Safety bicycle

A bicycle with two similarly sized wheels and a chain-driven rear wheel. Its design became the basis of the modern bicycle.

Bicycle chain: A linked metal chain that transfers rotational force between sprockets. The chain connects the pedals to the rear wheel, making direct drive possible.
Penny-farthing: A nineteenth-century bicycle with one very large front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel. The safety bicycle replaced its precarious high seat and direct-drive front wheel.
Bicycle: A human-powered vehicle with two wheels, steered by handlebars and propelled by pedals. The safety bicycle became the dominant template for the broader vehicle.
Draisine: An early two-wheeled human-powered vehicle propelled by pushing the feet against the ground. It shows the simpler balance-bike form that preceded pedal-driven bicycles.
Bicycle gearing: A system of sprockets that changes the relationship between pedal rotation and wheel rotation. Gearing lets the rider adapt pedaling effort to speed and terrain.
Kirkpatrick Macmillan: A Scottish blacksmith associated with an early pedal-driven two-wheeled bicycle built in the 1830s. His machine anticipated pedal propulsion, though it was not the later chain-driven safety design.
Bicycle commuting: Regular travel to work or other destinations by bicycle. The stable, efficient design made bicycles practical for everyday journeys.
Velocipede: A nineteenth-century human-powered vehicle, especially an early pedal bicycle with a rigid frame and wheels. Its uncomfortable rides helped motivate the search for a smoother bicycle design.
Bicycle frame: The structural assembly that supports a bicycle’s wheels, steering, drivetrain, and rider. The frame’s diamond layout combines strength with relatively low weight.
John Kemp Starley: An English inventor whose 1885 Rover is widely recognized as a landmark safety bicycle. Starley’s Rover brought the defining rear-chain-drive layout into a successful form.

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