1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com. He there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer here 4 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: and How Stuff Works. And yes, before I get into it, 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: I still have a cold. I'm still dealing with allergies. 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: In fact, I am recording an episode right after I 7 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: just recorded another episode, so you get the not at 8 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: Jonathan's voice version of Jonathan today. I apologize for that. 9 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,320 Speaker 1: But today I've got the subject that I'm really excited 10 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: to talk about. Now. I've done episodes in the past 11 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: about electric bikes, but a listener recently pointed out that 12 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: I'm not yet actually discussed the bicycle itself. And so 13 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: today we're gonna take a look at the bicycle. We're 14 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: gonna take off the training wheels, and we're gonna look 15 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: at this evolution and probably make some queen references. We'll 16 00:00:57,200 --> 00:00:59,280 Speaker 1: see how it goes. But yes, I like to ride 17 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: my bicycle. I like to ride my bike. So where 18 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: did the bicycle come from? We're gonna really focus on 19 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: that today. We're looking at the birth and evolution of 20 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: the bicycle as opposed to the latest engrazed in bikes. 21 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: I'll do another episode about that later on. Well, As 22 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:19,559 Speaker 1: is the case with many inventions, the answer of where 23 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: the bicycle came from is not really that simple an answer. 24 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,320 Speaker 1: The bicycle evolved from a series of different inventions, and 25 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: it would be disingenuous to point to a specific person 26 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,919 Speaker 1: as the inventor of the bicycle. Now, I should start 27 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: all of this by talking about the earliest evidence of 28 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: wheeled vehicles in general, but I'm not gonna spend a 29 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: whole lot of time on it, because come on, you 30 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: don't need a fourteen series episode about the invention and 31 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: modernization of the wheel. But the actual wheel dates back 32 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: to at least in both Asia and Europe, and going 33 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: into more detail would be a bit much, even for me. 34 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 1: The early wheeled vehicles used four wheels for the most part. 35 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: That's not a surprise, as it provides a stable base. 36 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: Historians discovered a few early two wheeled vehicles dating from 37 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,239 Speaker 1: around that same time, but these were carts and the 38 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,119 Speaker 1: wheels were aligned side by side as opposed to front 39 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: and back like a bicycle. Skipping ahead thousands of years, 40 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: let's talk about Geovanni Fontana. He was known as not 41 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:30,079 Speaker 1: just a fifteenth century doctor of medicine, but also an 42 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: engineer and even in some circles, a magician, though he 43 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: was using a proto form of the scientific method to 44 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: get results and didn't necessarily present his work as that 45 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: of a magical nature. He was replicating what magicians claimed 46 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,679 Speaker 1: they could do using scientific principles and saying, doesn't it 47 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 1: make more sense that it's done this way? Well. In 48 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: fourteen twenty five he published a manuscript that detailed a 49 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: self driving carriage. By that he did not mean an 50 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: autonomous car, though that would have been incredibly forward thinking 51 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: back in the fourteen hundreds. Rather, he had suggested a 52 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: vehicle that would be propelled by the people inside the 53 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: vehicle itself. Up to that point, land vehicles had to 54 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 1: be pulled by animals or other human beings. Fontana suggested 55 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: that a hand powered vehicle could allow for a new 56 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: method of getting from place to place. His proposal included 57 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:29,080 Speaker 1: a brief description of a carriage that used ropes and 58 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 1: cogs to transform power from a writer or transfer power, 59 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: I should say, from a writer to the wheels of 60 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: the vehicle. So imagine sort of a loop of rope 61 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 1: wrapped around cogs like their pulleys, and if you pull 62 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: on the rope, you transfer the energy needed to rotate 63 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: the wheels of the carriage itself. But that's about all 64 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: the details we have for this proposed device. If Fontana 65 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: actually ever tried to build one of these things, it 66 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: was lost to time. And on a tangential note, before 67 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: I trend for away from Fontana, I have to also 68 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: mention that he proposed a sort of proto rocket car 69 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: that would be fueled by gunpowder. Now I mentioned that 70 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: only because I love how crazy that sounds. I don't 71 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: think he ever made one of those either, because there 72 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: are no reports of Fontana having to be dug out 73 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: of the side of a mountain. A French mathematician ended 74 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 1: up laying out the argument for human powered vehicles in 75 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: a six nine six manuscript titled Recreations Mathematiques a physiques 76 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:36,919 Speaker 1: because it's French. He hypothesized that such conveyances would be 77 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: much more readily available to the general population because you 78 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: wouldn't have to care for an animal. You wouldn't have 79 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: to have the space to keep a horse, and you 80 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: wouldn't have to feed it. Plus you could even get 81 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: some exercise and some fresh air using such a vehicle. However, 82 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: this was just sort of a armchair philosophizing kind of approach. 83 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: He didn't actually build anything. There is interesting story about 84 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: a sketch that was attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, and 85 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: supposedly that sketch dated back to fourteen three, and not 86 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: only was it a sketch of what looked like a bicycle, 87 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:15,799 Speaker 1: it even had pedals like it was. It was pretty 88 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: much a modern style bike, uh in a in a 89 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:24,039 Speaker 1: sketch format. It's it's undeniably that sort of thing, but 90 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: it is a somewhat crude design. The sketch had remained 91 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: undiscovered and I say that in air quotes until nineteen 92 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,359 Speaker 1: seventy four, So it was attributed to fourteen but it 93 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: wasn't uncovered until nineteen seventy four. That was when there 94 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: was an art restoration project. Experts were working on Da 95 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 1: Vinci's Codex Atlanticus, and supposedly this particular design was part 96 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,280 Speaker 1: of that and just had not been seen for centuries. 