Bike boom

Drais got a patent for his invention in 1818, and the craze swept Europe and the United States during the summer of 1819 while many manufacturers (notably Denis Johnson of London) either copied Drais's machine or created their own versions, then quickly died out as many pedestrians began to feel threatened by the machines, and as municipalities passed ordinances prohibiting their use.

In the early 1860s the first true bicycle was created in Paris, France, by attaching rotary cranks and pedals to the front wheel hub of a dandy-horse.

Another factor in their demise was the extremely uncomfortable ride, because of the stiff wrought-iron frame and wooden wheels surrounded by tires made of iron – this led to the pejorative name "boneshaker", which is still used today to refer to this type of bicycle.

This type of bicycle was known in its day as the "ordinary", but people later began calling it a "penny-farthing" because of the resemblance of its wheel sizes to the largest and smallest English copper coins of the time; it is also known as a "high-wheel".

Front-wheel sizes quickly grew to as much as 5 feet (1.5 metres), and the bicycles were considered by the general public to be quite dangerous.

However, bicycle races were staged and well-attended by the public, which spread interest for the high-wheeler worldwide because of the far-flung British colonies, by the end of the decade.

[8] At the height of the boom, in 1972, 1973, and 1974, more bicycles than automobiles were sold in the U.S.[7][9] Factors contributing to the U.S. bike boom included affordable and versatile 10-speed derailleur-geared racing bicycles becoming widely available,[10] the arrival of many post-World War II baby boomers at adulthood and demanding inexpensive transportation for recreation and exercise, and increasing interest in reducing pollution.

The market declined coinciding with the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, which made mountain biking more difficult due to land closure.

[16] In 2016, Simon Mottram of the cycling clothing brand Rapha traced the boom back to the after-effects of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, which closed parts of the Tube and encouraged many commuters onto bicycles.

"[16] With the development of technology, the 2010s also saw the rise of bicycle-sharing systems around the world, as well as a surge in popularity for electric bicycles, or e-bikes.

People looked to bicycles for something to do during quarantine, exercise and as an alternative to public transportation that allowed for physical distancing to minimize the risk of infection.