary, and the chain-driven safety bicycle of 1885, whose basic design has remained in use since.[1](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/si-bikes/si-bikes-velocipede) • [2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First bicycle | The Laufmaschine ("running machine"), or draisine, invented by Freiherr Karl von Drais in Germany in 1817; patented in 1818 and marketed in Paris as the vélocipède[1](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/si-bikes/si-bikes-velocipede) • [2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/) |
| First pedals | Pedals fixed to the front wheel appeared around 1863 in the workshop of Pierre Michaux; the rough ride on wood-and-iron wheels earned the machine the nickname "boneshaker"[2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/) |
| High wheel | James Starley's high-wheelers of 1870, later called penny-farthings, placed the rider above a large front drive wheel; the Ariel was patented in 1870 by James Starley and William Hillman[2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/) • [3](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2020.104134) |
| Modern form | John Kemp Starley's Rover safety bicycle of 1885, with two equal-sized wheels and chain drive to the rear wheel, became the blueprint for bicycles to this day[4](https://www.transport-museum.com/visiting/cycle-pioneers-1868-to-1900.aspx) |
| Pneumatic tire | John Boyd Dunlop developed the pneumatic tire in 1888; from about 1890 virtually all safety bicycles were fitted with it[2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/) |
| The boom | US production rose from an estimated 200,000 bicycles in 1889 to 1,000,000 in 1899; the League of American Wheelmen topped 100,000 members by 1898[5](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/si-bikes/si-bikes-safety) • [6](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/jgURpnKD7dX4Jw) |
| Later milestones | The recumbent was banned from International Cycling Union races in 1934; the first purpose-built mountain bike frame, Joe Breeze's Breezer 1, was hand-built in 1977[6](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/jgURpnKD7dX4Jw) • [7](https://www.americanhistory.si.edu/ne/collections/object/nmah_1419571) |
## The draisine, 1817–1860s
The first machine to use the principles of a bicycle was invented and patented in 1817 in Mannheim, Germany, by Karl von Drais, a German forester who used it for daily inspection tours.[8](https://www.cyclemuseum.org.uk/DevelopmentOfCycling.aspx) • [9](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED140087.pdf) His Laufmaschine had a simple wooden frame, two wooden wheels of similar size, a seat in the middle, and movable handlebars, but no pedals; the rider propelled it by pushing against the ground with the feet, and could lift the legs and freewheel once momentum was built up.[2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/) After receiving a patent in 1818, Drais brought his Draisienne to Paris, where it obtained a second patent and was given the name vélocipède; that name remained current until roughly 1869, when "bicycle" entered usage.[1](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/si-bikes/si-bikes-velocipede)
The draisine worked well enough on smooth roadways and flat terrain, but it was never popular; a Philadelphia observer called it "a mere apology for a decent man to take a race by himself."[6](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/jgURpnKD7dX4Jw) Its main value lay in the improvements it inspired.[6](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/jgURpnKD7dX4Jw)
## The velocipede and the boneshaker
In roughly 1863, the vélocipède was introduced by the French inventor Pierre Michaux: a wooden machine whose pedals attached directly to the front wheel, allowing the rider to start and stay in motion without a foot on the ground.[2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/) The Smithsonian notes that the addition of pedals happened in Michaux's workshop, but that it cannot certainly be said whether he or his employee Pierre Lallement deserves the credit.[1](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/si-bikes/si-bikes-velocipede) Lallement, a French immigrant to the United States, obtained a patent titled "Improvement in Velocipedes" (US patent 59,915) in 1866, with an American partner named [James Carroll](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-carroll); the patent drawing shows a machine strikingly similar to first-generation Michaux velocipedes.[10](https://www.rexresearch1.com/BicycleLibrary/BicycleDesignIllustrHistoryHadland.pdf)
Like the draisine, the wood-and-iron velocipede gave an uncomfortable ride: the cyclist felt every bump in the road, hence the "boneshaker" nickname.[2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/) Cushioning the metal wheels with rubber did not much improve it.[6](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/jgURpnKD7dX4Jw)