97 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:54,479 Speaker 1: Historians debated the legitimacy of this sketch, and the general 98 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: consensus is that it's hocum. Here's the weird thing. This 99 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: is not the only example of false attribution to the 100 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: bicycle's evolution. Another sketch, this one supposedly dating to fift 101 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: thirty four and made by one of da Vinci's pupils, 102 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 1: also appears to be a fraud. So what was going on? 103 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:16,159 Speaker 1: There are these crazy fake sketches claiming to be the 104 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: proto design of the bicycle centuries before it was ever 105 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: really introduced. Well to understand, we need to take a 106 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: quick detour and then I'll get back to the actual 107 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 1: timeline of the bicycles invention. But I think this is 108 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: pretty fascinating. So in the early twentieth century, European nations 109 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: were becoming increasingly isolated and jingoistic. It became a point 110 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 1: of national pride to champion the various advancements and inventions 111 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: each country could lay claim to. I think of it 112 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,920 Speaker 1: a lot like the way we treat the Olympics at times. 113 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: How some people will reduce the Olympics to a discussion 114 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: of our country took home twelve gold medals and your 115 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,159 Speaker 1: country only took home eight. It's sort of a one 116 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 1: upsmanship tendency, which I think it's pretty darn tacky because 117 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: it takes attention away from the actual accomplishments, but that's 118 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: just my own opinion. While his tensions in Europe built 119 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: toward World War One, more nations were getting involved in 120 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: kind of this one upsmanship. They were scrambling to prove 121 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: that they were the seat of ingenuity and innovation. And 122 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 1: sometimes it meant that some rather um let's say, creative 123 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: but undaunted by ethics sorts of people would fabricate evidence 124 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: that clever inventions came from their respective homelands. Historians suspected 125 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: that the alleged Da Vinci sketch is one of those examples. 126 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: It was a forgery intended to give the honor of 127 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:48,240 Speaker 1: creating the bicycle to Italians rather than to say, the Germans. 128 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: Spoiler alert, Most historians agree that the bicycle really got 129 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: started in Germany first. Another bogus claim to the invention 130 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: of the bicycle dates to See and a fellow known 131 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: as Compt. Deceive Rack. Though it maybe that this bogus 132 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: claim was arrived at honestly by mistake, as opposed to 133 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: a hoax perpetuated by someone. The good Count allegedly developed 134 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: a vehicle called the Salt Affair, which by a nineteenth 135 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: century historians description sounded a lot like the basic frame 136 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: of a bicycle. According to the description, it had two wheels, 137 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: one set in front of the other. It did not 138 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: have any pedals or brakes or handlebars. It was essentially 139 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: a frame with a saddle on it, a leather seat, 140 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: and you would sit on the saddle and you would 141 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,960 Speaker 1: propel yourself with your feet pushing against the ground, and 142 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: you would steer yourself by leaning left or right, and 143 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: that's as best as you could do. As it turns out, 144 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: there were vehicles sort of like this, but they were 145 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: all three or four wheeled vehicles, not two wheeled vehicles. 146 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: Many people, particularly French people, adopted the belief that a 147 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:57,800 Speaker 1: Frenchman had come up with the idea for a bicycle. 148 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 1: But it appears that was not quite the case. It 149 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 1: may well have been an error in translation or transcription. 150 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 1: Now I prefer stories that actually have evidence to support them, 151 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 1: and I am inclined to give the nod of the 152 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 1: invention of the bicycle, or at least the invention of 153 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: a device that would evolve into the bicycle, to a 154 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: certain Baron Carl von Dreiss in eighteen seventeen. He was 155 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:28,280 Speaker 1: concerned with finding a way for people to get around 156 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: due to recent unfortunate events see an eighteen fifteen. A 157 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,439 Speaker 1: couple of years earlier, there was a volcano in Indonesia 158 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: called Mount Tambora, and it done blowed up. The volcano 159 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 1: ejected an enormous cloud of ash into the atmosphere. Now 160 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 1: that ash cloud had a global effect. It lowered temperatures 161 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: across the world. It was kind of like a nuclear winter, except, 162 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: of course, this is a volcanic one. This in turn 163 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:00,199 Speaker 1: led to massive crop failures in certain regions around the world, 164 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,439 Speaker 1: like in Europe, and that led to other problems such 165 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: as animals like horses, dying of starvation. So there was 166 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 1: a shortage of horses in Europe at the time. Dryce 167 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:12,840 Speaker 1: wanted to invent a means of getting around quickly despite 168 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: this lack of horses. The good Baron came up with 169 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: a novel idea, assuming that the previous examples I mentioned 170 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 1: were in fact hoaxes and not just poorly recorded history. 171 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: It was again a two wheeled vehicle, with one wheel 172 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:28,439 Speaker 1: set in front of the other. It had a padded 173 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 1: saddle to sit upon and a set of handlebars for steering. 174 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: There were no pedals and only a single wheel break 175 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: so again, and for real, the writer would push him 176 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 1: or herself along the ground with his or her feet. 177 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: Let's be honest, it was mostly hymns and he's that 178 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: we're talking about because there were lots of laws about 179 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: what women could and could not wear, and most of 180 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:53,600 Speaker 1: those were not conducive to riding a vehicle of this design. 181 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,720 Speaker 1: So what was this thing called? Well, it actually had 182 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:02,080 Speaker 1: several names. Dryce called it the laos machine, which means 183 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:05,440 Speaker 1: running machine. You gotta love the German language in which 184 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: new words are invented by just stringing existing words together 185 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 1: and you just end up with a very long new word. 186 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: According to the sources I referenced, he used this name 187 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: originally for a four wheeled vehicle of his design, but 188 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:22,880 Speaker 1: he later adapted the same name to the two wheeled model. 