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One of
Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Oh, and FYI — prices are accurate and items in stock as of time of publication.
One of the things that fascinate me about bikes is just how they have evolved. From simple two-wheel rides that were quite complicated to ride at the time to the most advanced road bikes and mountain bicycles, there have definitely been many changes for sure.
Today, the cycling industry is a world of its own kind, with a unique history that dates back to the 1800s. In fact, it is almost 200 years since the invention of the first bike, which, if anything, means we have come a long way. And things are only getting better for the cycling community.
Although not everyone you meet may fancy biking as you do, that’s not to mean that cycling has lost its popularity. It’s still a big part of our society.
Your parents may have bought you a balance bike when you were two years old, but the design concept of this bike traces its way back to a time none of us was even born yet. And if you have been wondering what the revolution was like, believe it when I tell you that there has been quite a huge milestone in the biking world.
In this post, I will walk you through the timeline in biking history, with the goal of helping you understand how biking got to the current point and just how far we’ve come.
- 1 Bicycle Timeline
- 1.1 The invention of Draisine in 1817
- 1.2 The invention of Boneshaker in 1858
- 1.3 The invention of the High Wheeler in 1866
- 1.4 The explosion of steam powered bikes in 1868
- 1.5 The invention of rubber tire and first road race in 1869
- 1.6 The coming of the chain-driven bike in 1879
- 1.7 The era of the first safety bike – 1884
- 2 The invention of inflatable tires in 1888
- 3 1890 was the year of aluminum bikes
- 4 The evolution from 1893 and beyond
The invention of Draisine in 1817
It all started in 1817 when a German Baron called Karl von Drais invented Draisine, the very first object on two wheels that actually qualified as a bike. Draisine was simple in design and it was quite popular in France and Germany. Somewhere between the time of invention and 1858, Draisine was converted into a 4-wheeled unit for railroad use. While it ceased to exist then, Draisine marked the beginning of the mod