Machine

The bicycle itself: Karl von Drais’ 1817 running machine, the boneshaker, the high-wheel penny-farthing, the safety bicycle and pneumatic tyre that sparked the 1890s boom, the derailleur, and the age of carbon.

Part of Cycling

34 moments in this segment.

1. 1817-06-01 - The Draisine (1817). The 1817 draisine or “running machine” of Karl von Drais, the ancestor of the bicycle, in a contemporary engraving.
2. 1820-06-01 - Karl von Drais (1820). Karl von Drais, the German inventor who built the first two-wheeled running machine in 1817, in a period portrait.
3. 1869-06-01 - The velocipede (1869). The pedal velocipede or “boneshaker” of the 1860s, the first bicycle to be driven by pedals, in a period image.
4. 1878-06-01 - The penny-farthing (1878). The high-wheel “ordinary” or penny-farthing, the dominant bicycle of the 1870s-80s, in a period photograph.
5. 1885-06-01 - The Rover safety bicycle (1885). The Rover safety bicycle by John Kemp Starley, the 1885 chain-driven design that became the template for the modern bicycle.
6. 1889-06-01 - The safety bicycle (1889). The chain-driven safety bicycle of the late 1880s that made cycling universal, in a period illustration.
7. 1893-06-01 - History of the bicycle (1893)
8. 1895-06-01 - Safety bicycle (1895) - II. Safety bicycle, the chain-driven safety bicycle that made cycling universal.
9. 1895-06-01 - Safety bicycle (1895) - V. Safety bicycle, 1895.
10. 1895-06-01 - Safety bicycle (1895) - I. Safety bicycle, 1895.
11. 1895-06-01 - Safety bicycle (1895) - IV. Safety bicycle, 1895.
12. 1895-06-01 - Safety bicycle (1895) - III. Safety bicycle, 1895.
13. 1896-06-01 - The bicycle boom (1896). A vintage poster from the 1890s bicycle boom, when cycling swept Europe and America.
14. 1928-06-01 - The Penny Farthing Bike Race (1928) | British Pathé. The Penny Farthing Bike Race (1928), a milestone in how the bicycle itself was invented and refined.
15. 1953-06-01 - Safety Cycle (1953). ), a milestone in how the bicycle itself was invented and refined.
16. 2009-06-01 - Penny-farthing (2009) - III. This bicycle is one of the most significant machine in the museum's collection. It is built to a design by James Starley, the most important figure in Coventry's early cycle industry. It shows how Starley improved on the design of the Velocipede to develop the Ordinary or Penny Farthing bicycle.
17. 2009-06-01 - Penny-farthing (2009) - II. Penny-farthing, the high-wheel “ordinary” bicycle of the 1870s-80s.
18. 2009-06-01 - Penny-farthing (2009) - I. This Penny Farthing bicycle was made at the Rudge factory in Crow Lane, Coventry, where the Sky Dome Night Club and Cinema complex stands today. It is a light weight roadster bicycle, which means it was made for racing on the road.
19. 2009-06-01 - History of the bicycle (2009)
20. 2009-06-01 - History of the bicycle (2009). History of the bicycle, the evolution of the machine that changed the world.
21. 2010-04-14 - The Safety Bike
22. 2010-06-01 - Penny-farthing (2010)
23. 2010-06-01 - History of the bicycle (2010)
24. 2011-06-01 - History of the bicycle (2011)
25. 2012-06-01 - History of the bicycle (2012). Photo taken without a tripod (was not permitted!) 1868 Frontkurbelrad.
26. 2012-06-01 - History of the bicycle (2012). Photo taken without a tripod (was not permitted!) 1868 Frontkurbelrad.
27. 2012-06-01 - Penny-farthing (2012)
28. 2013-06-01 - Penny-farthing (2013)
29. 2013-06-01 - History of the bicycle (2013)
30. 2016-06-07 - The Roots of Dirt | How The Mountain Bike Evolved From Clunker to Global Phenomenon
31. 2017 - Pedalling Dreams. The Raleigh Story. BBC Documentary 2017
32. 2022-11-12 - Antique Bicycle Ads 1896. Cycling Advertisements from Germany During the 1890's Bike Boom.
33. 2023-10-07 - Antique High Wheel Bicycle Springfield Roadster 1889 lever drive, coasts.. not a penny farthing!. Antique High Wheel Bicycle Springfield Roadster 1889 lever drive, coasts.
34. 2024-06-11 - 12th June 1817: Karl Drais makes the first journey on an early bicycle, called the Laufmaschine