130-year-old bicycle vs brand-new modern bike

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: 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).
0:00 Introduction
1:03 Juanita's welcome
1:20 The iconic penny farthing
3:04 The safety bicycle
3:39 Comparing shape
5:55 Comparing gears and transmission
7:36 Comparing brakes
8:23 Comparing rideability
10:00 Overall comparison
Historical footage in this video is as marked, from the U.S. Library of Congress, Archive.org (Gould), Science Museum Group, Powerhouse Museum, Pathe, Denis Shiryaev (he upscaled the archive video from San Francisco).
#cycling #bike #commuting
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[@ad419]

For me it’s the fact that old bikes used to come more standard with dynamo lights, comfortable saddles and handlebars, kickstands, and racks. We’ve sacrificed a lot of practicality chasing performance bikes.

[@saisamsuri]

By 'we' I think you only mean North America, the vast majority of bikes in the rest of the world are city bikes

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Both the original comment and this comment are correct.

[@comedyman112]

I see it differently. Now we simply have more options. Yes the cutting edge carbon road bikes advance the modern bike tech, but you can still buy various comfortable bikes

[@derekjolly3680]

The idea is that you buy them for exercise or athletics primarily. It's not always correct, but it's the presumption the bike industry makes.

[@sandy_knight]

@@comedyman112 I agree. One rider's 'comfortable' saddle is another rider's chaffing nightmare and when it comes to kickstands, I don't race bikes but I also don't want to carry a kickstand around all the time so I'd see one as an impractical. What works for me obviously doesn't work for everyone though...

[@rowejon]

I live in the Netherlands & one of my hobbies is oldtimer bicycles. I have a few bikes from before WW1. I suspect that only quality products have survived, but those that I have ride just as well as a modern bike of similar specification. Old style chains work just as well as modern if they aren't worn out. I believe that quality old bikes were built much more durable than top of the range modern offerings.

[@Ryan_hey]

This is why I bought a Dutch bike second hand in the US. All the step-through bikes here in the US are made with cheaper materials, but the older design of the Dutchie I have is simply superior. I suspect I'll have the bike till the day I die (as long as the frame is never hit by a car, that is...).

[@comedyman112]

How do you replace the drive train components after they wore out? Are there any compatible ones still made?

[@rowejon]

@@comedyman112 Many components are the same as on late 20C bikes. Double roll or block chains are a problem but NOS turns up occasionally, at a price!!!

[@VacuousCat]

Maybe the modern road surfaces improved so bikes don't have to be as tough?

[@rowejon]

@@VacuousCat Of course road surfaces have improved. Back at the beginning of the 20C there were various different frame strengthening & springing ideas.I think the most significant difference is the quality of hardened bearings then compared to now.

[@th60of]

That was fun to watch! But all in all: 100+ years of progress have been footnotes to the double diamond. What a stroke of genius!

[@Frostbiker]

I think pneumatic tires deserve at least an honorable mention.

[@stephenlee5929]

A Double Diamond works wonders, Only older Brits will get this.

[@agilemind6241]

IMO it's the chain propulsion that was the big genius, it's what allows the double diamond (or step through) low frames and the mass amounts of gears to tailor your mechanical advantage to the situation at hand. Pneumatic tires is a close second and now battery power is the 3rd great revolution. Everything else has been simply refining those concepts.

[@eternaloptimist2840]

​@@agilemind6241I think you're underestimating the importance of pneumatic tyres - the large wheels of an ordinary with their semi-solid rubber tyres rolled well over rough surfaces, the smaller wheels on a safety bicycle wouldn't ride well without pneumatic tyres.

[@ethelmini]

@@stephenlee5929 What I don't get is how a bike frame is supposed to have 2.

[@DarrienGlasser]

Wait until you find out how similar umbrella designs are to when they were first created

[@oceanwonders]

Someone needs to do that video. Need to know the best / most durable umbrellas in the world.

[@ukrytykrytyk8477]

@@oceanwonders Check out Senz umbrellas from Netherlands. Country where it rains a lot and winds can be really strong!

[@stephenlee5929]

@@oceanwonders Your comment seems to suggest the best umbrella is the most durable umbrella. I think function is more important than longevity. An umbrella that keeps me dry for 1 day is preferable to one that last 50 years, but never keeps me dry.