189 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: It was known in English as the dry zine or 190 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: dry Zine d r A I s I n E. 191 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: In French it was the dry zen oh, and it 192 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: was also called a velocipede. Velocipede would become a generic 193 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:40,000 Speaker 1: term for these sort of two wheeled vehicles for many 194 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:42,959 Speaker 1: many years. Uh In England, it was also sometimes called 195 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: a hobby horse or and this is my favorite a 196 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,679 Speaker 1: dandy horse because they were expensive, so typically only really 197 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: rich people in nice clothing were striding along with these suckers. 198 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: The word velocipede would be used for many such vehicles 199 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: for decades until the term bicycle came around. Now people 200 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 1: liked these when they could ride them on nice, smooth surfaces, 201 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: because a push with your foot would propel you much 202 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: further than just if you were to take a regular step, 203 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 1: so you travel more ground faster than normal, So you 204 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,679 Speaker 1: wouldn't be going at ridiculous speeds, but you could certainly 205 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 1: get across a sidewalk area much faster than if you 206 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 1: were just strolling, and it had a certain appeal. Dryce's 207 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: invention was a hefty one. It was made out of 208 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: wood and brass and iron shod wheels, plus that leather saddle. 209 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: The whole thing weighed around fifty pounds or twenty three 210 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: For a few years, his invention was all the rage 211 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:44,560 Speaker 1: in Europe. Over in England, a coachmaker named Dennis Johnson 212 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 1: began to market his own variation of Dryce's invention, and 213 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: the inspired a few seasons of vigorous sporting events among 214 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: the aristocracy of London, but turned out to mostly just 215 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,680 Speaker 1: be a fad, and excitement died down by the eighteen twenties. 216 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,560 Speaker 1: So why did it go out of style so quickly? Well, 217 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 1: it might have had something to do with writing conditions. 218 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:08,760 Speaker 1: The vehicles worked best on smooth paved surfaces. Now, most 219 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:12,280 Speaker 1: roads in Europe did not fit that description. They were 220 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: a cobblestone if you were lucky, But sidewalks were frequently 221 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:20,000 Speaker 1: very smooth, so velocopied writers would stick to sidewalks and 222 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: they would terrorize pedestrians. This might sound pretty familiar if 223 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 1: you're a pedestrian out there, and I'm sure you've got 224 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: your own story or stories of crazed bicyclists barreling down 225 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: pedestrian walkways. Anyway, many places ended up passing laws that 226 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: would forbid velocipede writers to go on sidewalks, and since 227 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: they were incredibly uncomfortable to ride on rutted roads or 228 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: a cobblestone streets, they faded from common use. Meanwhile, across 229 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,840 Speaker 1: the pond, the early invention had debuted in the United States. 230 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 1: There was a man named W. K. Clarkson Jr. Who 231 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 1: received a patent for a velocipede in eighteen nineteen and 232 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: I would love to tell you more about mention, but 233 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 1: sadly all records of that particular patent were destroyed in 234 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty six and a fire at the U. S. 235 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:08,679 Speaker 1: Patent Office, And I may have to do an episode 236 00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 1: one day about that particular event, because it definitely had 237 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:15,839 Speaker 1: a major impact on innovation and invention at the early 238 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: nineteenth century in the United States. Next, we come to 239 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: another possible hoax, or at least potential misinformation. There's a 240 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 1: story that a Scottish blacksmith named Kirkpatrick McMillan came up 241 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:33,560 Speaker 1: with the idea of attaching pedals to a bicycle in 242 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty nine, which would be decades before anyone else 243 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: had thought of this. Now, these pedals didn't turn gears 244 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,360 Speaker 1: that were connected by a chain the way a modern 245 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: bicycle does. According to the story, they were treadle style pedals, 246 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: so they were connecting to rods that were in a 247 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 1: position so that they in turn would rotate the rear wheel. 248 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: So solid rods as opposed to a chain drive. You 249 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 1: can kind of think of the way a locomotive uses 250 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,720 Speaker 1: these sort of rods to turn wheels. If you've ever 251 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: seen pictures of that same sort of idea for these 252 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: particular bikes. The front wheel was steerable, so you had 253 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: to have that be freely turnable left or right. That's 254 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: why it was a rear wheel drive. But some historians 255 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:22,200 Speaker 1: are skeptical of this account. The stories of McMillan's work 256 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 1: were first publicized in the eighteen nineties and they came 257 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:28,800 Speaker 1: from a guy named James Johnston, who, as it turns out, 258 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: was related to macmillan. There is an account from an 259 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: eighteen forty two edition of a newspaper in Glasgow of 260 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:40,640 Speaker 1: a minor accident involving a quote velocipede of ingenious design 261 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:45,360 Speaker 1: end quote, and Johnston says that article is all about McMillan. 262 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 1: But since there's no actual mention of macmillan's name in 263 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: the article, nor a description of how the velocity design 264 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: was ingenious, the matter is not quite settled. In fact, 265 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 1: one bit of evidence arguing against this claim is that 266 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: the article referred to the operator of the velocipede as 267 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: a gentleman. Macmillan, who was a tradesman, would not have 268 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: qualified for that distinction in the extremely class conscious United Kingdom. 269 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: So it may well be that McMillan was the first 270 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: to attach pedals to a two wheeled vehicle in this manner, 271 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 1: but we just lack the evidence. There's a similar story 272 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: that tells the tale of Gavin Dalzel of les Mahago, 273 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: which I'm sure I'm mispronouncing because you get to these 274 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: tiny English names and Scottish names and you get fourteen 275 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 1: syllables once written out, but you realize that when you 276 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: pronounce it it's Fanshaw. Anyway, Dalzel was a cooper in 277 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: the eighteen forties. That means he's he made barrels. He's 278 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: a barrel maker, and he was said to have made 279 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: a rear drive bicycle in eighteen forty five based off 280 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 1: of Macmillan's design, though again this is undocumented. Now his 281 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:59,640 Speaker 1: son would go on to donate one of Dalzell's bikes 282 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 1: to the Lasgow Transport Museum, but that happened several years later. 