## The high-wheel ordinary
In the late 1860s engineers increased velocipede speed and efficiency by greatly enlarging the front drive wheel, since a single push of the pedals carried the machine farther.[6](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/jgURpnKD7dX4Jw) James Starley in England took the vélocipède to this next stage in 1870; his high-wheelers, better known later as penny-farthings, kept the pedals on the front wheel with the rider sitting more or less directly above it, and a lever on the handlebars applied a simple brake to the front wheel.[2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/) The Ariel bicycle, an early high-wheel system, was patented in 1870 by James Starley and William Hillman (British patent number 2,236).[3](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2020.104134)
The ordinary gave cycling a significant boost: penny-farthings were bought by youngsters from well-to-do families, races were organized for them, and a fit cyclist could sustain speeds of between 16 and 25 kilometers an hour while seated more than 2.5 meters off the ground.[2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/) • [11](https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/freewheeling-cycling-australia/accordion/australias-first-bikes) The danger was equally distinctive. When the front wheel hit a bump or stopped abruptly, the whole machine rotated forward on the front axle and landed the rider on his head; cyclists called this a "header," a term said to have originated with these tall bicycles.[6](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/jgURpnKD7dX4Jw) • [12](https://apnews.com/article/d5b1a7b85bef642173e11434b1e734bc) Despite the speeds it could reach, the high wheel eventually fell out of favor because of the severe injuries sustained by many of its riders.[13](https://www.dekeslaytonmuseum.org/content/exhibits)
## The safety bicycle and the pneumatic tire
Coventry's [Henry Lawson](https://www.edgepedia.org/henry-lawson) was the first to tackle the safety problem, patenting a "safety bicycle" in 1876; Singer, Humber, Premier, the Coventry Machinists, and Swift all produced versions, but none really took off until J. K. Starley developed the Rover Safety Bicycle.[4](https://www.transport-museum.com/visiting/cycle-pioneers-1868-to-1900.aspx) Introduced in 1885 by John Kemp Starley, the Rover had roughly equal-sized wheels, a saddle in the middle of the frame, and pedals driving the rear wheel via a chain, making it much easier and safer to ride than a penny-farthing, hence the name.[2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/) The first rear-drive bicycle to gain large success was this "Rover safety" of John Kemp Starley and William Sutton in 1885.[3](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2020.104134) Chain technology supported the design: Hans Renold's bush roller (1880) and block roller (1885) chains became the commercial standard for track racers and non-racing cycles.[3](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2020.104134)
In 1888 John Boyd Dunlop developed the pneumatic tire, and from around 1890 virtually all safety bicycles were fitted with the much more comfortable tires; brakes were also improved in the 1890s.[2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/) • [5](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/si-bikes/si-bikes-safety) By around 1895 the safety bicycle had basically reached the peak of its development: the men's model had a diamond-shaped frame and the women's model a bent-tube frame, and later changes were incremental variations on this basic set-up.[2](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/) The bicycle of the twenty-first century has not changed in concept from the machine developed by John Kemp Starley and others in the mid-1880s.[14](https://www.cyclemuseum.org.uk/TypesOfBicycleListing.aspx?ID=4)
## The 1890s boom
The safety bicycle triggered cycling's greatest era of popularity among men and women.[6](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/jgURpnKD7dX4Jw) In the United States, production rose from an estimated 200,000 bicycles in 1889 to 1,000,000 in 1899, and by the mid-1890s more than a million new bikes were being built in the country each year.[5](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/si-bikes/si-bikes-safety) • [15](https://www.thehenryford.org/collections/explore/articles/detail/articles/2025/05/05/bicycles--powering-possibilities) In the last decade of the 19th century, at least one-third of all new patent applications at the US Patent Office were bicycle related.[16](https://fi.edu/en/science-and-education/collection/bicycle-technology) In 1900 the US bicycle industry paid $10,000,000 in wages and salaries, bought $17,000,000 worth of materials, and employed 20,000 Americans to manufacture about 1,200,000 bicycles at an estimated $100 each.[17](https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-bicycle-craze)