[@oceanwonders]

@@stephenlee5929 my experience has been that the ones that last a long time are usually well made and therefore work well.

[@stephenlee5929]

@@oceanwonders my experience is that if it fails it's primary function, it stops being used and so lasts a long time

[@HighTreason610]

The museum lady actually missed a major facet of large wheels and it's something you also covered without making the connection; rideability. With so many unpaved roads, a larger wheel allows crossing gaps between stones without receiving such a bump (think of it a bit like tank treads). Even most of the earlier safety bicycle designs feature larger wheels than bicycles tend to come with today for that reason. Improvements are somewhat subjective. As someone who dailys a mid-1920s bike, I can't really imagine riding anything newer as the modern geometry feels all wrong, being tiring to ride over a long distance. The new frames generally can't take as much by way of racks, baskets and bags (traditional leather motorcycle panniers are inherently backwards compatible, because they came _from_ the bicycle) and most importantly, they tend to break down far more often. The oldie works for my use case perfectly because it is used as a serious mode of transport first and recreational secondly, with everything about the design being from the standpoint of practicality and longevity. It was designed in England and is ridden in England, so everything is built to keep the dirt and water out - the chain runs in a pool of oil inside a case, as do the planetary gears. The bike rides through cities and over the dirt tracks between them without incident carrying quite a lot of stuff, and the old timey saddle never hurts because it's a wide leather thing formed to fit me with time. Of course if my cycling revolved around setting fast times, tearing about a MTB park or posing at the local cycle club, it would be wholly unsuitable and it does garner some dirty looks from some of the lycra brigade - not all of them, of course. A fair few of them find it quite fascinating. One thing we _have_ come a long way with, though, is lights. Riding unlit roads with kerosene is horrifying. My hat is off to people who did it long ago. Seeing only flashes of the world in a dim orange , knowing there's a deep ditch on both sides, is really pretty hairy. That said, when electric came along we used to have dynamos which charged a battery (which the main bike of my lot has) and those really _should_ come back. Combined with modern LEDs it's pretty magical because it's almost zero maintenance, barring when the batteries stop holding charge after a decade or so. Mine is modified to provide 5V through a USB port hidden under the rack, which allows for charging phones and such while riding.

[@Sam-mv6rp]

I have to agree with you about old bikes as I ride a 1950s Raleigh daily. Lots of old bikes had 28 inch (635mm) wheels and high bottom bracket for the reasons you mentioned. Based on your description of your bike it sounds like a sunbeam with a sturmey archer k type hub.

[@bow-tiedengineer4453]

That sounds like a cool bike! I use a ~1970 british made Raleigh bike, and I definitely prefer it over the layout of more modern bikes. I'd love to try out something even older like yours, though, and the encased chain drive sounds really cool. My chain doesn't appreciate all the road grit it's been eating lately.

[@rogersinclair2772]

Also the frame geometry was more relaxed and the wheelbase was longer providing bigger clearances, better stability and better shock absorption on the steering head.

[@HighTreason610]

@@bow-tiedengineer4453 If you were local I'd let you try riding it. Had to run without the guard for a time and it wasn't solely a case of the chain picking up dirt, but it also then transferring it to the ankle of my jeans. The case keeps the dirt out and the oil in, just pop the cover and give it a wipe, then throw a mixture of 2-stroke oil and chainsaw oil at it once a year and it keeps running smooth - the only real noise is the (normal) ticking of the low gear in the hub being overdriven, which I find strangely comforting. Your frame is probably mostly the same design as @Sam-mv6rp has there, at a guess he's probably on a Superbe. I think that was, itself, largely unchanged from the Tourist I have that's only marginally newer than my daily. They did ride lower and pull back the fork sweep after a certain point, not sure how long the keyhole axle mounts stayed either, as those were neat. The daily is a BSA All-Weather, but I'd not have said no to a Sunbeam. Sunbeam were a quality machine. One thing I do like with the older frames is the seat post being 7 shaped instead of merely pointing upwards. It allows for a lot of adjustment. Standing at 6' 4" means a lot of modern frames are simply too short for me and most saddle setups don't offer enough adjustment and larger frames are only 'made to order', which is costly. In any case, it's nice to know I'm not the only one covering distances with these older machines. It's what they're built for. Fairly confident my body will quit long before the bike does.

