Bicycle: The HistoryDuring the nineteenth century, the bicycle evoked an exciting new world in which even a poor person could travel afar and at will. But was the mechanical horse truly destined to usher in a new era of road travel or would it remain merely a plaything for dandies and schoolboys? In Bicycle: The History (named by Outside magazine as the #1 book on bicycles), David Herlihy recounts the saga of this far-reaching invention and the passions it aroused. The pioneer racer James Moore insisted the bicycle would become as common as umbrellas. Mark Twain was more skeptical, enjoining his readers to get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
The PreHistory | 13 |
Wheels and Woes | 53 |
The Boneshaker | 73 |
4 | 79 |
5 | 120 |
European Development | 127 |
The High Mount Prevails | 159 |
Growing Safety Concerns | 200 |
The Rise of the Rover | 225 |
The Bicycle Boom | 251 |
The Twentieth Century | 307 |
75 | 420 |
127 | 427 |
182 | 434 |
283 | 438 |