MD 2012 The history of The Running Machine ---1817 The Hobby Horse ---1818

http://www.eriding.net/media/vintage_bicycles.shtml In 1817 Baron von Drais invented a machine to help him get In France, Baron von Drais’ running machine was The History of Bicycles http://www.eriding.net/media/StreetLife.shtmlS S S A aroundA the royal gardens faster. He called it a Laufsmachine. called a .A In England it was called the M In EnglishM that means Running MachineMachine. Hobby HorseHorse. It also Mbecame known as the Dandy HorseHorse.Horse P It was made of wood with a woodenP frame and wooden but there P L L In 1818, an Englishman called DenisL Johnson made his own version were no pedals and no brakes. There was a handle fixed to the front E E of Baron von Drais’ . Then heE opened a riding school in which was used to steer. S S London so that young gentlemen (dandies)S could learn how to ride L It wasn’t very good on bumpy ground L L I I the new bicycle. I D and it was very hard work to make it D D E move because it had to be moved by E E Many of us have a bicycle at home. Some of us have using your legs as though you were several bicycles that belong to different members of our running. To make it stop you had to family. Have you ever wondered who invented the first use your feet. bicycle? What did bicycles look like in the past? It wasn’t easy to ride. A lot of people laughed at it and thought it was a www.ks1resources.co.uk How are they different to ours? very silly idea.

Kirkpatrick Macmillan ---pedals The Velocipede or Boneshaker ---1865 The Penny Farthing ---1870 The Safety Bike ---1885 In 1885, John K Starley invented the first modern bike. It became The earliestS bicycles had no pedals but all In 1865 anotherS ‘two-wheeled riding machine’ was In 1870 theS first all metal machine appeared. S known as the Rover Safety BikeBike. It was much safer to ride than the that was to changeA when, in 1839, a invented by twoA frenchmen. They were called Pierre The pedals wereA still attached to the front wheel but it A M M M earlier penny farthings.M At first, safety bikes had solid rubber tyres Scottish blacksmith called Kirkpatrick and Ernest Michaux. In France their machine was had solid rubber tyres that made it much more comfortable P P P which made the ride uncomfortableP as riders were jolted along Macmillan, invented the first bicycle pedals. called the velocipede which in English means ‘fast foot’. to ride than the boneshaker. The rider had to sit on top of L L L rough roads. L E In England it was known as the BoneE ShakerShaker. Can you guess why? the ; it was very high up! ThereE was a little step above the back E Macmillan had the clever idea of putting pedalsS on the front wheel S wheel to help the rider get on. S The new had S so that instead of the rider having to push the Lbike along with their Boneshakers were very uncomfortable to ride on,L especially over L pedals that attached to a L This machine was called the Penny Farthing because the front wheel was feet, the rider could pedal it along. The pedals didn’tI go round like cobblestone roads. They shook your bones and thatI was why they I sprocket and there was a I D D like an old penny and the back wheel was like an old farthing.D It was D ours do, they went forwards and backwards. were called bone shakers. Not only was it uncomfortable to ride over chain that attached to the E E very popular with rich young men but was too expensive for ordinaryE E rear wheel like modern The wheels were still made of wood but to stop them wearing out rough ground, it was also difficult to pedal. people to buy. bikes today. Macmillan put a metal strip round the wheels to protect them. The The pedals moved round and round like pedals on a modern bike It was much faster but was very dangerous. If the rider roads were very rough and bumpy in those days. Sometimes there went over a bump in the road or had to stop quickly, but, because the pedals were attached to the same wheel that Everyone was excited about was only a muddy track with lots of pot holes. This meant that it they would be thrown over the handlebars so there were the new safety bicycles! was very uncomfortable to ride on, especially over cobblestone roads. steered the bike, it was difficult to pedal and steer at the same time. lots of accidents.

Pneumatic Tyres ---1887 John Boyd Dunlop and his bicycle with pneumatic tyres. Long ago, the first bicycles were so expensive that only rich men could afford them. When women first wanted to ride a bicycle there were a In 1887 somethingS important happened that was to make John BoydS Dunlop wasn’t actually the first person to S even more popular.A John Boyd Dunlop invented a new kind of tyre invent pneumaticA (inflatable) tyres. Another Scottish lot of men who Aobjected and said that ladies should not be allowed to that was filled with airM and which made riding much more inventor called RobertM Thompson had invented an ride but, ideas changeM just as new inventions come along. Bikes have inflatable tyre in 1845, forty years earlier, but no one comfortable. The tyre was Pcalled the pneumatic tyre. P changed a lot over the last hundredP years, not only in how they look L had been interested so he had Lforgotten all about it L E E but also the materials that are used Eto make them. It wasn’t long before manufacturers of bicycles realised that until ….. Dunlop’s idea was a very good one and hardS rubber tyres were S S L L What does your bike look like? L replaced with air filled tyres. At last, people could Imake faster, John Boyd Dunlop reinvented it and I I smoother, safer journeys. D suddenly everyone wanted the new tyres! D D E It wasn’t long before carriages E E www.ks1resources.co.uk People liked to cycle into the countryside on and then cars started using their days off and it meant that they could Dunlop’s tyres and ……. the travel further. The safety bike changed 1930s many people’s lives. ……. Dunlop tyres are still made and have the word A Moulton small-wheeled bike DUNLOP printed on them. 1962 Raleigh Chopper bike BMX 1970 2006