**Women and the wheel.** Women took to the bicycle in huge numbers during the 1890s craze, and mastery of the bicycle became a metaphor for women's mastery over their lives.[18](https://guides.loc.gov/bicycles-cycling-history/subject/women) Museum signage quotes the suffragist [Susan B. Anthony](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-b-anthony) saying the safety bicycle "has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world," and the bicycle helped popularize bloomers, baggy trousers cinched at the knees.[12](https://apnews.com/article/d5b1a7b85bef642173e11434b1e734bc) • [6](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/jgURpnKD7dX4Jw) The women's drop-frame bicycle of 1887 solved the problem of entangled skirts, and a female cyclist writing in 1899 called the bicycle "in truth the women's emancipator."[19](https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-early-bicycle-fashion) • [20](https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/the-thing-that-transcends-time-is-the-escapism-of-the-bike-how-the-victorians-lost-their-minds-over-cycling-the-following-made-up-diseases-and-social-change) Women's professional bicycle racing thrived in the United States from 1895 to 1902.[18](https://guides.loc.gov/bicycles-cycling-history/subject/women)
## Good roads and the bicycle's industrial legacy
Cyclists founded the Good Roads Movement. In 1880 a coalition of bicycle clubs gathered in [Newport, Rhode Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/newport-rhode-island), and formed the League of American Wheelmen, known today as the League of American Bicyclists, to lobby for safer, smoother roads against the rutted gravel and dirt that challenged riders.[21](https://www.history.com/articles/good-roads-movement-bicycling-origins) • [22](https://bikeleague.org/about/equity-and-history/) Albert Pope, the dominant American bicycle manufacturer, funded the monthly magazine *Good Roads*, endowed highway-engineering courses at MIT, and in 1892 founded the National League for Good Roads; his "monster" petition of 150,000 names, spooled on hand-cranked oak spools resembling bicycle wheels, was delivered to the US Capitol in 1893.[21](https://www.history.com/articles/good-roads-movement-bicycling-origins) • [23](https://connecticuthistory.org/the-league-of-american-wheelmen-and-the-good-roads-movement-how-popes-bicycles-led-to-good-roads/) That year Congress authorized the Office of Road Inquiry in the US Department of Agriculture, a direct precursor of the [Federal Highway Administration](https://www.edgepedia.org/federal-highway-administration).[21](https://www.history.com/articles/good-roads-movement-bicycling-origins) • [23](https://connecticuthistory.org/the-league-of-american-wheelmen-and-the-good-roads-movement-how-popes-bicycles-led-to-good-roads/) Brooklyn's Ocean Parkway became the first street in the country with a designated bike lane in 1894.[21](https://www.history.com/articles/good-roads-movement-bicycling-origins)
The industry also seeded later machines. Many pioneer automobile builders began as bicycle manufacturers, among them Charles E. Duryea, Alexander Winton, and Colonel Albert A. Pope; Wilbur and [Orville Wright](https://www.edgepedia.org/orville-wright) were bicycle manufacturers in [Dayton, Ohio](https://www.edgepedia.org/dayton-ohio), before turning to aviation, and used bicycle components in their first airplane.[5](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/si-bikes/si-bikes-safety) • [13](https://www.dekeslaytonmuseum.org/content/exhibits)
## Decline and revival, 1900–1970s
Between 1900 and 1905 the number of bicycle manufacturers in the United States shrank from 312 to 101, partly from interest in the automobile, partly from a switch to other forms of recreation, and partly because electric railways took over sidepaths originally built for bicycle use; for over half a century afterward the bicycle was used largely by children.[5](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/si-bikes/si-bikes-safety) By 1908 the US industry manufactured 250,000 bicycles at an estimated $35 each, down from about 1,200,000 at $100 in 1900.[17](https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-bicycle-craze)
Adult interest revived in the late 1960s as a non-polluting, non-congesting means of transportation and recreation. American bicycle production approached 5 million units in 1970, while roughly 75 million people—riding a combined 50 million bikes—made cycling the country's most popular outdoor pastime.[5](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/si-bikes/si-bikes-safety)
## Mountain bikes and recent development
[Mountain biking](https://www.edgepedia.org/mountain-biking) developed as a sport in the mid-1970s in [Marin County, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/marin-county-california), where riders modified older cruiser bikes, nicknamed "clunkers," for downhill races called "Repack Races," named because hub-based coaster brakes had to be disassembled and repacked with grease after each run.[7](https://www.americanhistory.si.edu/ne/collections/object/nmah_1419571) Joe Breeze hand-built the first Breezer 1 (JBX1) frame in 1977, the first bicycle frame designed specifically for mountain biking; Tom Ritchey began building fat-tire mountain bikes in 1979, sold by Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly, and in 1982 Specialized released the Stumpjumper.[7](https://www.americanhistory.si.edu/ne/collections/object/nmah_1419571) Mountain biking became an International Cycling World Championship event in 1990 and an Olympic event at the 1996 Atlanta games.[7](https://www.americanhistory.si.edu/ne/collections/object/nmah_1419571)
