Inventions & Discoveries · Transport and navigation

Bicycle

1817 · 19th century · Also known as Pedal cycle, Push-bike

A bicycle is a pedal-driven, single-track vehicle with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. Its first form, Karl von Drais’s two-wheeled running machine without pedals, was shown in Mannheim in 1817, and pedals on an enlarged front wheel were added in France in the early 1860s. The upright safety bicycle has changed little since the first chain-driven model of around 1885, and it gave women unprecedented mobility. Ball bearings, pneumatic tyres, chain-driven sprockets and tension-spoked wheels were first invented for the bicycle.

Bicycle
Image: Karen Roe from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

On the inventions tree

First known
1817
Where
Mannheim
Credited to
Karl von Drais

NoteDrais’s running machine had no pedals; they were added in France in the early 1860s.

Built onWheelbefore 4000 BCE
Led toAutomobile1886

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Mentioned in 1 profile

Congo Free StateSocioeconomy

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Bicycle. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/bicycle
MLA
“Bicycle.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/bicycle. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Bicycle.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/bicycle.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Bicycle’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/bicycle (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