~TRANSPORT & COMMUNICATION~

ROAD TRANSPORTATION

HISTORY OF BICYCLES

EARLY BICYCLES HAD NO CHAINS

            

               Most cycles have strong but light frame made from hollow metal tubes. The air-filled tyres grip the road and ride smoothly over small bumps. A pull on the brake handles on the handlebars presses rubber brake blocks onto the metal wheel rims and slows down bicycle.

                You change gear by moving levers, which are usually on the handlebars. Low gears are for going uphill or into a strong wind. High gears are for level roads or for going downhill. Bicycle designers are always improving their design and trying new materials. Although most bicycle frames are made of steel, many sports bicycles have frames made from lightweight aluminium or titanium, or from strong plastics or carbon-fibre.

There are different types of bicycle avaiable today.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE BICYCLE

          In about 1790, Comte de Sivrac of France invented the first wooden bicycle. In 1885, English man J.K. Starley produced the safety bicycle which is the design most modern bicycles are based on. The first bicycles had a  wooden frame and wheels, iron tyres and no brakes or pedals. In 1888 John Boyd Dunlop successfully developed pneumatic tyres for bicycles that looked much like they do today. Lightweight track-racing bicycles, that BMX bikes and mountains bike were introduces in the 1970s.