The History Of Bicycles Is Not As Fast As The Increasing Trend Of Bike Hobby During The COVID-19

Illustration (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The hobby of cycling increased during the mid-week of COVID-19. But of course the rapid interest in the hobby of cycling is not as fast as the historical development of the emergence of modern bicycles. This two-wheeled vehicle had evolved several times, which was the result of a collection of inventions by many people.

Lately, the hobby of cycling is increasingly in demand by many people. This assumption can be seen from the increase in bicycle sales.

As reported by Kompas, one of the domestic bicycle manufacturers, PT Roda Maju Bahagia (RMB) agrees that the demand for bicycles in the middle of this city is increasing. This bike maker for the Element MTB, Police Bike, Camp, Ion and Capriolo brands has managed to sell at least 50 percent of the sales target. The sales target that the RMB wants to raise is as many as 300,000 bicycles by the end of the year.

RMB Chief Executive Officer, Hendra said, demand had started to surge several weeks after the implementation of the large-scale social restriction (PSBB) policy in Jakarta. The trend of the increase is quite evenly distributed in big cities in Indonesia.

History

The increasing trend of cycling lately is not as fast as the history of the development of the emergence of modern bicycles. Modern bicycles are created from the development of technology from many inventors.

Quoting History, the person who first initiated the bicycle was a German aristocrat, Karl von Drais. He made the first major developments when he created a controllable two-wheeler in 1817.

This bicycle blueprint made of wood does not yet have chains, pedals, let alone brakes. Instead, to ride a bicycle "frame" 23 kg have to be pushed on their own feet.

Hobby horse 1818 (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

This bicycle is known by many names, including velocipede, hobby-horse, draisine and running machine. This early edition made Drais widely known as the father of bicycles. Velocipede enjoyed only a short period of glory before the birth of new inventions that developed the bicycle vehicle.

Early 1860s, several French inventors such as Pierre Lalllement, Pierre Michaux and Ernest Michaux developed a new bicycle prototype. This time there are pedals attached to the front wheels. This is the formation of the first bicycle engine.

A bicycle with a giant front tire model is quite difficult to ride. Therefore, with the hope of adding stability, inventors such as Eugene Meyer and James Startley then introduced new models such as using large front wheels.

These bicycle pedals, nicknamed penny-farthings or ordinaries, became very popular during the 1870s to 1880s. It was also during this era that the first bicycle clubs and races began to take shape. The historic events of this era came from a man from England, Thomas Stevens who drove around the world on the ordinaries.

Penny Farthing (Source: Wikimedia Commons) ///

However, the bicycle with a high seat was considered too dangerous to ride for most people. Finally in 1885, British citizen John Kemp Starley perfected a safer bicycle design.

In the Starley era, chain technology began to be applied to bicycles and the wheel size could be equated. After that, the development of features such as brakes and tires followed which became the forerunner to the birth of the modern bicycle.