[@bow-tiedengineer4453]

@@HighTreason610 Mine's an AMF Hercules with a step through frame, from one of the last batches before the Hercules name shut down entirely. Sadly, it's taken a bit ill at the moment, it had 50 years of wear on the hubs when I got it, and then I rode it hard as well without yet knowing how to care for an old bike. I've already had to replace the front hub, because I didn't realize you could ruin it by running it backwards for a long time, and the seals on the rear hub started to give up last week, so I found it sitting in a black puddle. I've got a new hub in, though, so I'll be fixing that soon, and in the meantime I'll just keep adding more oil. My real worry is that the crank is squeaking again, and it's only been about three years since I had the grease redone. I'm thinking about trying to add a grease nipple, so I can add more easier and keep it going without major work. The pedals are held on by tapered pins, and while I was lucky enough to have a local bike shop who was willing to help me with it, it still took him two tries to fix it, and I don't want to have to do that again every couple years.

[@EleanorPeterson]

Something I miss from older bikes is steel wheels with chromed rims. I kept my old (1970s) Raleigh bike going for over 40 years on its original wheels. They were heavy, but my, they were TOUGH. Rigid, dent-proof and unbendable, I never had to fiddle with spokes or alignment tools in all the decades I had the bike. Amazing. Seeing a wobbly steel wheel was incredibly rare, and 'tacos' were completely unknown. The bike had 3-speed Sturmey Archer in-hub gears; they were brilliant, too. Foolproof and reliable: just flick a switch and go. Any time, any place, whether you were stationary at traffic lights or grinding up a hill, they just worked. Sadly, being based in England meant that the ghastly weather and salty winter roads eventually killed the steel wheels from the inside out when the chrome started to lift. Couldn't find any replacements, so I had to move on to modern aluminium ones. They're light, yes, but so what? They're pathetically fragile, temperamental, can't stay 'true', and don't seem to last any time at all. Bah! Nostalgia's not what it used to be back in my day...🤭

[@ericpmoss]

I noticed that the 1890 Singer had a saddle cutout, which got pushed to the back burner for 100 years while people obsessed over whatever the racers used.

[@ph5915]

Today we've got various recumbant bikes and folding bikes as well...

[@cycleistic1365]

Recumbent bikes are about the same age as safety bikes dating from the late 1800's. There are reasons why recumbent bikes have never gained the popularity of safety bikes, like they used to be and mostly still are structurally much more complex and therefore more expensive too. Also despite being highly aerodynamic, hence quite efficient to ride (on flat or down hill), they're more difficult to get used to especially balancing wise, you can't just lay down comfortably, but have to balance your position lying down and start pedaling like crazy to get going, which is why recumbent riders usually have extra short crank arms, since high RPM helps keeping the balance better. Balancing yourself sitting up is much more convenient on upright bikes. Trike and quad recumbents are east to balance on, no hurdle, but then again they have their problems, like space requirement of the width, poor cornering behavior (if not tilting frame, which are rare and complex, thus expensive), you can very easily flip over a trike entering corner at high speed. There are few other shortcomings too, like worse climbing efficiency compared to upright bikes and worse visibility from the low, lying down on your back position, both for you to see and to be seen by others. Folding bikes have evolved from safety bikes, despite having discarded the obvious double diamond design for more compact size and folding ability. There are recumbent folding bikes too, but they've evolved from recumbent bikes and adopted the folding concept from evolution of the upright bikes. I know recumbent bike enthusiasts and they're happy with their choice, still can easily see why it's more of an enthusiast thing rather than enjoying mass popularity.

[@ph5915]

@@cycleistic1365 Wow! Thank you so much for that in-depth information, especially on recumbants! I hadn't thought about them all that much, and honestly was thinking more of trike-recumbants, but they have their pitfalls too. Folding bikes are interesting to me if for 'the last mile" type thing, and some folks ride them a lot, I don't know if they would be comfortable and hold up with heavy use, unless perhaps the expensive brands. The 'standard' design has remained basically the same for so long because it holds up! Thank you again for your reply!

