Velocipede
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A velocipede (/vəˈlɒsəpiːd/) is a human-powered land vehicle with one or more wheels. The most common type of velocipede today is the bicycle.
The term was probably first coined by
History
Among the early velocipedes there were designs with one, two, three, four, and even five wheels. Some two-wheeled designs had pedals mounted on the front wheel, while three- and four-wheeled designs sometimes used
The earliest usable and much-copied velocipede was created by the German
It was almost 40 years until "velocipede" came into common usage as a generic term, with the launch of the first
During the 1870s advances in metallurgy led to the development of the first all-metal velocipedes. The pedals were still attached directly to the front wheel, which became larger and larger as makers realised that the larger the wheel, the farther you could travel with one rotation of the pedals. Solid rubber tires and the long spokes of the large front wheel provided a much smoother ride than its predecessor. This type of velocipede was the first one to be called a bicycle ("two wheel"), and its shape led to the nickname penny-farthing in the United Kingdom. They enjoyed a great popularity among young men in the 1880s who could afford them. [citation needed]
While young men were risking their necks on the high wheels, ladies and dignified gentlemen such as doctors and clergymen of the 1880s favoured the less risky tricycle. Many innovations for tricycles eventually found their way into the
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1880 Velocipede
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The American Velocipede, 1868, a wood engraving from Harper's Weekly
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Thomas McCall in 1869 on his velocipede
Boneshaker
Boneshaker (or bone-shaker) is a name dating from the 1860s for the first type of true
.History
This type of bicycle was invented in the 1860s in France and first manufactured by the
Few original boneshakers exist today, most having been melted for
Design
The construction of the boneshaker was similar to the
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European "boneshaker" bicycle, circa 1868.
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The Michaux velocipede had a straight downtube and aspoon brake.
In railroad use
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Animation of a handcar, based on a patent by George S. Sheffield[9]
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Single-person railroad velocipede on display at theToronto Railway Historical Association.
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3-wheeled velocipede or handcar on a railroad track. It is operated by hand.
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Velocipede or handcar at the Nevada State Railroad Museum
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Velocipede at the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum
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Sheffield velocipede at the Princeton Railroad Museum in Princeton, WV
Patents
- U.S. patent 59,915 – Velocipede (reissued as RE7972)
- U.S. Patent 382351A VBLOGIPEDE (Lifetime, Expired)
See also
References
- ^ a b Oxford Dictionary of English, 'velocipede'
- ^ Tonton Velo, pour les velos anciens. L'Industrie vélocipédique January 1891. Société Parisienne de Construction Vélocipédique
- ISBN 978-0-85765-992-7.
- ^ "Provincial News". The Gardeners' Chronicle (39). London: 702. September 30, 1843.
Last week. Mr. Braithwaite and another gentleman arrived at Brentwood from the Shoreditch station of the Eastern Counties Railway, each upon a four-wheel locomotive propelled by themselves, at the rate of at least twelve miles an hour [19 km/h]. The name given to these novel carriages is 'Railway Velocipedes'.
- ^ Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, Volume 78 (1897) pp. 395 &c., Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.
- ^ James T. Allen (1892) Digest of Cycles Or Velocipedes with Attachments: Patented in the United States, from 1789 to 1892, Vol. 1, U.S. Patent Office, Washington D.C.
- ^ "A Motor-Wheel for the Railroad Velocipede" (Nov 1916) Popular Science Monthly Vol. 89, No. 5, p. 742
- ^ a b c d e f "Museum Receives Major Acquisitions" (PDF). All Aboard, The Frisco Railroad Museum, September 1986 (accessed on CondrenRails.com). Retrieved January 20, 2021.
- ^ George S. Sheffield
External links
The dictionary definition of velocipede at Wiktionary
Media related to Historical bicycles at Wikimedia Commons
- 19th century picture of a Velocipede supposedly outrunning a horse
- Musée McCord Museum Gallery "A Race on the Ice – Bicycles v. Skates"
- The Boneshaker. Retrieved 28 June 2010.