Search
- Man with a Safety Bicycle, circa 1895 - Innovators in the 1890s sought to improve on the safety bicycle. Some ideas, like the pneumatic tire, succeeded; but others did not catch on. This photograph shows a safety with a large-diameter front chain sprocket. Though it provided a high gear ratio (one turn of the crank producing multiple turns of the rear wheel) useful for racing, this fixed-gear design failed to entice everyday cyclists.
- circa 1895
- Collections - Artifact
Man with a Safety Bicycle, circa 1895
Innovators in the 1890s sought to improve on the safety bicycle. Some ideas, like the pneumatic tire, succeeded; but others did not catch on. This photograph shows a safety with a large-diameter front chain sprocket. Though it provided a high gear ratio (one turn of the crank producing multiple turns of the rear wheel) useful for racing, this fixed-gear design failed to entice everyday cyclists.