Velocipede

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The velocipede was a series of human-powered vehicles created in the Victorian age, that eventually was named the tricycle. There were designs with two, three and four wheels. Some two-wheeled designs had pedals mounted on the front wheel, while three- and four-wheeled designs used treadles and levers to drive the rear wheels. Later two-wheel versions had increasingly large front wheels, directly driven by bicycle pedals, and a smaller back wheel—these leading to the penny farthing. This invention was made by Walter Hunt.

The two-wheeled velocipede sometimes called the boneshaker was invented in 1863 in France by Pierre Lallement. The Michaux company was the first to mass-produce the velocipede, from 1867 to 1870. It cost $100 in 1870, making it unaffordable to the working classes.

[edit] Patents

• U.S. Patent 59,915  -- Velocipeeing (reissued as RE7972)

[edit] See also

• Balance bicycle
• Bicycle
• Karl Drais
• Draisine
• Dandy horse
• Quadricycle
• Tricycle

[edit] External links

• The Velocipede Museum, Old New Castle, Delaware USA
• 19th century picture of a Velocipede supposedly outrunning a horse
• Musée McCord Museum Gallery "A Race on the Ice - Bicycles v. Skates"