Bicycle

History

There exist several applicants with the invention of the bicycle. Pierre and Ernest Michaux is often quoted, but another French, mythical the Count Mede de Sivrac probably more is quoted, with its célérifère gone back to 1790. The German baron Karl Drais von Sauerbronn is also quoted with his Laufmaschine or “machine to be run”, which it presented to Paris in 1817 (Importation patent French deposited by Louis-Joseph Dineur in the name of the Baron Drais the 2/17/1818: " Machine known as vélocipède").

The first operational machines which resembled bicycles were invented at the beginning of the Années 1800.

The Draisienne of 1817 had two aligned wheels, connected to a framework out of wooden by forks, the nose gear wheel being able to swivel laterally. This machine was a certain success, in particular with the the United Kingdom and the the United States. The draisienne and the machines which resembled to him were known under various names, like hobby horse , dandy horse , biciped or Trottinette .

They held more the latter, insofar as the only means of propulsion were to take support on the ground to provide a push. Since 1837, Galloux, young Parisian metal worker, adapts " manivelles" on the nose gear wheel draisienne; Pierre Michaux, " metal worker in the car with façon" , begins again and improves in 1855 or 1861 according to the sources, this first pedal which it calls " pédivelle" (French Patent n°80 637 deposited by Pierre Michaux the 4/24/1868: " Improvement in the construction of the vélocipèdes") and manufacture generalizes about it by creating its company in 1865, the " Michaux" house; who becomes " The Parisienne" company; in 1869.

Machines similar to the vélocipède had much success after 1866, when Pierre Lallement, former associate of Pierre Michaux, obtained an American patent for a machine which it called “bisicle”. Some called the machine boneshaker (“secoueuse of bone”), because of the design of the wheels, out of wood ringed of iron. The trimmings of hard rubber wheels appeared in 1869 and appreciably improved comfort of the machine. The nose gear wheel became larger, and the aft wheel decreased by size. This kind of bicycle was a striking down success. The first Large-Bi, called Ordinary appeared in 1872. In England, it was called Penny Farthing (according to the respective size of these two coins).

Following the War of 1870, a French inventor had the idea to use the Fourreau X of saber become useless to replace the full tube S. This made it possible to reduce the unit considerably.

In 1884, John K. Starley of the company the Coventry Sewing Machine Company (“company of the sewing machines of Coventry”), which will become Rover, invented the “bicycle of safety” with wheels of reasonable size and a drive chain. The cyclist is installed there with the back, which makes almost impossible the fall of the type “sun” where the cyclist is catapulted over the nose gear wheel (English Patent n°1 341 deposited by John K. Starley the 1/30/1885 " Improvements in roller bearings for velocipedes, carriages, but like light vehicles gold light machinery").

Larger gears with before (the plate) that to the back (the pinion) made turn the aft wheel more quickly than the pedals do not turn, which allows this type of machine of going quickly even without a giant wheel.

John Boyd Dunlop invented the pneumatic in 1888 (Patent French n°193281 deposited by John Boyd Dunlop the 10/1/1888: " Trimming of rim applicable to the wheels of véhicules"). This contributed to still improve comfort of the cyclist.

The bicycles of safety of 1890 resembled the current bicycles already much. They had tires of size comparable with those of a modern bicycle, wheels with rays, a steel framework and a drive chain. The only thing which they missed was a system of shifting of speed.

In the Années 1890 this new model of bicycle widened the target of the potential users. Moreover, the bicycles became an industrial product, reducing their price to a point which made them accessible to the workmen. This led to a “madness of the bicycle”, which was at the origin of an important social evolution ( to see below).

In 1903, is born the Tour de France.

The systems at several speeds started to be used in the competitions of bicycle in the Années 1930.

The pedal-car appears in the years 1930, Vélo lying and ancestor of the Vélomobile.

The Dérailleur S developed during the Années 1950.

The Vélomobile S reappear at the end of the years 1980.

Dimensions social and historical

In its shape with two wheels with a framework made up of two triangles back to back, the bicycle (almost identical to that which we use now) got to the women a mobility without precedent, thus facilitating to them emancipation. In the years the 1890 passion for cycling among women was at the origin of the creation of a mode of clothing as the skirt-pants which helped the women to be released from the Corset and other constraining clothing.

