Infographic | The development of the bicycle

Karl Freiherr von Drais invented the first two-wheeled vehicle with a steering device. Instead of having pedals, it was propelled by the user's feet.

Known popularly as the “dandy horse”, it was patented in 1818 in France.

It is not exactly known who originally had the idea to put pedals on the bicycle.

One of the original inventors was Pierre Lallement, who in 1866 was granted a patent for the first U.S. pedaled bicycle.

A key invention for the development of the bicycle was the wire wheel, which is still used in bicycles today.

Eugène Meyer was the French mechanic credited with developing this key component, for which he obtained a patent in 1868.

In 1869, Joseph Marié presented a patent for a magneto-electric velocipede.

His ideas are only now being becoming a reality with the creation of modern electric bicycles.

John Boyd Dunlop, a Scottish inventor, is considered the inventor of the first practical pneumatic tire.

Using his son's tricycle, he created a rubber tube that he attached to the
wheel and then inflated.

He patented his invention in 1888, however, in 1889 his patent was invalidated because Robert William Thompson had patented something similar in 1847.

The folding bicycle was invented by engineer Andrew Ritchie in 1975.

For a few years, no manufacturer was interested in this bicycle until Brompton Bicycle came along.

In 1979, this company applied for a European patent to protect the system invented by Ritchie, and in 1984 this was granted to them.