The History of Bicycles: From the Very First to 2027

Humans built steam locomotives before they built this. The wheel is over five thousand years old, yet until 1817 nobody had put two wheels in a line and ridden them. Why? This is the whole story of the bicycle: Karl Drais's wooden running machine, the boneshaker, the terrifying penny-farthing, the Rover, a vet's football pump, the women who rode to freedom, the chaos of the first Tours de France, the banned recumbent, a world record on a washing machine, and a woman at 296 km/h. And the strange truth about why a bicycle stays up, which scientists only discovered in 2011. Chapters: 0:00 Two wheels in a line 0:39 Two fake bicycles 1:15 Tambora and Karl Drais, 1817 2:41 Dandy horses and bans 3:32 Pedals and the boneshaker 4:17 Why don't you fall? 5:21 The high wheel 7:27 The Rover, 1885 8:28 Dunlop's air tyre 9:22 The boom, and women on wheels 10:48 The Tour de France 12:36 The banned bicycle 13:24 Graeme Obree's washing machine 14:19 296 km/h 15:46 Dien Bien Phu and the Flying Pigeon 16:43 Repack: the mountain bike 17:17 Cheating 18:07 Why does it stay up? 19:18 Today 20:17 The whole journey Photo and video sources: Wikimedia Commons (public domain / CC0). Full list available on request. #bicycle #history #engineering #KarlDrais #documentary