[@martylawson1638]

@@cycleistic1365 Recumbent rider for years. Any balance issue of recumbents is almost entirely down to them being different. Only the most racing focused/patterned bikes add significant challenges. Usually just heel overlap of the front wheel and much shorter tip-over time due to the low CG. (both can be overcome with practice, and the low CG really helps if you tip over the bike) The cost difference is 90% low volume and 10% paying for a comfortable seat. Look at the price for a custom fit diamond frame bicycle. I'll easily match the $1500 and up price of a new recumbent. Personally I think recumbents are relatively rare for 3 reasons. Marketing from racing knee-capped in the 1800's. Upright bike saddles are "good enough" for historically smaller/fitter riders. Nobody makes a good recumbent at a "wallmart" price.

[@cycleistic1365]

@@ph5915 I hear a lot of good things about the original folding bike Brompton and even considering getting one, despite being a little oversize to average rider. Would like to travel by bus or train, where folding bikes usually go for free as luggage and bike around in the destination. Folding bikes are also popular companion in boats, mobile homes and like, some even carry one in their car trunk for exactly the same purpose,.

[@sebastiandomagala9233]

Actually recumbants are rare to only one reason: they were banned by the UCI in the 1930s.

[@srdjanjovanovic1984]

One of the best 🚲 commute channel!Best regards from Novi Sad, Serbia

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Thanks for watching!

[@HallsEmporium]

The Reynolds museum is such a treat to visit! So glad to see it featured in one of your videos 😀.

[@rogersinclair2772]

@@kjh23gk Wrong Reynolds. The Reynolds Museum in Alberta is named after Stanley George Reynolds, a Canadian businessman and collector. As far as I know he had no connection to John Reynolds, the founder of Reynolds Tubing in Birmingham, England, I may be mistaken so I stand ready to be corrected.

[@kostyafedot551]

Yesterday I did 60 km ride on road bicycle from 1991. Same route I went several times on e-bike. The only significant problem was at few km serpentine climb at the end of the ride. I have to stop several times. But the feeling of the light bicycle with slik steel frame is amazing.

[@simonmandrakejones]

Really enjoyed that Tom...Btw. If Priority Bikes ever ask about the efficacy of sponsoring the channel, I have been close to ordering one of their bikes so many times. As I live in Europe, the taxes are the biggest drawback. The bikes look amazing.

[@JohnPowell6]

Aluminum was so precious the cap of the Washington Monument is a 9" pyramid of aluminum weighing 100 oz.

[@jfmezei]

One huge improvement, at least until the last 5-10 years is standardisation of component interfaces. Thread/size standards for the bottom bracket, seat tube size, headset and handlebar stem/handle bar, brake cables. (rrecently, though, there has been a return to very proprietary parts to fit the "newfangled bike"). In early 1980s, there were still different standard (italian vs japanese threads for instance to fit pedals onto cranks). While your channel is focused more on urban cycling, the advent of Look pedals (clip style pedals) in 1986 was a huge change from the toe clips and shoes have also evolved a lot for actual cycing, as well as shoes for mountain biking that are also clip style pedals (but with different mechanism). Though for thoe pedals, while Look system was copied, there is really no standard on the cleats as they are still "proprietary" to each pedal (and Look has different types pof cleats that look the same but aren't).

[@ballandpaddle]

^This. The bike I have now is very different than the one it started out as, all thanks to standardized parts and tools, making changes as needed was really simple.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

This is a good point to remember whenever I start swearing about parts that are not standardized. Thanks for the perspective.

[@svr5423]

I find it funny that nowadays still you find some bikes that have fitted something else than a standard car valve on the tires. If it ever gets flat, those people have an issue.

[@jfmezei]

@@svr5423 Presta valves are standard for road bikes. And garages that still have compressed air require you to have change to buy the air. For my "clunker" that I used for local shopping/travel I fitted it with presta valve so I can have a common pump and not have to fiddle with changing adaptors. There are no gas stations anywhere near where I would travel with this bike so they are not of use.

