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Which Scottish blacksmith invented the first pedal driven bicycle? |
Which Scottish blacksmith invented the first pedal driven bicycle? You're no doubt referring to Kirkpatrick Macmillan but that's subject to considerable questioning in bicycle history circles, except, of course, in Scotland. Perhaps it was more than one person or the bringing together of several different variations. Sometimes, history depends on who wrote the story, that's why patents became a standard. Arguments about who invented the bicycle are thus rarely fruitful and never conclusive. In all likelihood, the Baron von Drais (Germany), Kirkpatrick Macmillan (Scotland), the Michaux family (France), Henry Lawson (England) and many others, all contributed critical elements but it was the Starley family of Coventry, England who can perhaps lay claim to bringing it all together as a commercial venture even though their first models were unsuccessful and they did not necessarily 鈥渋nvent鈥?the designs that they incorporated. Nevertheless, within 20 years after the Boneshaker appeared in the 1860s, most of the basic elements of modern bicycle design had appeared and were included in Starley鈥檚 1885 鈥淩over鈥? Even though controversy still surrounds Macmillan鈥檚 machine, it was prophetic in that it included three of these critical design elements: (1) two smallish, equally-sized wheels with the rider sitting between them ( 2) a rear-wheel drive and (3) a front wheel that was steered and was independent of the transmission. The additional two pieces of the puzzle that were subsequently incorporated by Starley and others were (4) a 鈥済eared-up鈥?drivetrain (such that the number of pedal revolutions does not equal the number of wheel rotations) and (5) the chain drive itself which was eventually to become ubiquitous. Kirkpatrick Macmillan www.webscot.co.uk/greatscots/k... |
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