283 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty three, a French design changed the way 284 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:09,040 Speaker 1: people got around on these two wheeled vehicles, another entry 285 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: into the velociped category. This design had pedals mounted to 286 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: the hub of the front wheel, so there's no chain 287 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 1: drive or anything like that. The pedals were literally attached 288 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,959 Speaker 1: to the wheel hub. Peddling would drive the front wheel 289 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: and provide the power needed to move forward. It was 290 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:26,240 Speaker 1: a bit of a challenge to operate, and on top 291 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,359 Speaker 1: of that, most models were made of unyielding materials and 292 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:33,280 Speaker 1: had steel wheels or ironclad wheels, so if you were 293 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:35,879 Speaker 1: to ride one of those on say a couple Stone Street, 294 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 1: you'd be in for a pretty rough ride. As a result, 295 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: those sort of vehicles gained a nickname bone shakers. Some 296 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: large cities began to build special indoor writing academies were 297 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: well to do. Velociped owners could come together and ride 298 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:52,720 Speaker 1: without worrying about shaking themselves to pieces. And it was 299 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 1: right around this time that the word bicycle began to 300 00:17:55,880 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: enter the common lexicon, slowly replacing velocipede and other names 301 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,199 Speaker 1: for two wheeled human powered vehicles. Now I've got a 302 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: lot more to say about the evolution of bicycles, but 303 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 1: first let's take a quick break to thank our sponsor. 304 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: The first documented rod driven two wheeled vehicle might not 305 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: be the first one ever, but the first one that's 306 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:28,640 Speaker 1: documented dates to eighteen sixty nine. Thomas McCall of Kilmarnock 307 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,680 Speaker 1: was the inventor, but his design didn't gain much popularity 308 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:36,640 Speaker 1: as the front crank velocipedes did, which were mostly three 309 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: or four wheeled vehicles at that time, and they were 310 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: easier to operate. Also, in eighteen sixty nine, there was 311 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: a Frenchman named Eugene Meyer who patented the wire spoke 312 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:49,680 Speaker 1: tension wheel for bicycles. Wire spoke wheels were first proposed 313 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 1: decades earlier, back in eighteen o eight, in fact, by 314 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 1: George Kayley, but that was for a totally different type 315 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:57,360 Speaker 1: of vehicle. And this gives me a chance to talk 316 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 1: about how wire spoke wheels work. Only enough, it's more 317 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:05,440 Speaker 1: complicated than you might imagine. All right, so why would 318 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: we even have a wire spoke wheel? What? What's the 319 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: big deal here? It's largely to provide stability to the 320 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: wheel and connect the rim of the wheel, which is 321 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 1: the outer edge, with the hub of the wheel that's 322 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:22,440 Speaker 1: the inner edge, the part that rotates around an axle. 323 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 1: The spokes help a wheel support a load such as 324 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: a rider on a bike, without collapsing. Now, the wire 325 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: spokes are just what they sound like. They're spokes made 326 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: out of thin wire. You'll have a couple of dozen 327 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 1: spokes connecting the rim to the hub, and each wire 328 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:43,040 Speaker 1: spoke has to be tightened carefully in a process called 329 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:47,959 Speaker 1: pretension ing. Now, ideally, you want each of the spokes 330 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 1: to create the same amount of tension on the hub 331 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 1: in the center. They're all pulling the hub, but from 332 00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:59,360 Speaker 1: different directions and at the same strength. So let's make 333 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: an analogy to understand what's going on here. Imagine that 334 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 1: you are standing in the center of a circle of friends, 335 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 1: and each friend is holding a rope, and that rope 336 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:13,200 Speaker 1: connects to a sturdy hula hoop that's at your feet. 337 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: You're standing right in the middle of that hula hoop. 338 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,640 Speaker 1: At a signal, all of your friends pull on their 339 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,919 Speaker 1: ropes and they all exert exactly the same amount of force. 340 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:25,679 Speaker 1: The hula hoop will rise up around you, but it 341 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:29,440 Speaker 1: won't touch you because everyone is pulling on it from 342 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: all directions at the same amount of force simultaneously. So 343 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 1: that's what a bicycle wheel is doing with the hub. 344 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:40,199 Speaker 1: Those spokes are all pulling on the hub simultaneously and 345 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:43,159 Speaker 1: with the same amount of force. Now Here enters a 346 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: tricky question when you place a load on a bicycle wheel, 347 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: such as you know when you get on a bike. Uh, 348 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,359 Speaker 1: so you and your regulators all mount up on bicycles. 349 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 1: When you do that, that deforms the wheel slightly. The 350 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 1: increased weight causes the bottom of the wheel to flatten 351 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:05,200 Speaker 1: out just a little bit. So the question is does 352 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: the hub stand on the wire spokes that are below it, 353 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,280 Speaker 1: as in the ones that lead straight down to where 354 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: the ground is, or does the hub hang from the 355 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:20,399 Speaker 1: spokes that are above it connecting it to the rim. Now, 356 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:24,119 Speaker 1: remember each of those wires is tightened so that it 357 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: has tension, deforming the bottom of the wheel, which means 358 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:33,360 Speaker 1: that you're slightly pushing the rim inward. Reduces that tension 359 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: because you are applying a compressive force. If this were 360 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:41,160 Speaker 1: a table instead of a bicycle, and the spokes were 361 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,400 Speaker 1: the table legs, we'd say the table legs were experiencing 362 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:48,439 Speaker 1: compression and we're holding up the table, and that the 363 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 1: table was standing on its legs. But with wheels it's 364 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: not quite so simple. The wire spokes beneath the hub 365 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:01,040 Speaker 1: experienced compression, but it's not enough to return the wires 366 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:05,120 Speaker 1: to their pretensioned state. So, in other words, the wires 367 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:09,399 Speaker 1: below the hub still have tension on them, just not 368 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:11,560 Speaker 1: as much as they did before the wheel had to 369 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: carry a load. Some argue that if the spokes still 370 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 1: have tension, which means technically they are still pulling on 371 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:21,199 Speaker 1: the hub, they're just not pulling as hard as they 372 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 1: were before the compression was applied, they cannot be said 373 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: to support the hub. So the hub cannot stand on 374 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,160 Speaker 1: those spokes. You can't stand on something that's pulling downward. 