Early Years
Posted in Uncategorized on 10/07/2008 06:10 am by admin
Early Years
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US $4.54
![The Early Years BCI] by Frank Sinatra Like new Thanks](http://www.luxsox.com/images/e/180888298472_0.jpg)
The bicycle is one of the world's most important inventions and has a very interesting history with some rather surprising facts. For example, just about anyone that knows a thing or two about bicycles will be familiar with most of the items in this list;
- Derailleur
- Aluminum Frame
- Clipless Pedals
- Freewheel
- Suspension
- Anatomical Seats/Saddles
- Folding Bike
Would you believe that every one of these was invented in the late 1800's? It is a fact. By the turn of the century a lot of focus was on improving the basic bicycle. At that time there were two buildings in Washington DC that held every patent in the U.S. One building held patents for every type of invention you could think of. The other building was just for bicycle patents.
Many of these patents never became successful. However many important milestones were achieved as a result of others improving on designs or abandoned experiments. This causes some confusion a lot of times as to who the true inventor is of a particular component. Does the idea on paper constitute an invention without a working prototype? Or does the first successful working one deserve to be recognized. It has and always will be a topic of discussion. Even the invention of the bicycle itself is a topic of debate.
Some argue that a drawing from a Leonardo da Vinci student in 1493 depicts what some may call a bicycle. Others say it is a hoax. Either way there were no working bicycles until the late 1800's. And even then there is controversy.
Most contend that the likely inventor is actually a group of people and their inventions combined built the basis for what we know as a bicycle today. In 1866 a patent application was granted and it is the world's first public record of a two wheel machine that was pedal powered. The name on the patent was Pierre Lallement a Frenchmen.
Following is a brief look at some of the important milestones through the early years beginning with the busy late 1800's.
- Spoked Wheels - 1870 in England
- Ball Bearings - 1872 in Germany
- Caliper Brakes - 1876 in England
- Differential Gears - 1877 in England
- Seamless Tube Frames - 1886 in Germany
- Pneumatic Bicycle Tire - 1888 in Scotland by John B. Dunlop.
- Aluminum Frame - 1890 in France
- Derailleur - 1896 in England
- Freewheel - 1898 in Germany
Things began to slow down shortly past the turn of the century in terms of major developments up until the 1930's and 40's. Of note however is the invention of the Dual Suspension Mountain Bike developed by the Italian maker Bianchi for use by the Italian Army.
From 1930 to the late 40's there were a number of major developments.
- Quick Release Hubs - 1930 in Italy by Tulio Campagnolo
- Recumbent Bike - 1932 in France by Mochet who breaks both the records for the mile and the kilometer.
- Balloon Tires - 1933 in U.S.A introduced by Schwinn. Important due to what will happen in a few years, see 1938.
- Mountain Bike - 1938 in U.S.A. from Schwinn an improved design from previous versions. The grandfather of todays mountain bikes.
- Shifters - 1946 in Italy from Campagnolo.
From the 1960's until today there have been many improvements on the old designs and some new inventions as well. The next article in this series will look at the 1960's through the 90's and some of the major advancements and trends that developed.
Scott Henderson originally from upstate New York resides today in South Korea. He is self-employed involved in several projects. One of Scott's latest projects is http://backpacksforschoolonline.com/ which assists shoppers to find quality school backpacks and children's backpacks.
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