Who invented the bicycle and when?

If you find out who invented the wheel, it is hardly possible today, then the bicycle author will not be nameless. Although this question does not deserve an unequivocal answer: it is worth mentioning the premises of the invention of a vehicle that is not losing popularity, as well as those whose names can definitely be associated with a bicycle.

In the time of Alexander the Great, according to ancient sources, wheeled vehicles already existed, which were set in motion by muscular force. They might look a little different than the bicycles we are used to today, but still a lot of the design made them similar to this transport. For example, the hamaxicon is the cart of Dionysius, the lord of Syracuse. In antiquity, there were other variations of the carts, which we can consider akin to a bicycle. But the ancient technologists were still far from the brilliant simplicity of the design.

The next name without which the history of the bike cannot go further is the great and incomprehensible Leonardo da Vinci. And just one testimony - the modest drawing, found in 1974 in the archives of the University of Milan, gave reason to consider the legendary Italians as the “father” of the bicycle.

A drawing of the device, which no longer doubts the resemblance to a bicycle, was found on the back of Leonardo's drawing. But today this seductive theory is now considered falsification and nothing more: they say, to a couple of circles really painted by da Vinci, our contemporaries have almost finished painting the case.

Nikolai Pevzner considers the inventor of the Count de Sivrac bicycle, however, there are so many hoaxes and inconsistencies in this story that it also does not claim authenticity.

To name just one name, connecting it with the invention of the bicycle, will not work. There are several masters whose appearance led to the creation of the famous transport. We will talk about each of them briefly.

• Karl von Drez. The famous baron, professor of mechanics and engineering, invented the first two-wheeled scooter without pedals on a wooden frame. The invention also had a steering wheel. They called the device “a walking machine” or a trolley. But do not confuse the design of the baron and the modern trolley - the name is one, the principles of work are different. Nevertheless, many historians claim that it was the German professor who invented the first bicycle in 1817. A year later, the entrepreneurial Dennis Johnson improved this model.

• Kirkpatrick Macmillan And this is a simple (although it is appropriate adjective to the inventor) blacksmith who attached pedals and a lowered saddle to a trolley. It happened around 1840. And although the design of Macmillan is most reminiscent of modern bicycles, for its age and time it was too unusual a technique. The blacksmith, without knowing it, was ahead of time. It’s a pity, because he could have gained a completely different fame, if his contemporaries appreciated his invention.

• Pierre Lalman. But Pierre more precisely fell into time and in consumer demand. The manufacturer of prams was able to patent a bicycle with pedals in 1862 (or 1863), and the device became known as the dandy-horse. And a couple of years later, the Oliv brothers, in collaboration with coach coach Pierre Michaud, launched the production of the Lalman bicycle on an industrial scale.

• John Starley We owe it to the emergence of demand for the first bicycles with the same wheels, chain transmission and the usual driver’s seat today. It happened in the years 1884-85.

So, the date and day of the creation of the bicycle cannot be known, since this structure smoothly emerged from related structures. And the famous version of the origin of the bicycle from Russia also cannot claim to be true. And no matter how many would like to connect this invention with the name of the peasant Efim Artamonov, the bicycle stored in the museum of Nizhny Tagil is nothing more than its late counterfeiting.

Who was the first, definitely can not be said. If we draw a parallel with mountaineering, then there, although Hillary and Norgay are considered to be the pioneers on Everest, there are also unrecorded, but it is quite possible that there were ascents (the same Mallory). So it is here: there are patents, industrial production, witnessed steps by engineers and industrialists. But there are also the actions of the predecessors, without which the subsequent modernization of transport would be impossible.

The Lalman case continued to develop in 1867, when Cowper invented a spoke wheel. And this step can also be called a breakthrough. No less interesting was the story unfolding in Russia.

If you still believe in the theory of the invention of the bicycle by Efim Artamonov, then this happened in 1800. He made a 40-pound construction, which reached a height of 1.5 m. The diameter of the front wheel was more than a meter, pedals were attached to it, the rear wheel was half the size of the first and carried out by inertia. But it was not in vain that the technique was called a “bone shaker”: it was just painful to ride it. Despite this, it is believed that Artamonov himself got on his invention from Yekaterinburg to Moscow.And although for this miracle of technology they gave Yefim free, they did not give a patent to transport.

One can talk about the real appearance of bicycles in Russia, making a reference to the second half of the 19th century. Then, of course, such a means of transportation was simply a luxury, luxury which is inadmissible for most. It is worth saying that the average salary at that time was about 20 rubles, while a bicycle cost at least 250 rubles (or even all 400). Nonetheless, By 1880, 100 cyclists were registered in St. Petersburg, and among them, Emperor Alexander II himself, who loved to take a bike ride around Tsarskoye Selo.

Only at the end of the 19th century could cyclists manage transport within the city, and not beyond. But the set of rules of movement was severe: it was believed that the technique scares horses, so it was prescribed when meeting with her to get off the bicycle and even close it with herself if possible.

It’s easier to trace the evolutionary steps of a bicycle in the world than changes in the technical improvement of transport in Russia.

How did the upgrade go:

• 1878 - Lawson complements the transport with a chain drive;
• 1888 year - Dunlop comes up with rubber tires, and shaking is noticeably reduced, which makes the movement more comfortable;
• 1898 - pedal brakes appear;
• The beginning of the twentieth century - the bicycle is equipped with a planetary speed switch, after half a century Tullio Campagnolo will come up with a new switch, which is still in demand today;
• 70s of the twentieth century - the first “miners” appear, models from titanium and carbon fiber;
• 1983 year - the transport receives a bike computer and a sophisticated gear shift system.

Cycling myths are the occasion of heated discussions in all forums. And since the fashion for this transport does not fall, they argue again, stumble upon all the same conjectures, not knowing that lovers of two-wheeled transport argued so much before. And even those who firmly moved to a car can succumb to myths about bicycles.

• The true inventor of the bicycle is Ivan Kulibin, but this version is unprofitable for the West, and they are promoting other theories. This is still a myth, although you need to pay tribute to the genius Kulibin. He really invented the self-propelled crew, and did so at the end of the XVIII century. But still, this transport cannot be called a bicycle. The invention remained a curiosity, not having received mass distribution.

• Artamonov rode 5000 km on the "bone-shaker", and his bicycle surprises visitors to the Nizhny Tagil Museum of Local Lore. Modern chemical analysis assured that a valuable exhibit is a fake made later than the declared beginning of the 19th century. Therefore, Artamonov cannot be considered a pioneer. More precisely, there is no more reliable evidence of his invention.

• Count Sivrak's scooter is the first real bike in history. As already mentioned, in this version of Pevzner there is more mystification than facts. And journalist Louis Baudry made up the story. There was no count at all, there was only a prototype of Gene Sivrak, who was engaged in four-wheeled crews.

And these are only historical myths, and after all, a lot of conflicting information relates to the transport itself, riding not on it. For a long time, information was circulated that cycling can lead to impotence. It is not known to whom this rumor was beneficial, which did not find scientific confirmation.

The history of the invention of two-wheeled transport is so interesting because not all of its pages appeared before a contemporary.Perhaps in the near future we will find out something interesting, and it turns out that before 1817 a certain craftsman had already created a bicycle transport.

Below, watch a video about the history of the creation and development of the bicycle.