375 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:38,399 Speaker 1: It's because standing on references like a push, so you 376 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,600 Speaker 1: can't push if the forces a pull. So these folks 377 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:44,720 Speaker 1: argue you'd have to say the hub hangs in place 378 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:47,760 Speaker 1: from the spokes around it, rather than stands on the 379 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 1: spokes below it. Other people argue that this stance doesn't 380 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 1: make any sense, and that the hub does in fact 381 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 1: stand on the wire spokes beneath it, and some of 382 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:00,800 Speaker 1: them have used a lot of math and computer simulations 383 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:04,800 Speaker 1: to back up their arguments. In some cases, I think 384 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,640 Speaker 1: you could just say that this is semantics, that one 385 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: side and the other aren't really arguing opposites, but rather 386 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 1: they are working from different perspectives and definitions in an 387 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 1: attempt to describe the same thing. I think it is 388 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,600 Speaker 1: fascinating that something is seemingly simple as a wire spoke 389 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:26,119 Speaker 1: bicycle wheel could evoke such a fuss in the first place, 390 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: and there really is a fuss. If you want to 391 00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:31,159 Speaker 1: go down a rabbit hole, you can start doing searches 392 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:35,000 Speaker 1: on how wire spoke wheels work and see the incredible 393 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 1: arguments between people who insist that the hub stands on 394 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:44,479 Speaker 1: the spokes or that the spokes hang the hub. Now, 395 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:47,400 Speaker 1: all we really need to know is that the wheels 396 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 1: work and that they made bicycles lighter. That's really important 397 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: because there using these thin wires, you don't have to 398 00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: use massive amounts of materials to build working wheels. That 399 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,520 Speaker 1: reduced weight of the bicycles and made them more attractive, 400 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:04,520 Speaker 1: because up to this point you were still talking about 401 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:08,600 Speaker 1: bicycles that weighed fifty pounds or more. I was incredibly heavy. 402 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: Reducing the amount of materials you needed to make your 403 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,560 Speaker 1: bicycle was an attractive proposition. It brought the cost down 404 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:18,000 Speaker 1: and made them more practical, and so slowly we saw 405 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: bicycles become lighter, particularly as metallurgical sciences progressed and lighter, 406 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:28,240 Speaker 1: stronger metal alloys became available. Myer's approach led to an 407 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:32,240 Speaker 1: interesting trend in design known as the high bicycle or 408 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: high wheeler, sometimes also known as the ordinary and later 409 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: on known as the penny farthing. These are those old 410 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 1: timey bikes you've likely seen in photographs or maybe even 411 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:46,600 Speaker 1: in person. They feature a much larger front wheel than 412 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:52,400 Speaker 1: the rear wheel, sometimes significantly larger, and the pedals are 413 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,639 Speaker 1: attached directly to the hub of the front wheel, so 414 00:24:55,680 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: when you pedal, your directly rotating that front wheel. Improvements 415 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:02,800 Speaker 1: in construction and design meant that you could have a 416 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: wheel with a sixty diameter. That's that's five ft or 417 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:10,600 Speaker 1: one and a half meters diameter. Of course, to ride 418 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: such a bicycle, you'd have to have legs long enough 419 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,919 Speaker 1: to reach the pedals, so you were limited by the 420 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,440 Speaker 1: length of your legs what sort of bicycle you could ride. 421 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:21,680 Speaker 1: But why would you even want a large wheel in 422 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: the first place? What what was the deal there? Well, 423 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: that has to do with wheel circumference, rotational speed, and 424 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,160 Speaker 1: travel speed. So get out your pencils and paper. Let's 425 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:36,400 Speaker 1: do some drawing. So first draw two circles and make 426 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: the second circle about twice as big as the first circle. 427 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:42,320 Speaker 1: Then in the middle of those two circles, draw a 428 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: smaller circle in each That inner circle will represent the 429 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:50,920 Speaker 1: wheel hub and the outer circles will represent the wheel rims. Now, 430 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:54,760 Speaker 1: imagine you have pedals attached to each of those hubs. 431 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 1: One rotation of the petals will equal one full rotation 432 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,640 Speaker 1: of the respective wheel. Let's assume you've matched the revolutions 433 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 1: per minute on both wheels, so you're peddling the same 434 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,239 Speaker 1: speed on the small wheel as you would on the 435 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: big wheel. From that perspective, from just the revolutions per minute, 436 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: you might say you're going the same speed on both wheels. However, 437 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 1: the larger wheel will cover more ground in a single 438 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: rotation than the smaller wheel. So if you took those 439 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 1: circles and you straighten them out so that they were 440 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,840 Speaker 1: just straight lines, the circumference just becomes a straight line. 441 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:32,640 Speaker 1: The larger wheel would be a longer line, and that's 442 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,240 Speaker 1: the amount of space you would cover in one rotation. 443 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:40,560 Speaker 1: So rotation speeds are the same, and you're getting maybe 444 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,480 Speaker 1: let's say, let's make it simple. We'll say one rotation 445 00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:50,440 Speaker 1: per second, so sixty rotations per minute. So both wheels 446 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 1: turn at sixty rotations a minute. But the larger wheel 447 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,640 Speaker 1: is going to cover more ground in that space, which 448 00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:00,320 Speaker 1: means your travel speed. Using a larger wheel is faster, 449 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,440 Speaker 1: so that was why you started seeing penny Farthings. With 450 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,480 Speaker 1: these larger and larger wheels in the front. It meant 451 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: that rich people who had a death wish could ride really, 452 00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: really freaking fast. So the Ordinaries and penny Farthings became 453 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:19,359 Speaker 1: popular for gentlemen with long legs and a desire to 454 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:23,320 Speaker 1: go quite fast and potentially terrifying pedestrians because we made 455 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,879 Speaker 1: our own fund back then. One big disadvantage of that 456 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 1: design was safety, or rather a lack of so the 457 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:35,159 Speaker 1: writer had to maintain our position high up over the 458 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: front wheel to pedal properly. You know, you need to 459 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:39,159 Speaker 1: be able to see where you're going, you had to 460 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:41,160 Speaker 1: be able to balance, and you had to be able 461 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:46,200 Speaker 1: to pedal that front wheel. The handlebars were typically directly 462 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: over the hub, and