THE INVENTION OF THE BICYCLE
The invention of the bicycle
Two hundred years ago, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Karl Drais tried out the "running machine" he had just invented.
The date was June 14th, 1817.
Throughout the 19th century, this engine continued to evolve, becoming what is more commonly known today as the bicycle.…
THE MECHANICAL HORSE
In France, Louis Joseph Dineur patented this new machine, which he called a velocipede. It hasn't been marketed very well, and its users were mocked. As soon as it was created, it was already the subject of complex mechanical refinements, essentially to transmit the power of human strength to the wheels, namely by pedalling.
CHAIN DRIVE
In 1834, watchmaker Julien-Benjamin Roussel was the first to attempt to power a velocipede using an endless chain drive. He filed a patent for it on 8 April 1835 under the title of "carriage powered by a mechanical mechanism moved by human arms". No doubt that it was far too heavy for road use, but the idea was there, and it remains the first chain-driven vehicle ever built.
ALTERNATE PEDALLING
Alexandre Mercier, a mechanic from Amiens, was the first to adopt the principle that each wheel on a velocipede should have only one function: the front wheel should steer and the rear wheel should drive. Until then, manufacturers had not differentiated between two-wheelers. His mechanical horse was presented to the town's mayor on the occasion of the King's festivities on 1 May 1843. He filed a patent for his invention a few days later, officially marking the advent of alternative pedalling. Today, the modern bicycle is still built on the same principle as Alexandre Mercier's mechanical horse.
THE PEDAL
Strangely enough, in the 19th century, when inventions were in full swing, it wasn't until 1853 that the circular pedal and the fluid rotary pedalling it produces - the pedalling we know today and which seems so natural to us - were discovered. Jules Sourisseau patented his pedipower crank handle in 1853. The Sourisseau crank is a complex metal mechanical part that is stamped, machined, then assembled and mounted to rotate freely on bearings. It includes a footrest that prevents the foot from slipping during exercise and allows you to pull it up. This mechanical invention, unknown before 1853, was one of the major milestones in the development of the bicycle.
THE MECHANICAL CAR
In the mid-19th century, locksmith Benjamin Geslin was renowned for his iron beds and folding armchairs. In 1855, he filed a patent for a mechanical carriage. His car was the first velocipede to feature wheels with metal spokes mounted in tension, whose axles turned on rollers, the forerunners of bearings.
THE RECUMBENT BICYCLE
Architects Louis Alexandre Blar and François Ernest Garin were the undisputed precursors of the recumbent, horizontal or horizontal-bi-cycle, when they filed a patent in 1857 for the application of human power as a motor. The man, seated on an inclined seat, rests his feet on pedals which support him below the heels, and take their point of rotation from a shaft. Each pedal is fitted with a ratchet that drives a wheel fixed to the shaft, to which it transmits the circular movement it receives from the pedal. The new machine is intended for "machines for raising water, threshing wheat, grinding hemp, lifting loads, sawing wood, stone, marble, etc.". For velocipedes? That's just one step.
However, it wasn't until 1896 that the recumbent bicycle became a reality: on 23 May, Swiss engineer Challand patented his improved velocipede and gave it the shape we know today.
THE PERFECTED VELOCIPEDE
Taking stock of the drawbacks of the pedal-powered velocipede, from that point on known as the bicycle, Charles Desnos, a graduate of the Ecole Centrale, filed a patent for "improvements to the velocipede locomotion apparatus". He gave each wheel a unique function, like Alexandre Mercier. It adds two gears to the drive wheel, one for starting off and climbing hills and the other for riding at high speed, and adopts the pedipower crank. In this way, the characteristics of the modern bicycle were definitively established: steering front wheel, driving rear wheel, belt or chain drive and bottom bracket gear changes.
THE TYRE
Before becoming one of the most famous pioneers of aviation, the engineer Clément Ader was interested in two-wheelers. The first of many, he filed a patent on 24 November 1868 for an improvement to velocipedes. In his application, he stated that "if it is impossible to go everywhere in all weather conditions with a velocipede, we must look for ways to manoeuvre as easily as possible on poorly maintained surfaces. This means, for which I am applying for a patent, simply consists of applying an elastic band, either of rubber, gutta-percha or any other substance with the same principle of elasticity, around the wheels of velocipedes, thus forming a compressible intermediary between the ground and the velocipede". Ader was the very first to develop the ancestor of today's tyre.
