“Whoever invented the bicycle deserves the thanks of humanity.”
Billboard in Prescott, Arizona
Of all the machines that man has invented, the bicycle is the most beautifully tailored to the human form. The basic design, virtually unchanged for more than a hundred years, is a model of elegance and simplicity. The frame forms two closed triangles and one open triangle along the side where the fork extends.
These triangles are amazingly effective at absorbing the shocks and vibrations of the road while at the same time providing lateral stiffness. A high quality road bike provides a supple ride and at the same time there is virtually no side-to-side movement in the front chain ring, no matter how much force is applied to the pedals. A “supple” yet “stiff” ride, a seeming contradiction, is the highest praise one can bestow on a fine road bike.
The changes that have occurred in the construction of the best bicycles mostly involve the choice of materials. The trend has been to reduce the weight of the bicycle by introducing new materials. Starting with the classic, double-butted, lugged, chrome-moly frame, progressing to titanium, and finally moving on to carbon fiber, this trend has reduced the total weight of high quality road bikes from approximately 24 lbs to 16 lbs or less.
The bicycle is a terrific force multiplier. Steve Jobs was so inspired by the idea of using human ingenuity to develop tools to extend human capabilities that he considered the brand name “Bicycle” for his computer. Fortunately, friends managed to persuade him to choose “Apple” instead! Still, an early advertisement touted the Apple computer as a “Bicycle For The Mind.”
The source for the idea of technology as a force multiplier, according to Steve Jobs, was a Scientific American article comparing the energy used by various living creatures per kilometer traveled. Great blue whales, tuna, sea gulls, hummingbirds, dogs, horses, humans, all of these use far more energy than a man or woman on a bicycle. Simply put, the bicycle is the most energy efficient way to travel yet devised!
A Brief History of the Bicycle
Mt. Tambora erupted in Indonesia in 1815. The eruption darkened the earth’s skies and devastated harvests. In Germany, horses were slaughtered in large numbers because of a shortage of feed. The resulting lack of transportation led Baron Karl von Drais, a German aristocrat, to invent the first bicycle.
The first bicycle was a simple machine, similar to contemporary “beginner” bicycles for children. The rider simply steered and pushed with their feet. The French named the device the “velocipede” from the Latin words for “swift” and “foot.”
James Starkey invented the “Penny Farthing” with its giant front wheel and small rear wheel in 1870. In 1884, Mark Twain, at the age of 48, took a break from writing to try riding a Penny Farthing for the first time. In an essay, “Taming the Bicycle,” Twain wrote of his experience flying over the handlebars and landing in the hospital. He ended his essay on a hopeful note, “Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live!”
John Starkey, James Starkey’s nephew, invented the “safety bicycle” with two equal sized wheels in 1885. Now anyone could learn to ride a bicycle!
The bicycle changed women’s fashions and became a symbol of women’s empowerment. The suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony championed cycling as a path to freedom for women. In an interview with the journalist Nellie Bly in 1896, Anthony said that the bicycle “Had done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world!” She added, “I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman on a bicycle!”
The Wright brothers, working out of their bicycle repair shop, used their bicycle tools and their ingenuity to invent the first airplane. Their airplane utilized a chain drive and cable actuated controls, all extensions of bicycle technology.
The bicycle is celebrated in art and literature. Picasso created his artwork, “Bull’s Head,” using a bicycle saddle and handlebars. In his novel “Molloy,” Samuel Beckett has the title character depart on a bicycle journey which is full of life’s potential. The journey abruptly ends, however, in a moment of existential angst, when Molloy runs over a dog!
My First Road Bike
My love of road bikes began in 1963. Japanese imports of cars and motorcycles were just beginning, and there were frequent advertisements on the radio for the “Nifty, Thrifty, Honda Fifty,” a step-through, Vespa-like motor scooter. These advertisements worked their magic on my teenage consciousness. I wanted a Honda Fifty in the worst possible way! I had a paper route and mowed yards to earn extra money, so I brought up the idea with my father of saving enough money in order to realize my motor scooter fantasy.
My father was an Air Force officer stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where we lived. He was a no nonsense military type with great management skills. He was strict but caring and was always open to discussing almost any idea. He took my idea about saving up for a Honda Fifty under advisement.
A couple of weeks later he had come up with an alternate plan. He proposed a simple deal to be sealed with a handshake. A firm believer in the principle that a “man’s word is his bond,” he said he would buy me the very best bicycle he could find provided that I promised never to acquire a motorcycle of any kind for the rest of my life.
What a lovely example of that favorite tool of parents the world over, bribery! Well, he pretty much had me at the word “buy.” This was not a word my father favored. I also liked the idea of “the very best” when applied to the word bicycle. We shook hands. I discarded the whole motor scooter idea and eagerly awaited my new bicycle.
What a beautiful machine it was! Made in Austria, this was the best bicycle Sears sold. It even had a Campagnolo Record rear derailleur. No one in my neighborhood had anything like it. This was the first rear derailleur I had ever seen and I thought it was the cleverest invention imaginable. As a matter of fact, I still think it is the cleverest invention imaginable! Why anyone would want a single-speed city bike when the derailleur is available, is completely beyond me. My love of road bikes had begun!
During year six of my bicycle journey, I was sitting at a picnic table outside a convenience store in Fancy Gap, Virginia, a small town just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was chatting with a couple about my age who were on a motorcycle ride and who had also stopped for a rest break. They were definitely “mountain folk” with accents so thick I could barely understand them. I told them the story about how I acquired my first road bike including the part about my father bribing me with a bicycle in order to extract a promise that I would never acquire a motorcycle. (For some reason, I particularly enjoy telling this story to motorcyclists!)
The gentleman I was speaking to really seemed to enjoy my story. When I was finished with my story, he proceeded to tell me his story of parental bribery. He explained that he had worked hard harvesting cabbage and hay and had saved up enough money to buy a horse. His father learned about his plan and told him he would give him his gold watch if he would forget about buying the horse. He accepted the deal. His story had a different ending, however. He ended up buying the horse and had to give the gold watch back to his father! I asked him if he had ever regretted getting the horse. “Absolutely not!” he replied. Then he proceeded to tell how the horse had won every race in the county! I am sure I enjoyed his story at least as much as he enjoyed mine!