your legs would be snug underneath them. 463 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:52,880 Speaker 1: In fact, most handlebars were designed in such a way 464 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,160 Speaker 1: where there was a little bit of a bulge across 465 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,479 Speaker 1: the handlebars so that your your legs could move up 466 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 1: and down underneath them, but otherwise it was really close 467 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,359 Speaker 1: to the wheel, so you're you're kind of sandwiched in. 468 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:08,919 Speaker 1: If you were to hit an obstruction like a rut 469 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,200 Speaker 1: in the road or a rock or something, you might 470 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,800 Speaker 1: find yourself flying over the top of the wheel quite 471 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:18,119 Speaker 1: high up, in such a way that you're nearly guaranteed 472 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:21,040 Speaker 1: to land on your head. Those handlebars would prevent you 473 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:23,639 Speaker 1: from flying straight off. You would end up following the 474 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,439 Speaker 1: rotational direction of the wheel, and you would face plant 475 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:30,360 Speaker 1: in front of your bicycle. And remember you're potentially more 476 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:34,120 Speaker 1: than five ft up because of the size of those wheels. 477 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:38,240 Speaker 1: This is where the phrase taking a header came from. 478 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 1: The scenario happened frequently enough for there to be a 479 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:45,920 Speaker 1: phrase to describe it, and to this day, taking a 480 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: header means to experience a sharp and sudden decline. Writing 481 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:54,480 Speaker 1: these things was really hard. You had to get a 482 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:56,640 Speaker 1: running start, for one thing, and then you had to 483 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 1: jump onto the ordinary or penny farthing and hope that 484 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,440 Speaker 1: you did it correctly. When you came to a stop, 485 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: you had to jump off again, as there was no 486 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,120 Speaker 1: way to put your feet down to steady yourself. A 487 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 1: famous American author wrote about this experience, that author being 488 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 1: Mark Twain, and he summed it up pretty nicely. I 489 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:20,720 Speaker 1: think his is This is a quote from Mark twain 490 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,640 Speaker 1: about writing an ordinary or penny farthing. When you have 491 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 1: reached the point in bicycling where you can balance the 492 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,640 Speaker 1: machine tolerably fairly and propel it and steer it, then 493 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:35,719 Speaker 1: comes your next task, how to mount it? You do 494 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 1: it in this way. You hop along behind it on 495 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,640 Speaker 1: your right foot, resting the other on the mounting peg, 496 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 1: and grasping the tiller with your hands. At the word, 497 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:48,680 Speaker 1: you rise on the peg, stiffen your left leg, hang 498 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 1: your other one around in the air in a general 499 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: and indefinite way, lean your stomach against the rear of 500 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:56,800 Speaker 1: the saddle, and then fall off, maybe on one side, 501 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: maybe on the other. But you fall off. You get up, 502 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,440 Speaker 1: and you do it again, and once more, and then 503 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,520 Speaker 1: several times. By this time you have learned to keep 504 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:08,640 Speaker 1: your balance and also to steer without wrenching the tiller 505 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,760 Speaker 1: out by the roots. I say tiller because it is 506 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:16,240 Speaker 1: a tiller. Handlebar is a lamely descriptive phrase. So you 507 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,760 Speaker 1: steer along straight ahead a little while. Then you rise 508 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 1: forward with a steady strain, bringing your right leg and 509 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,880 Speaker 1: then your body into the saddle. Catch your breath, fetch 510 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:29,320 Speaker 1: a violent hitch this way, and then that, and down 511 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:33,200 Speaker 1: you go again. Seems pretty accurate to me, Mr Twain. Well, 512 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 1: I've got a lot more to say about the evolution 513 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,920 Speaker 1: of bicycles, but before I continue, let's take another quick 514 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:48,200 Speaker 1: break and thank our sponsor. Around this time when we 515 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,080 Speaker 1: start to see the rise of the ordinary or Penny Farthing, 516 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:57,440 Speaker 1: materials for bicycles were slowly changing as well. Wheels started 517 00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: to switch over to solid rubber wheel, so instead of 518 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:06,080 Speaker 1: having iron sheets nailed to a wooden frame, you had 519 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:09,880 Speaker 1: solid rubber that provided a softer ride, though obviously not 520 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:13,840 Speaker 1: nearly as soft as the later pneumatic tires would. Ball 521 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:17,320 Speaker 1: bearings also became a thing that made wheel rotation along 522 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:20,280 Speaker 1: the actle much more smooth, as well as handlebar motions. 523 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 1: So these are just ball bearings that that allow for 524 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:28,720 Speaker 1: a smoother movement between different elements. You just have to 525 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,520 Speaker 1: make sure that the fit is snug without being too tight, 526 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:34,160 Speaker 1: because if it's too tight, then the balls will just 527 00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:36,960 Speaker 1: snug up against the edges and it will prevent any 528 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:39,640 Speaker 1: sort of turning at all. But it meant motions in 529 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:43,280 Speaker 1: general on the bicycle became more elegant and less jerky 530 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,920 Speaker 1: and and violent and difficult to control. Oh and you 531 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,360 Speaker 1: might wonder why these things were called penny farthings. Well, 532 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: in England at the time penny coin measured either thirty 533 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 1: four millimeters or thirty one millimeters in diameter. That would 534 00:31:57,360 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 1: depend on whether it was an old carper copper penny 535 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 1: before eighteen sixty or a bronze penny. When they switched 536 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:08,360 Speaker 1: over far things which were worth one quarter of a penny, 537 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:11,320 Speaker 1: as in one fourth of a penny, we're twenty two 538 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:14,320 Speaker 1: millimeters in diameter if they were made of copper, or 539 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: twenty millimeters that they were made of bronze. So the 540 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:20,680 Speaker 1: ordinaries wheels were similarly of different sizes. You had the 541 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,479 Speaker 1: larger penny and the smaller farthing. Well, that was kind 542 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,800 Speaker 1: of like the larger front wheel and the smaller rear wheel. 543 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:31,280 Speaker 1: While rich men were causing themselves head trauma on penny farthings. 