[@svr5423]

@@jfmezei not really. Back in the 90ies, everyone changed to car valves because it was much more convenient. You can refill air at any gas station for free. Also just take the compressor in your car or even ask any motorist on the road for assistance. And you can get convenient foot pumps with a manometer fitted in any hardware store for next to nothing. A manual pump for other valves is usually hard to operate by hand and often does not indicate the pressure. And you can't use it for anything else, like inflating your car, e-scooter or motorcycle tyre.

[@jojothepro15]

The bicycle is a perfect invention, it will never be reinvented...

[@jojothepro15]

Ha ! @shifter 11:20

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Agree!

[@saisamsuri]

...until big bicycle decided to come up with electronic shifting, hydraulic disc brakes, f***ing $12k carbon frames and all this weird s***. Now we have this monstrosity called the modern road bike. It's ridiculous. At this point, just get a motorcycle.

[@tesmith47]

LOL GROUCHY OLD MAN, IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR OLD STUFF. LOL​@saisamsuri

[@jojothepro15]

@@saisamsuri Honestly, I think the modern road bike is perfect in it's current state. They are reliable, efficient and easily serviceable... The real monstrosities are the cheap electric bicycles made for commuters I see comin' in the bike shop everyday.

[@Korina42]

Excellent vid, Tom, thanks. It's been my position for a long time that bikes were pretty much perfected in the 1990s. Well, except for pro racers and their disposable plastic bikes.

[@brbrbrbreannad3610]

Really cool stuff; would love to see more of the bikes from that museum and how their designs match up or differ from bicycle designs today!

[@BSS22193]

I have a lot of bicycles from the 40', 50's, 60's, 70's and the 80's and in my opinion these bikes are much better and more comfortable to ride compared to the bike i got new in 2003 as a kid. The olders bikes also have better build quality and are easy to work on in my opinion. I like olders bicycles more than modern ones.

[@grahambonner508]

They are very similar, probably because the bicycle is so simple in design, due partly to the fact it relies heavily on the rider for power, balance and control. Heavy framed, single speed bikes with all kinds of braking systems are still used in very many countries to this day. The biggest single improvement in terms of popularity in western countries probably came with introduction of the mountain bike, but in terms of the basic design the mountain bike is still very similar to the traditional bicycle.

[@ejmuskdrums]

Awesome video, Tom!! I loved the historical exploration, it made this a super fun watch!

[@hervva]

fun fact: Poland is the only country to call bicycle "rower", becouse bicycles produced by Rover were so popular when this invention got around here. Edit, I've just found google translator in Belarus it is called rovar as well, what is suprising since they have more in common with Russia

[@turboseize]

Not surprising at all, as half of Belarus (as well as a significant part of Ukraine) used to be Poland - Poland got pushed westwards a few hundred kilometres onto German soil by Stalin after WWII ended. (Basically eastern Poland was annexed by the Soviet Union and Poland then compensated for this loss by being allowed to occupy eastern Germany). So it makes sense that some Polish words and linguistic influence remain in formerly Polish regions.

[@PRH123]

​@turboseize so you're going to lecture the polish guy on polish history....

[@Allan_son]

Irish..."rothar" I don't know where you got the idea Polish was unique.

[@pwalk4160]

Ciekawe, sam się zastanawiałem nad związkiem nazw Rover-rower.

[@chrisconnors7418]

My dad built me a fixed gear drive bike when I was 13. I rode it till I was 17 or 18. It had a banana seat, a motorcycle type aluminum bar back rest (just for looks because the seat was too long to be able to sit far back enough to rest on the back rest), and had Harley style handlebars (long and curved). A fun bike and no one else had anything similar.

[@markwhalebone751]

Good old John Kemp Starley. A man who is rarely remembered but changed the world with "Rover".

[@JasonWood100]

We need to bring bike commute culture back to North America. The longer we take, the more damage will be done to our cities through designing exclusively for the car.

[@hyperfox805]

Your channel has convinced me that its time to get of the high performance speedy bikes and the MTB and buy a specialized Roll 2.0. For comfy, upright commuting. Time to enjoy the ride.

[@kennethhowell1272]

Years ago there was a bike manufacturer that came out with an auto shifting rear hub that used centrifical force and rear wheel speed to move the chain up or down on the gear cluster. Not sure why that system was short lived, but was quite innovative.

