I’ve often wondered why, after a century of innovation, modern bicycles look so similar to the ones that people rode in the 1890s. After all the innovations in the world since that time, why haven’t we improved on the bicycle?
That question drove me to compare a brand-new, just-out-of-the-box bike to one that was built in 1895. And maybe you’ll be as surprised as me at the similarities and the differences between them.
A big thanks to the Reynolds Museum, particularly to Juanita Voth, who shared her time and knowledge. You should visit the museum: https://reynoldsmuseum.ca/
The modern bike is a 2024 Priority Eight (and it’s super fun to ride). The old bike is an 1895 Singer Ladies’ Safety Bicycle (and it’s fascinating).
Part of the reason they look so similar is because UCI banned recumbents as soon as they were invented
Not just recumbents. In the late 90s Kestral unveiled some super cool and aero road bike frames that did away with the classic dual triangle frame design entirely. UCI banned those as well and i will never not be salty about it
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Take a full-suspension carbon mtb with electric shifting, hydraulic brakes, tubeless tyres etc and compare it to 1895 Singer safety bike. A lot has changed! But of course with more simple designs there aren’t that many bits to develop, yet probably every part has changed to some extent since those times.
Weight
I don’t even know what to say about people scared of a pennyfarthing. I guess they never saw a guy push a motorcycle fast as he can in 3rd gear clutch disengaged, and jump on when the engine fires after he dumps the clutch. (They took away kickers before electric start was reliable)
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You think that’s scary? you should see me kick start my old PoS hyundai truck
My old VW Beetle had an unreliable starter, so I often found myself push-starting it. You don’t see many people push-starting vehicles today, and even fewer doing it by themselves.
You have no idea bud … I run a local car club … every year there’s less and less manuals. There’s only a handful of manual car models left.
We’re being pushed around and they’ll have to pry my manual shitbox from my cold dead body.
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Well they have changed a lot. Just the general form of the frame and position of the components hasn‘t. You can see this in a lot of technology (especially mechanical)
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Cool video, fellow Albbertan! (And at the end, I thibk you were riding along beside Deerfoot north of 32nd, so fellow Calgarian.)
I’d love to see a breakdown of the true innovations that draw the line from Singer to modern day. Surr materials have improved, but that’s incremental. The freewheel and the derailleur are fundamental new innovations. Rim brakes improved over a century, but weren’t really new. Disc brakes might qualify as a true innovation. And of course, pneumatuc tires - every few years an attempt to replace them fails once again, because they were an absolute miracle.
I’d also love to see a discussion of what might be, if it weren’t for the UCI’s punitive rules.