In City, in Europe, but especially in China and in certain countries of Southeast Asia, the bicycles reduced the concentration of population of the downtown area by giving to the workers a means of carrying out pendular displacements between individual dwellings in suburbs close and the work places to the city. The recourse to the horses also decreased during the same time. The bicycle, combined with the vacation, made it possible to people to travel in their country of origin, with a great autonomy, and without polluting and occupying as much space than with the car.

The bicycle was used by various armies in regiments of Infanterie cyclist.

From a historical point of view, the development of the modern bicycle had two major implications.

Firstly, the industrial production of the bicycles with framework in double triangle back with back required the development of advanced techniques of work of metal for the production of the executives, and of components like the Roll of the dice and the Engrenage S. These techniques made it possible later to develop machine elements which were used in the first Automobile S and in Aéronautique. An example of such an evolution is that of the Frères Wright, which made their beginnings as manufacturers of bicycles.

The second implication of the development of the use of the bicycle was the organization on the political plan of the cyclists and the amateurs of bicycle, in the form of lobbies, to promote near the institutions the creation of a Highway network covered, maintained and charted well.

As well the model organization of these lobbies as that of the roads themselves facilitated later the development of the use of another vehicle with wheels: the Automobile . In certain Western companies, the bicycle was relegated after the Second world war to the row of toy for the children, and it was thus during several years, in particular with the the United States. In certain Western countries, in particular with the Netherlands and in Germany, the bicycle continued to be usually used like means of transport.

However, the interest for the bicycle gradually increased lately, mainly for its use as an instrument of back in shape, leisure and competitive sport. Moreover, one increasing proportion of the population uses it like means of transport for short distances, especially in cities densément populated where circulation is congested, and where parking and user costs of the car as the demand for environmental Qualité made the use of the car less interesting. This tendency accelerated with the process of ageing of the population of the suburbs close to many cities. More and more of cities cycle installations build now like tracks or cycle tracks along the streets, to facilitate and support the use of the bicycle as well as means of transport to the daily newspaper as as leisure. Comparative tables remain to be published.

The bicycle is always one of the individual vehicles most used in many Pays in the process of development. The image of the Asian city swarming with bicycles is a stereotype frequently met, although actually the bicycle tends to have less and less success there.

According to the magazine The Economist, one of the primary reasons of the proliferation of bicycles manufactured in China on the exterior markets with this country would be the tendency of the Chinese to prefer more and more the motorized car and two-wheeled vehicles.

In France, in particular in the big cities, and as in the countries which use much the bicycle, the flight is rather frequent, which led to the installation of better means of theft protection devices. Thus in the Netherlands (as in France, Scandinavia and Germany) an institution checks the reliability of the theft protection devices.

Other means of transport try to adapt to the cohabitation with the bicycle by providing means supporting the complementarity of the modes: transport system of bicycles on the buses, in the trains, etc to reduce the risks of flight, with many parks with bicycles are equipped with arches or mini-garages with bicycles (instructions with bicycle).

Environmental dimension

The bicycle is the means of displacement more the energy saver, not very dangerous and occupying little space. It has weak a Empreinte ecological (if it is used). For short displacements it is a good alternative to the car. A network known as Véloroute S and green lanes, paneuropéen is in the course of constitution so that the cyclists can move without danger through all Europe, while having an access facilitated to places of restorations. In Quebec, a similar project called the green Route was inaugurated in 2007, and covers the territory inhabited of is in west of the province. In Europe, many areas are arranged for the cyclists, but the North-South differences and city-countryside remain very important. In fact especially the Netherlands and Denmark are distinguished: the towns of Groningue and Copenhagen are often quoted in example. And yet, according to certain sources, it is the town of Ferrare, in the north of Italy, which would have the highest proportion of cyclists in the world! Dolce vita E bicicletta, pdf, pages 14-15

Dimension of public health

The practice of the bicycle brings immense benefits in terms of public health, because it is about a physical exercise of average intensity: it is precisely what it is necessary to reduce the cardiovascular disease risks. This profit in terms of health however is counterbalanced - in certain countries more than in others - by the accident risk.

They are the countries cash of many cyclists who are the least dangerous for the amateurs of the small queen. In an article published in 2007 in the review Injury Prevention, of the English researchers the risks undergone by old cyclists from 10 compared to 14 years in eight country. Result: the Netherlands and Norway are the surest countries, followed by Switzerland and Germany. In tail of classification, one finds Great Britain and New Zealand. The road users are disciplined in these countries, but cycling is not very widespread there. The addition of accidents would come owing to the fact that the motorists do not have sufficiently the practice of côtoyer cyclists.