544 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:35,320 Speaker 1: Groundbreaking work was underway in France as far back as 545 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:40,680 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty eight. A French watchmaker named Andre Gulime came 546 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:44,040 Speaker 1: up with an alternative to the front wheel pedal mounts 547 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:48,560 Speaker 1: of the ordinary bicycles. His design used a chain drive, 548 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:53,080 Speaker 1: and in fact, we didn't even learn about his contributions 549 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,959 Speaker 1: to this uh. In fact, you could argue that there 550 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,520 Speaker 1: weren't contributions at all, because it was pretty much kept 551 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:02,040 Speaker 1: to himself when one of his relatives discovered one of 552 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 1: Glum's old bikes in storage after Gloomy himself had passed away. 553 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:10,160 Speaker 1: The simple chain right by the way consists of pedals 554 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:14,200 Speaker 1: mounted to a crank. The crank has got a gear 555 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 1: wheel typically called the chain wheel, mounted to it, so 556 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:21,120 Speaker 1: when you pedal, you turn the crank, and the crank, 557 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,080 Speaker 1: in turn is since it's mounted to this chain wheel, 558 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:28,200 Speaker 1: turns the chain wheel. The teeth of this chain wheel 559 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:31,800 Speaker 1: fit into links on a bike chain. The chain is 560 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:34,080 Speaker 1: in a loop, and the other end of that loop 561 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 1: is mounted around a second gear wheel. This one is 562 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:42,560 Speaker 1: connected to the hub, typically of the rear bicycle wheel, 563 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:47,959 Speaker 1: although there were front wheel chain drives as well, UH 564 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 1: in sort of a hybrid of this style and penny farthings. 565 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:54,760 Speaker 1: So if you push on the pedals you would turn 566 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:58,680 Speaker 1: this chain wheel. That would end up engaging the teeth 567 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: into the bicycle chain, rotating the chain loop anyway, and 568 00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:06,840 Speaker 1: then that would again transfer rotational motion to the back 569 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:10,920 Speaker 1: gear wheel, which would in turn turn the that wheel. 570 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,920 Speaker 1: The freely turning rear wheel most of the time. So 571 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:18,399 Speaker 1: the ratio of gear teeth between the rear wheels gear 572 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:21,759 Speaker 1: wheel and the chain wheel would determine how fast you 573 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:25,680 Speaker 1: would go per rotation of the pedals. So let's take 574 00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:28,680 Speaker 1: a standard bike wheel so that I can explain how 575 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:30,880 Speaker 1: chain drives work. It makes it easier if we just 576 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: work with an easily understandable standard. A typical bike wheel 577 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,879 Speaker 1: might be twenty six inches in diameter. So if we 578 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:42,320 Speaker 1: take the good old handy formula and we can figure 579 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:46,239 Speaker 1: out that the circumference of this wheel is eight one 580 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:48,960 Speaker 1: seven inches or so, meaning that if we were to 581 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,759 Speaker 1: take the wheel and lay it out flat, you know, 582 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,280 Speaker 1: un unwheel it. In other words, it would lay out 583 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:57,520 Speaker 1: to a length of eighty one point seven inches. One 584 00:34:57,560 --> 00:35:01,040 Speaker 1: full rotation the wheel would take you that far. But 585 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:04,839 Speaker 1: how much pedaling is required to make one rotation that 586 00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:08,480 Speaker 1: would depend upon the gear ratio. So let's say that 587 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:11,239 Speaker 1: the chain wheel, you know, the one that attaches to 588 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,800 Speaker 1: the crank that is attached to the pedals, has twenty 589 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:19,600 Speaker 1: two teeth, and the rear wheels gear has thirty teeth. 590 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 1: That gives us a twenty two to thirty ratio. Also, 591 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 1: a you could argue it down to a point seven 592 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:31,040 Speaker 1: three to one ratio, which means if you were to 593 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:34,439 Speaker 1: do a full pedal stroke on the chain wheel one 594 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:39,440 Speaker 1: full rotation, the rear wheel would only turn point seven 595 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:43,000 Speaker 1: three times, so not quite three quarters of a rotation. 596 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:46,280 Speaker 1: But if the ratio were different, let's say the chain 597 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:51,160 Speaker 1: wheel has and the rear wheel has eleven teeth on 598 00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:53,440 Speaker 1: its gear, you'd see a lot more turning in that 599 00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:55,920 Speaker 1: rear wheel per turn of the crank. That would give 600 00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:58,879 Speaker 1: us a four to one ratio, which means every time 601 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:02,440 Speaker 1: the crank wheel turn once, the rear wheel will go 602 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:06,200 Speaker 1: around four times. So if you tried it out two 603 00:36:06,239 --> 00:36:09,279 Speaker 1: bikes with the gear ratios I just mentioned, and you 604 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:12,799 Speaker 1: were peddling those two bikes at exactly the same rate, 605 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:15,120 Speaker 1: you get on one and you peddle it where you're 606 00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:20,160 Speaker 1: again going maybe sixty revolutions per minute, and then you 607 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:21,640 Speaker 1: get on the other one and you do it sixty 608 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:24,080 Speaker 1: revolutions per minute. On the first bike, you'll find yourself 609 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:26,879 Speaker 1: ambling along at a leisurely pace, and on the second 610 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:31,719 Speaker 1: bike you'll find yourself zooming down at ridiculous speeds. The 611 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:35,120 Speaker 1: gear ratios are what allowed bicycle manufacturers to create chain 612 00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:38,080 Speaker 1: driven bikes that could attain speeds of the high wheelers 613 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:41,719 Speaker 1: without all those drawbacks. Remember the high wheelers. The reason 614 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:45,040 Speaker 1: they kept getting taller and taller was that the taller 615 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:47,799 Speaker 1: wheels would allow people to go faster as long as 616 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:50,920 Speaker 1: their legs were long enough to pedal the pedals. Using 617 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:54,040 Speaker 1: gear ratios with chain drives would allow the same thing, 618 00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,120 Speaker 1: although it would take quite some time to get there, 619 00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,040 Speaker 1: and it would take even longer to get two bicycles 620 00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:02,040 Speaker 1: that would have multiple gears and not just a single gear. 621 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:05,800 Speaker 1: Goolo May didn't really do anything with that bike design, 622 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:08,200 Speaker 1: Like I said, it just kind of sat in his workshop. 623 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:11,160 Speaker 1: It would take a few decades for others to kind 624 00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:14,719 Speaker 1: of pick up this particular approach. It wasn't until the 625 00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:18,480 Speaker 1: mid eighteen eighties, well into the mid eighteen nineties that 626 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:22,919 Speaker 1: you start seeing chain driven bikes emerge and get some popularity. 627 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:26,600 Speaker 1: Some of them actually used chain driven front wheels like 628 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:28,640 Speaker 1: I mentioned, and they still had a larger wheel in 629 00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:31,880 Speaker 1: the front as well Penny Farthing style. But a British 630 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:36,279 Speaker 1: engineer and entrepreneur named John kept Starley changed things with 631 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:40,840 Speaker 1: a bicycle called the Rover two. John kept Starley was 632 00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:46,320 Speaker 1: the nephew of John Starley. John Starlely was a successful 633 00:37:46,520 --> 00:37:51,040 Speaker 1: businessman who had started off with sewing machines really and 634 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:55,799 Speaker 1: had moved on to making ordinaries or penny farthings and 635 00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:58,560 Speaker 1: did quite well with them. So his nephew J. K. 636 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:02,759 Speaker 1: Starley picked up the mantle and his first bicycle was 637 00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:05,879 Speaker 1: known as the Rover, and it featured a chain drive. 