Other twentieth-century branches include the recumbent, first designed in the late 1800s but banned from International Cycling Union races in 1934 after a recumbent rider beat the world champion on a conventional bicycle, and electric bicycles, for which Ogden Bolton Jr. received a US patent on 31 December 1895 for a battery-powered machine with a hub motor in the rear wheel.[6](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/jgURpnKD7dX4Jw) • [24](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-90185268-EXA-10.pdf) Recent decades have seen new materials such as titanium and carbon fiber in specialist construction, along with mountain, road, and electric bike designs.[8](https://www.cyclemuseum.org.uk/DevelopmentOfCycling.aspx) • [25](https://europe-diplomatic.eu/app/uploads/2024/07/MAGAZINE-EUROPE-DIPLOMATIC_EDM-60_July-2024.pdf)
## References
1. [The Development of the Velocipede, Smithsonian Institution](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/si-bikes/si-bikes-velocipede)
2. [The development of the bicycle, Design Museum Den Bosch](https://designmuseum.nl/en/verdieping-item/the-development-of-the-bicycle/)
3. [Bicycle aerodynamics: History, state-of-the-art and future perspectives, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2020.104134)
4. [Cycle Pioneers 1868 to 1900, Coventry Transport Museum](https://www.transport-museum.com/visiting/cycle-pioneers-1868-to-1900.aspx)
5. [The Safety Bicycle and Beyond, Smithsonian Institution](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/si-bikes/si-bikes-safety)
6. [How We Ride: A History of Play on Two Wheels, The Strong National Museum of Play via Google Arts & Culture](https://artsandculture.google.com/story/jgURpnKD7dX4Jw)
7. [Breezer 1 Mountain Bike, National Museum of American History](https://www.americanhistory.si.edu/ne/collections/object/nmah_1419571)
8. [Development of Cycling, National Cycle Museum](https://www.cyclemuseum.org.uk/DevelopmentOfCycling.aspx)
9. [History of the Bicycle, ERIC document ED140087](https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED140087.pdf)
10. [Bicycle Design: An Illustrated History, Hadland & Lessing](https://www.rexresearch1.com/BicycleLibrary/BicycleDesignIllustrHistoryHadland.pdf)
11. [Australia's first bikes, National Museum of Australia](https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/freewheeling-cycling-australia/accordion/australias-first-bikes)
12. [Pedal through cycling history at this Ohio bike museum, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/d5b1a7b85bef642173e11434b1e734bc)
13. [Exhibits, Deke Slayton Memorial Space & Bicycle Museum](https://www.dekeslaytonmuseum.org/content/exhibits)
14. [The Safety Bicycle, National Cycle Museum](https://www.cyclemuseum.org.uk/TypesOfBicycleListing.aspx?ID=4)
15. [Bicycles: Powering Possibilities, The Henry Ford](https://www.thehenryford.org/collections/explore/articles/detail/articles/2025/05/05/bicycles--powering-possibilities)
16. [Bicycle Technology, The Franklin Institute](https://fi.edu/en/science-and-education/collection/bicycle-technology)
17. [Bicycle Craze: Topics in Chronicling America, Library of Congress](https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-bicycle-craze)
18. [Women and Bicycles, Library of Congress](https://guides.loc.gov/bicycles-cycling-history/subject/women)
19. [Bicycle Fashion (1887–1907): Topics in Chronicling America, Library of Congress](https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-early-bicycle-fashion)
20. [How the Victorians lost their minds over cycling, Cycling Weekly](https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/the-thing-that-transcends-time-is-the-escapism-of-the-bike-how-the-victorians-lost-their-minds-over-cycling-the-following-made-up-diseases-and-social-change)
21. [How Bicyclists Paved the Way for Modern Highways, HISTORY](https://www.history.com/articles/good-roads-movement-bicycling-origins)
22. [Equity and Our History, League of American Bicyclists](https://bikeleague.org/about/equity-and-history/)
23. [The League of American Wheelmen and Hartford's Albert Pope Champion the Good Roads Movement, Connecticut History](https://connecticuthistory.org/the-league-of-american-wheelmen-and-the-good-roads-movement-how-popes-bicycles-led-to-good-roads/)
24. [Electric bicycle, USPTO TTAB exhibit document](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/ttabvue-90185268-EXA-10.pdf)
25. [Europe Diplomatic Magazine EDM-60, July 2024](https://europe-diplomatic.eu/app/uploads/2024/07/MAGAZINE-EUROPE-DIPLOMATIC_EDM-60_July-2024.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Transport and spaceflight › Road transport › Bicycles and pedal-cycle technology*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license