[@lucakieft2671]

im from the netherlands and those old bikes just looks like an everyday commuter for me. it has become a standard for a bike to come with a rack, wrap-around handlebars and fenders. its more about the practical uses and not for performance to go fast

[@joesantiso6495]

Waiting for a video like this - excellent

[@pistacho.cerrao]

Other cool innovation in bikes are folding bikes. Is the only way I can have a bike at my small flat with the smallest elevator.

[@JojoYVR]

Very informative. Loved this video.

[@kzarz0219]

Great video on the history of the bike. I gotta visit that museum.

[@definitelynotacrab7651]

Great video, love some of the history of cycling angle!

[@treakzy_9594]

I appreciate the brief history lesson, thank you for the video. :)

[@dibqip]

Two major missing pieces in this: 1. Recumbents 2. UCI banned them I think we would be a lot further on in engineering if the UCI didn’t ban anything that looks like a major innovation.

[@dragostalks7501]

I was expecting much more from this 11 minute video. But it is only some more or less wasted time to conclude thay after 130 years, the modern bike is better. Great job.

[@NBZW]

An elderly neighbor gave me a bike that had a built in 2 speed, gear driven transmission, name tag was missing so no idea who manufactured it, it was very well built. Have never seen another like it.

[@bjornlangoren3002]

2 speed bikes with hub gears were quite common in the 60s. As well as rear brake built into rear hub, allowing you to brake by pushing the pedal back. Similar design as emergency brakes on cars a couple decases ago. Some had shifters on the handlebar, but there were also later some that could shift by nudging the chain backwards during coasting. Unfortunately bikes of that era had steel rims, which were very heavy and unsuitable for rim brakes. ( Hence the popularity of hub brakes ). No wonder 70s had a bike Renaissance as the aluminum rims was a huge step up in speed and safety.

[@NBZW]

@@bjornlangoren3002 Appreciate the update, I’m quite well aquatinted with New Departure and Morrow hub breaks, the bicycle I’m referring to was given me in about 1946-47. Probably manufactured in the 20’s. When I give this some thought, it actually was a 3 speed arrangement, the transmission was built as part of the crank hanger assembly, a rod was pushed down for 1’st, raised for direct, raised again for 3’rd.

[@bjornlangoren3002]

@@NBZW yikes, I thought I was the old fart here. :)

[@NBZW]

@@bjornlangoren3002 😂😂🤣🤣😂😂🤣🤣👍1934

[@bjornlangoren3002]

@@NBZW 1965 here. I will surely not try to youngsplain you again. I assumed you were a kid who had been given a 60s bike.

[@jefffixesit60]

I love what you're doing on this channel, thank you! I think you'd really enjoy a spin on my '73 Raleigh Sports. It's pretty much in the middle of the span between the Singer Safety and your Priority 8. It (now) has a Brooks B73 saddle with 3 coil springs for comfort on choppy pavement, it has self-adjusting rim brakes which are semi-effective (unless the chrome plated steel rims are wet), and has a 3-speed internal gear hub. It was also produced from 1902 until 2014, with only minor changes in materials. It remains one of my most ridden and reliable bikes, and always brings smiles from bike geeks and non-bikers alike. 😁 Happy Trails, see you in the next video!

[@planepower8523]

Tom got a new bike?? N+1 lives strong!

[@chuckkottke]

I recall the ads in a hardware store catalog from 1896, and yes, the safety bicycle was a huge innovation! Jusnita did a we wonderful job of describing the bicycle 🚲, and you did a fantastic job of showing innovations and improvements, albeit that the outgrowth of bicycle and steam engineers plus big money is now a threat to us cyclists. I'm hoping we get past chain and sprocket drives into shaft drives and right angle gear arrangements plus automatics which can augment electic drive systems. 🔔 ⚡😊

[@galootlovestools]

Interesting that the leather saddle on that safety bike appears to have a perineal slot. <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="533">8:53</a> I’d say that this was forgotten by manufacturers for a long time.

[@TrevorKeenAnimation]

I remember reading that pneumatic tires were a later invention and people originally just rode on bikes with hard metal wheels, hence the term 'boneshaker'. At one point, indoor velodromes were popular, where people just rode around in circles like in a modern roller rink.

