Bicycles | Can’t Sleep? Take a Ride Through Cycling History

The dandy horse, invented by German baron Karl von Dreis in 1817, had no pedals. Riders sat astride a wooden frame and pushed the vehicle along with their feet while steering the front wheel. That simple two-wheeled contraption, regarded as the first bicycle, set in motion a chain of innovations that would eventually produce the modern bicycle—a machine so efficient that a human traveling at low to medium speeds uses only the power required to walk.

From Velocipede to Safety Bicycle

The first mechanically propelled two-wheeled vehicle may have been built by Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick Macmillan in 1839, though the claim is disputed. In the early 1860s, Frenchmen Pierre Michaud and Pierre Lamont added a mechanical crank drive with pedals on an enlarged front wheel, creating the velocipede—the first bicycle to enter mass production. This design evolved into the penny farthing, officially called an "ordinary" bicycle, with a tubular steel frame, wire-spoked wheels, and solid rubber tires. Its high seat over the large front wheel made mounting, dismounting, and braking difficult and dangerous.