THE INDEPENDENT PEDAL VELOCIPEDE
Since the invention of Baron Drais, cyclists have been obliged to raise their legs when the machine picks up speed, mainly on downhill stretches, for example. This was not very practical: as soon as the pedal comes into play, it's the same and it's even less practical because the pedals turn dangerously. The first person to think of making the wheel free by disengaging the axle of a velocipede was mechanic François Nicolet. He filed his patent on 14 May 1869 for a Velocipede with independent pedals and two ratchet systems installed in a bronze box fitted into the hub.
THE VELOCIPEDE BECOMES A BICYCLE
In the industrial and commercial sphere, the velocipede or bicycle owes its rise to a family of three graduates from the École Centrale of Lyon, the Olivier brothers. In 1868, they founded their first company, Michaux et compagnie, jointly with Pierre Michaux, another famous velocipede manufacturer. Their innovations were adopted by most other manufacturers of the time.
THE ELECTRIC BICYCLE
Today, electric or electric-assist bicycles are making their appearance on the roads, particularly in the city centres of large agglomerations. But the idea of an electric bicycle is not new. On 28 April 1869, Joseph Marié filed a patent for a magneto-electric velocipede. However, it was not until more than a century later that this work found its way into the industry, particularly the cycle and motorbike industries, but also the car and heavy vehicle industries. It was only in the 21st century that the concept of the electric bicycle was put into practice.
THE WOMEN’S BICYCLE
"But men only think of themselves! If a woman wanted to indulge in such an exercise, even in the solitude of the countryside, she would cover herself in ridicule by straddling such a mount". It was with these words that Emile Viarengo de Forville, the gentleman that he was, imagined creating a new velocipede for women. The year was 1871.
THE AMAZON BICYCLE
Armed with his first patent for a women's bicycle, Emile Viarengo set about studying a number of improvements. In 1874, these resulted in a new patent for an amazon bicycle with a rear wheel drive.
THE PEUGEOT SPEED BIKE
We need to take an interest in the manufacture of velocipedes and tricycles! This is how Armand Peugeot, one of the directors of Les Fils de Peugeot Frères, concluded his meeting of the Board of Directors on 6 June 1885. On 12 December, Peugeot filed its first patent in this field, and not the least. A two-speed gear change is integrated into the hub of a bicycle and can be operated directly via the crankshaft or indirectly, via two endless mechanical chains and a set of multiplier sprockets.
FEET AND HANDS
Originally, in 1818, the velocipede was designed to make running easier and more efficient, while eliminating the burden of the rider's weight. While the action of the legs is optimised in this way, that of the arms is of no help for propulsion. In 1892, James Valère filed a patent for a system for propelling velocipedes by means of the feet and both hands, allowing an increase in speed, combined with a steering device using both hands. During testing, he met the cyclist Henri Farman, a future pioneer of the motor car and aviation, and asked him to take part in a race. After 300 metres, Farman was outdistanced, and that was that. The news caused quite a stir, but the new machine was too complex and expensive for its expected success, and there was no industrial production.
ACATENE TRANSMISSION
The acatene transmission is a system that transmits movement without the use of a chain. Acatene comes from the Latin a catena, which means “without a chain”. By extension, a bike using this system is called an acatene bike. The Malicet et Blin company, formed by Paul Malicet and Eugène Blin, patented the principle on 22 October 1895. The system is protected from mud and dust by covers. At the same time, the cyclist's clothing and calves are also protected from these terrible rotating jaws. Although stronger, the acatene system is heavier, more complex and requires more energy than a chain. It was not as successful as had been hoped, but today manufacturers are once again taking an interest in it.
THE DERAILLEUR
From 1886 onwards, the endless chain became the preferred method of transmitting motion to the drive wheel of velocipedes, and the first geared bicycles appeared. However, there is no mechanism to move the chain from one sprocket to another. The first person to develop a derailleur that allowed the chain to move sideways was Jean Loubeyre, who filed a patent on 15 February 1895 for a bicycle that shifted gears on the move. A simple rotating fork with springs operated by a double lever via two rods shifted the chain sideways on one sprocket or the other, and vice versa. Later, Jean Baptiste Panel aka Joanny and Louis Bouiller, both partners in Saint-Etienne, modernised the Loubeyre derailleur and filed a patent for it in 1912. This system has endured and given rise to today's derailleur gears.
