Recently I was doing some research on the History of the Bicycle and came across a few interesting facts, so I thought I might share some of these with you in a quick time line. I haven’t included every Bicycle innovation just the ones I was quite surprised to see had been thought of very early on.
The year 1817 Baron von Drais invents the “running machine” or Laufmaschine. Patented the following year. Known in various forms as: Draisine, Draisienne, Vélocipède. English version was the Hobby Horse (Denis Johnson). All have two, in-line wheels and the ability to steer.
1845 in England R. W. Thompson invents the pneumatic tyre but with no commercial follow-up.
1870 England James Starley produces the “Ariel” High Wheeler (aka “Ordinary” or “Penny Farthing”). Later versions had front wheel sizes of up to 5 feet.
1872 Germany Friedrich Fischer first mass-produces steel ball bearings, patented by Jules Suriray in 1869.
1876 England Browett and Harrison patent an early caliper brake.
1879 England Henry J. Lawson patents a rear wheel, chain-driven safety bicycle, the “Bicyclette” (his earlier models were lever driven).
1888 Scotland Commercial development of the pneumatic bicycle tire by Dr. John Boyd Dunlop.
1890 Cycles Aluminium becomes one of the earliest manufacturers of an aluminium bicycle.
1896 England William Riley patents a two-speed hub gear. His later three-speed version was put into production by Sturmey Archer in 1902.
1915 Italy Bianchi produced a folding bicycle for the Italian Army with telescoping seat stays, a leaf spring at the bottom bracket, a spring fork and large profile pneumatic tires. Bianchi now calls it the first dual suspension mountain bike.
1930 Italy Tullio Campagnolo introduces the bicycle hub quick-release.
1933-34 USA Introduction by Schwinn of the balloon tyre and “streamlined” bikes which leads to rugged bikes that can take the abuse of teenage boys and which set a forty-year trend.
1946 Italy Campagnolo markets the dual-rod "Cambio Corsa" gear shifter (over ten years after the prototype) widely used for at least a decade.
1951 Italy Introduction of Campagnolo's modern Gran Sport derailleur.
1963 USA Schwinn introduces the Sting-Ray that subsequently helped launch the BMX craze.
1974 USA The movie On Any Sunday by Bruce Brown debuts. Although it is a motorcycle documentary, a brief scene during the beginning of the movie shows kids on Sting-Ray bikes emulating motocross. This small spark eventually evolves into full-fledged, organized BMX racing by 1974.
1975 USA The first carbon-tubed, metal lugged frame appears: the Exxon Graftek. Suffered from frequent frame failure. The technology was later perfected by Look and others.
1978 USA Specialized introduces the first high-quality foldable clincher tyre (the Turbo) which launches the demise of the tubular.
1981 USA The Specialized Stumpjumper mountain bike is launched nationwide, capitalising on the Marin County vogue inspired by Californian icons, Gary Fisher, Joe Breeze, Tom Richey et al. (all of whom also produced earlier mountain bikes).
1983 USA Avocet launches the first electronic cyclometer (bike computer).
1984 France LOOK markets their clipless pedal (following on an earlier track model launched by Cinelli in 1970; the “Death Cleats,” no automatic release). There was also the circa 1983 Cyclebinding clipless pedal designed in the USA by Rick Howell. It featured a self-righting pedal and a walkable shoe.
1990 Japan Shimano introduces integrated brake/gear levers.
1993 France Mavic markets their ZAP electronic shifting. Ceases production in 2001. Possible future follow-up by Campagnolo. Browning Research had invented a prototype electronic system in 1974.
1994 USA Sachs (SRAM) introduces PowerDisc, the first mass-produced hydraulic disc brake system.
2002 Italy Campagnolo offers a 30-speed derailleur drive train with the Record 3-x-10 drive train