[@ianmangham4570]

Solid tyres

[@ABaumstumpf]

Brakes certainly have improved a lot. But i would claim that disc-brakes are not really an improvement over rimbrakes for normal bikes. Contrary to what many people claim they do not offer "more stopping power", nor do they last longer, nor do they require less maintenance nor perform better under wet conditions. They are a different means to the same goal. They are however a lot more protected from any defects to the tire it self. With Rimbrakes just a slight bent in the tire has a huge impact on the brake-feel. (Also always funny when people falsely claim that rimbrakes would overheat quickly)

[@svr5423]

Funnily, the rim brakes on my current bike (Dahon) are way better than the disc brakes on my little e-scooter. So far, I have not been convinced of the necessity of disc brakes on a bicycle. But there is a vast array of available rim brakes. The ones on my teenager mountainbike were crap, you needed so much power to brake that you would literally crush the handle bars over time and rip the cables apart (usually the stopper at the end).

[@wolfgangweber9924]

Well done- as usual! I think you skipped a few innovations in regards of the brakes. Rim brakes deserve recognition. Back in the sixties aluminum rims slowly gained market share not oly because of weight reduction but also as a better friction material compared to chromed steel rims.Caliper brakes, side pull and centerpull brakes gained a lot of effectiveness with aluminum rims. Cantilever brakes and V brakes gained even more efficiency in particular when combined with wider tires. The wider tires provide a larger contact patch which is a limiting factor with thin tires. In my opinion V brakes still provide a top notch option in terms of safety and economy.

[@ChinmayaNagpal]

would love more videos about the history of cycling!

[@mjoelnir1899]

When we look at this first Singer "safety bike", and a bike to day than many important innovations came quite early in the 125 years. Freewheeling is quite early, 1869, so actually before the Singer. It was added to a safety bike in 1894. The first multi gear bike came 1905. Around 1900 we find the first rim brakes. At the same time we find coaster brakes. I would say all important components had been developed at around 1910. Since than one has to talk about refinement. The electric bike is for me a re occurrence of the light motorbike. A bicycle frame with a small motor, actually the beginning of motorcycles. Electric ones were available from around 1910.

[@darthquigley]

Re: frame shape, it's not just that triangles are the best way to build a structure out of metal tubes, it's also enforced by regulation. When carbon fibre came along, bike makers experimented with the new frame shapes that it enabled (see the Trek Y-Foil for an example). The UCI shut that down. Any bike that doesn't conform to their frame geometry rules can't be raced, which makes it harder to sell, which is why carbon road bikes are shaped like they're made of aluminum.

[@PRH123]

Calling bollocks on that, bikes produced for professional road racing are an infinitisimal micro bit of the world market... UCI has nothing to say about 99.999 % of bikes made in the world... if there is / was an advantage to making frames in other shapes, they would be... such as in triathlon.... You don't need that for your city bike...

[@LionheartLivin]

Very cool!

[@geoffreyhoney122]

Heya Tom. Just getting caught up on videos after an amazing trip to Victoria and i'm blown away at how far ahead Victoria is in front of my hometown Hamilton !! So many diverse riders, not just MAMILS. People using bikes as transportation for shopping, commuting, taking kids to school. The majority were urban commuters and ebikes with more cargo bikes than I've seen in any Canadian city. Old folks young men and WOMEN! Which brings me to a point that you totally missed in this amazing video of yours that I thoroughly enjoyed: The safety bike revolutionized liberation of women from Victorian corsets and roles! In Wheels of Change:How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way), the author, Sue Macy makes many of these points. In fact, look at the footage you used with so many women streaming along with men, beside men, on bikes. Truly blasting social norms. Thank for such an informative interesting video and i would like to see more of those ancient bikes and footage. I just love my step through, 8 speed nexus internal gear Gates Belt Drive VSF fahrradmanufaktur S 300 with disc brakes. My ultimate city bike but not so far from what a safety bike or the Singer was in its day.

[@sandy_knight]

Speaking as a bike nerd I'd love to know what the geometry of the Singer safety bicycle was (i.e wheel size, wheelbase, chainstay length, front/centre, head and seat tube angles etc). I bet the bike museum would let you take some measurements next time you're in town 😉 Speaking of which, is that the same Reynolds we know who make the butted steel tubes?

