BICYCLE DESIGN BICYCLE DESIGN An Illustrated History TONY HADLAND AND HANS-ERHARD LESSING with contributions from Nick Clayton and Gary W. Sanderson The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2014 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales promotional use. For information, email
[email protected]. Set in Helvetica Neue by The MIT Press. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hadland, Tony. Bicycle design : an illustrated history / Tony Hadland and Hans-Erhard Lessing; with contributions from Nick Clayton and Gary W. Sanderson. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-02675-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Bicycles—Design and construction—History. 2. Bicycles— Parts—History. I. Lessing, Hans-Erhard. II. Title. TL400.H33 2014 629.2’31—dc23 2013023698 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 I’M MORE INTERESTED IN A WORLD THAT WORKS THAN WHAT SELLS. Paul MacCready, pioneer of human-powered flight CONTENTS Preface xi Acknowledgments xv A Note on Spelling and on the Names of Components xvii 1 Velocipedes and Their Forerunners 1 Mobility before the velocipede 1 A shortage of oats necessitates horseless transport 8 Diffusion of the single-track