These results confirm what other researchers (in particular Swedish and American) postulate since the beginning of the years 2000: if one multiplies the number of cyclists by ten, the number of accidents is not multiplied " que" by four. It would be thus desirable that the number of cyclists increases, for safety reasons.

In a country such as Switzerland, each year, twice less people die in bicycle than with motor bike, whereas the cyclists carry out more displacements which motorcyclists (the statistics include the scooters as of 125 Cm3 among the motor bikes). Per traversed kilometer, the motorcyclists and scooterists are 18 times more exposed to a fatal accident than the motorists, the cyclists 7 times more, and the pedestrians 6 times more. If one calculates the risk of death per hour, to move with bicycle remains riskier than to drive car, but the hour of bicycle is 7 to 8 times less dangerous than the hour of motor bike or scooter.

What brings together cyclists and motorcyclists, it is that in the majority of the accidents with regard to them, a car is implied and it is the motorist who is faulty (refusal to give way, clash by the back). The cyclists are less exposed than the motorcyclists because they roll less quickly and their vehicle is lighter.

In Denmark, a study taking account of all the positive and negative points related to the practice of the bicycle showed that the risk to die in the year is tiny room of a third at the people who go to work to bicycle, compared with those which use another means of transport. The daily physical-activity thus brings a profit more important than the accident risk.

The cyclist is exposed as less to the pollutants of the air as the other road users. Even on main roads, he aspires less gas than the motorists because he rolls on the side of the roadway - where the rates of pollution are weaker - and because its elevated position enables him to escape certain pollutants which are heavier than the air. Without counting that the cyclists can benefit from their flexibility to explore courses which avoid the main roads of circulation. energy-environnement.ch

Technical side

The velodiversity was always present since the history of the cycles. It reappears more clearly still since the rebirth of the Vélo lying S.

The current bicycles consist of a whole of easily identifiable parts. The tallies of it is the principal part, it generally consists of a triangle on which the weight of the cyclist is distributed starting from the fulcrum of the saddle where sat the cyclist, associated with a second smaller triangle on which the aft wheel is assembled: this second triangle is composed of Haubans (stops external of the triangle postpones) and of Base S (bases back triangle). The nose gear wheel is fixed at the framework by a fork, the high part of this one is assembled on rolls of the dice through an almost vertical tube in front of the framework. These rolls of the dice constitute the play of direction. The top of the fork constitutes an bracket at which the handlebar is fixed. The fork can be suspended. Many models of modern bicycles are in addition designed without fixed stays, replaced by a suspended system. This system can take various and varied forms, use of articulations based on bearings, until the use of flexible materials (Titane in particular) which authorize a progressive deformation. Such “all-suspended” bicycles are designed for the practice in unequal ground like VTT to bring an additional comfort.

Energy is provided by the cyclist via his feet, with which it presses on the pedals, connected to one or more gears on the level of the pedals: plates. The back gears, the pinion (but there are often several pinions of different sizes fixed together, one speaks then about cassette) are assembled on the aft wheel by a mechanism with non-return pawl: thefree one. The transmission of the movement between a plate and a pinion is ensured by the chain. According to the type of practice for which the bicycle is designed, the cassette can be “punt” as on a bicycle of road, which wants to say that between two successive pinions, there is only one tooth moreover on largest; on other types of bicycles like the VTT, the number of teeth can increase much more quickly between the successive pinions. The whole of the elements ranging between the pedals and the aft wheel is indicated by the term of transmission.

The possibility of changing gears constitutes one of major advances of the technique cyclist. The work of the legs is more effective at certain number of revolutions (or Cadence S) of the pedals. To have a possibility of more extended selection of the speed ratios between plates and pinions makes it possible to the cyclist to preserve his rate of pédalage nearest to a desired value. This is why the bicycles of road are equipped with “flat” pinions, so as to make it possible to the cyclist to control well his rate according to the small number of configurations of ground which it will be able to usually meet. It is a simple device which laterally pushes the chain so as to oblige it to change pinion (or of plate for the front shifting track). The sides of the pinions themselves have a form specific with indentations to dimensions of the chain links, “to catch” the chain when it is pushed against the pinion, thus engaging it on the teeth of this pinion. The system is considerably simpler than the older systems like the bicycle at three speeds, but was long in conquering the market, because of the basic difference with all the systems of shifting of speed used before.