638 00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:08,600 Speaker 1: It also had a larger front wheel, so still kind 639 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:13,840 Speaker 1: of penny farthing ish, uh, But because his design didn't 640 00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:15,880 Speaker 1: require the writer to perch at the top of a 641 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:20,720 Speaker 1: precariously high wheel, it became known as a new type 642 00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:23,680 Speaker 1: of bicycle. Instead of it being a velocipede or a 643 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:27,439 Speaker 1: penny farthing or an ordinary or a bone shaker, these 644 00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:32,160 Speaker 1: became known as safety bicycles. That classification would be used 645 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:35,799 Speaker 1: for chain bikes for years, So the bicycle that you 646 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,560 Speaker 1: and I are familiar with is really an outgrowth of 647 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:44,600 Speaker 1: these safety bicycles from the late nineteenth century. The Rover 648 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:48,359 Speaker 1: two was different. It had two wheels that were more 649 00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:51,880 Speaker 1: or less of equivalent size, so no longer did we 650 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,160 Speaker 1: have that larger front wheel. It also had a frame 651 00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:58,760 Speaker 1: that looks a lot like the typical diamond shaped frame 652 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,040 Speaker 1: you'll see in modern bikes, although it lacked a few 653 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:05,440 Speaker 1: things like the seat tube that modern bikes have. So 654 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:08,400 Speaker 1: a frame on a modern bike has a tube inside 655 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:11,280 Speaker 1: which you can fit a pipe where the bike seat 656 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:14,440 Speaker 1: is mounted, and you can typically adjust the height of 657 00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:18,160 Speaker 1: the seat. That was not a feature of the rover too. 658 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:19,680 Speaker 1: But if you take a look at a picture of 659 00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:22,239 Speaker 1: a rover too, you'll see the unmistakable features of a 660 00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:25,880 Speaker 1: modern bicycle. The fact that these style bikes were called 661 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:29,360 Speaker 1: safety bicycles might have hurt sales a little bit. They 662 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:34,440 Speaker 1: actually did have other names too that also seemed diminutive, 663 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:38,760 Speaker 1: like in France, they were known as bicyclets like little 664 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:42,360 Speaker 1: bicycle essentially is what that means, and some people interpret 665 00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:45,160 Speaker 1: this as meaning the vehicles weren't meant for big, old, rugged, 666 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:47,880 Speaker 1: manly men who had better things to do than avoid 667 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:50,120 Speaker 1: having their brains smashed in whenever they hit a small 668 00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:54,560 Speaker 1: rut in the road. Around the same time, other engineering 669 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:58,239 Speaker 1: advances brought about features like caliber brakes, which made it 670 00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:02,960 Speaker 1: easier to control bicycles, and pneumatically inflated tires helped smooth 671 00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:05,480 Speaker 1: out the ride and made bicycling more comfortable, as well 672 00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,719 Speaker 1: as safe. The pneumatic tire was originally meant to help 673 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:11,360 Speaker 1: a young boy have a smoother ride on a tricycle. 674 00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:16,000 Speaker 1: The inventor of the pneumatic tire was a Scottish veterinarian 675 00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:19,840 Speaker 1: named John boyd Dunlop. He had a son who was 676 00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:22,479 Speaker 1: in poor health and Dunlop wanted to help his boy 677 00:40:22,560 --> 00:40:25,400 Speaker 1: be able to play, and so he invented the pneumatic 678 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:27,719 Speaker 1: tire in order to help his son have a good 679 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:30,200 Speaker 1: time on his tricycle, and that would go on to 680 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:34,040 Speaker 1: change bicycling and later on the car industry. In fact, 681 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:36,560 Speaker 1: a lot of the advancements made during this era with 682 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 1: bicycles would carry over into the automotive industry. By the 683 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:43,560 Speaker 1: late eight nineties, mass production had become a thing, and 684 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:46,160 Speaker 1: that meant the bicycles could be made in greater numbers, 685 00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:49,359 Speaker 1: which brought down their cost and it made them more 686 00:40:49,440 --> 00:40:52,920 Speaker 1: easily accessible to a larger customer base. At the same time, 687 00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:56,840 Speaker 1: there were changes in the way women were allowed to dress. 688 00:40:57,280 --> 00:40:59,719 Speaker 1: I hate having to use that phrase that way, but 689 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:02,520 Speaker 1: that is how things were back then, and so there 690 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:05,920 Speaker 1: are also changes in bicycle design that we're catering so 691 00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:08,759 Speaker 1: to women so that they too could ride bicycles, because 692 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:11,439 Speaker 1: up to that point, the design of bicycles was such 693 00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:16,600 Speaker 1: that women were unable to ride them while also uh 694 00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:20,000 Speaker 1: committing to the social morays of how they should dress 695 00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:25,280 Speaker 1: in polite society. Women would typically ride larger, three wheeled 696 00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:28,200 Speaker 1: vehicles that were similar to the penny farthing in design, 697 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:33,840 Speaker 1: but didn't require you to sit astride an enormous bicycle, which, 698 00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:35,799 Speaker 1: as it turns out, is hard to do if you 699 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:38,959 Speaker 1: also have to wear an ankle length dress. I think 700 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:41,680 Speaker 1: this is a pretty good place to wrap up this episode. 701 00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:44,040 Speaker 1: There's a whole lot more we could talk about, even 702 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:47,160 Speaker 1: in the evolution of the bicycle, and then, of course 703 00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:50,479 Speaker 1: there's more to talk about with the future developments, things 704 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:55,160 Speaker 1: like gear switching bikes, UH, the UH, the first appearance 705 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:57,480 Speaker 1: of the fix E and then the return of the 706 00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:00,880 Speaker 1: fix E, the evolution of materials like carbon fiber, and 707 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:03,239 Speaker 1: a lot more. So. Maybe I'll do a follow up 708 00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:05,680 Speaker 1: episode in the future where I touch on those. In 709 00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:08,360 Speaker 1: the meantime, if you have any suggestions for future episodes 710 00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:10,040 Speaker 1: of tech Stuff, you can get in touch with me. 711 00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:13,839 Speaker 1: My email address for this show is tech Stuff at 712 00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:16,520 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com, or you can drop me 713 00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:18,759 Speaker 1: a line on Facebook or Twitter. The handle of both 714 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:22,120 Speaker 1: of those is tech Stuff hs W. Remember I stream 715 00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:25,000 Speaker 1: live on Wednesdays and Fridays over at twitch dot tv 716 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:26,719 Speaker 1: slash tech Stuff. Hope to see you over there and 717 00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:29,520 Speaker 1: join me in the chat room. Also, don't forget to 718 00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:33,520 Speaker 1: follow our Instagram account. And I think that's it. I'm done. 719 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:35,800 Speaker 1: I'm gonna go, uh go for a bike ride and 720 00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:44,000 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. For more on 721 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:46,520 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics, is it how stuff 722 00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:57,040 Speaker 1: works dot com