The last of the most important bodies of a bicycle is the brake. It is composed of two independent handles of brake, ordering each one a jaw coming to apply rubber plugs to the rim via brake cables. The cables are protected most of the time in sheaths. Certain brakes, for more performance, are based on the principle of the Brake disc, or of the Brake drum, integrated in the Moyeu.

Since the Years 1950, the majority of the brakes are derived from the design of the jaws with side pulling invented by Campagnolo. The two arms of the jaw are tightened when the cable, fixed at the end of one of the arms and passing by the end of the other is tended. The pressure of the plugs applied by the rim balances thanks to a spring which distributes the effort between the two arms of jaws.

The increasingly frequent use of larger tires on the VTT ended up posing a problem: the rim and its tire became too broad to pass between the jaws. Initially, the system cantilever brought an answer to this problem. The arms of the jaw became independent, while being connected by a cable court of distribution of the braking force. The control cable then comes to be fixed in the middle of the cable of distribution. However this system has some weaknesses: if the fixing of the control cable is not centered, the effort is badly distributed between the arms, and if the connector is taken down, the cable of distribution can brutally block the wheel while being wedged in the drawings of the tire, which can involve an accident if that occurs on the nose gear wheel. A solution more adapted to the problem of the width of the tires is the v-brake. The cable is fixed so as to be directed to the top so as not to being able to fall down on the tire, and transmits moreover in much better way the power of braking impelled by the handle of brake, while being a little easier to center during the assembly.

Aerodynamics is redécouverte to produce bicycles still much faster: the Bicycle lying S and the Vélomobile S. All the speed records will be beaten. Comfort is without comparison.

The materials used for the manufacture of the bicycles are close to those used in Aéronautique, the objective in both cases being to obtain a light and resistant structure. Almost all the bicycles of before the Années 1970 were made of an alloy of Acier and chromium: the chromaloy (or chromoloy). At the beginning of the Années 1980 the Aluminum was a certain success, in particular because of the fall of its cost.

To date, this metal is probably used the most for bicycles of midrange. In the high-end one uses the Carbon fiber and the Titane, but these materials are very expensive. Each type of material used for the framework has its advantages and its disadvantages, although for a geometry of framework given, the whole of the bicycles have qualities almost identical in their behavior to the effort.

The most obvious differences between materials appear when one compares their behavior in time, their esthetics, their capacity with being repaired and their weight. As the rigidity of the framework in the vertical plan, even for a very elastic material, is of an order of magnitude higher than that of the rigidity of the tires and saddle, the comfort of the bicycle is summarized rather with a problem of choice of the saddle, geometry of the framework, tires and of general adjustment of the bicycle.

Although to repair a bicycle is simple in its principle, many parts are relatively complex and some prefer to delegate the maintenance of their machine to professionals. However, much of people prefer to maintain their bicycle as much as possible, that is to save money, or quite simply for the pleasure of arranging, by passion for the bicycle.

In North America and in the other areas where the ground freezes during the winter, it is possible to install tires equipped with metal points. Those ensure a greater adherence on frozen surfaces and the followers of this means of displacement can thus circulate during all the winter.

Legislation

In France, the Décret of August 1995 relating to the prevention of the risks resulting from the use of the bicycles specifies the nature of a bicycle: “One understands by bicycle very produced comprising two wheels and a saddle, and propelled mainly by the muscular energy of the person assembled on this vehicle, in particular by means of pedals” .

Variations around the bicycle

Many inventions and practices rise from the bicycle or approach some:

Draisienne
First pedal bicycle
Michaudine
Large-Bi
Célérifère
several wheels: Three-wheeled S, Tri-car S and others
only one wheel: Monocycle
several people: Tandem
position of the pedals and saddlery: Bicycle lying, pedal-car or Vélomobile
without saddle: Child's scooter
to transport passengers: Rickshaw or Trishaw
equipped for cross-country: VTT, Cyclocross, Descent, free-wrinkle
equipped for long distances in all autonomy: Bicycle touring
car with pedals: Rosalie
equipped with a battery: Bicycle with electric assistance or assisted Bicycle
easy to transport: the foldable Bicycle
Old nail , an old bicycle,
beach cruiser

The motorcycles are: the Motor cycle, the Auto-cycle, the Scooter.

Repairs and talks

See the wikibook Mechanical bicycle

Notes and references of the article

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