[@ArjanGroe]

I would have preferred geometry as a term over the general “shape” when referring to a frame and its relations.

[@eternaloptimist2840]

Indeed, folding bikes may have a monotube frame but the relationship of wheels, pedals handlebar and saddle remain pretty similar.

[@letsgoOs1002]

Today we have a crazy amount of cargo bikes. They now come in all shapes and sizes. Electric and analog as well. These have changed a ton over the last century

[@donaldoutterson3071]

I had an "old fashioned" spill on my bike yesterday from a set of old trolly tracks that were left in a brick right of way from at least the 1900's. They were left in the (parallel) walkway in the line of traffic rather than across the traffic (perpendicular) like railroad tracks you cross. The metal rail was very smooth and slippery, and I almost saved the fall, but re-set on the rail again and then crashed on to the brick road. This was the exact kind of accidents they had in the old days. The pain did not seem old fashioned. I was wearing an MIPS helmet and it performed well, so only bumps and bruises for a few days like grandpa used to have. An old man told me about the trolleys when I was a young boy and he said the trollies would slide out of control and cause trouble when the wet leaves would fall on their tracks in the Autum. Nature still wins.

[@delftfietser]

Thank you for the good video!

[@cmmartti]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="450">7:30</a> It should be noted that internal gear hubs are as old as the safety bicycle itself and predate derailleurs by about 20 years. They were first used on tricycles and weren't commercially successful on bicycles until 1896. Of course, early gear hubs had only two or three speeds, and not 11+ speeds like today. But even now, 2-3 speed models are significantly more reliable, and many examples from the 1970s are still in perfect working order.

[@mikafoxx2717]

Yeah, and they're enough. Going from a single to a one speed gives you one for the flats, one fit the hills, and one for cruising

[@jasoncbrooks74]

The gap between modern and safety bike is pretty narrow! Imagine how the world may have developed with bicycles for local travel and steam trains for long distance. 100 years of innovation on those two inventions could be mind boggling, not to mention infrastructure of towns and cities. The innovations we did get are nice but mainly come from racing and leisure. The other observation is brakes were not a priority until you started mixing cars and bikes. Fixed gear would be adequate for most people if you didn’t have to deal with faster moving vehicles.

[@TheAntibozo]

Great video!

[@trentonjennings9105]

While it is true that the triangle shape in the bike allows a great strength to weight ratio, there is a benefit in the truss design of using only force elements. The thin steel tubes do not have to take moments, only tension and compression. That being said, bikes do have welded/brazed metal tube connections and the attachments are off-center, so not truly a truss element. And the step-through bike does have to rely on moment connections. Overall though, I think a bicycle is the most elegant mechanical invention of all time. I ride for pleasure and exercise. It is almost like a meditation for me. I enjoy the wind in my face, the sense of speed and the end-of-ride endorphins and serotonin.

[@conorgraafpietermaritzburg3720]

Yes, thanks most informative 😊

[@mikekeenan8450]

No question there have been huge improvements in the last 100 years. In the last 50-70 years, though the improvements have been pretty small except for the materials, and the materials are really more for high end sport bikes than everyday practical ones. My 1960s (?) Eaton's Glider 3 speed is a joy to ride, and has cost me a total of maybe $500 in the 16 years that I've had it, including both purchase price and all repairs and accessories.

[@freyjathelynx]

A good candidate for greatest frame innovation since the double triangle would be compact folding bike frames like Brompton's or Birdy's. Folding bikes in general came not too long after the safety bicycle was invented, but the brompton bi-fold or Birdy's collapsible front fork... thing... turns folding bikes from something merely easy to tuck into a closet into something easy to fold up whenever you pop into a store, restaurant, train, etc. I've even taken a flight with my Brompton, without having to disassemble it, and was able to bike to and from the airport. Not to mention it can double as a shopping cart. Pull up to the grocery store, fold up the frame, and simply use your front luggage bag as your basket. No locks necessary! It's also quite the conversation piece -- people love to ask "is that a bike??!!" :>

[@PhilipSalen]

Thanks! Your videos about bicycles and bicycle transportation are fascinating. Thank you for your great work! Thank you for spreading the gospel of bicycles (even the history of bicycles). Also, the bicycle dismount in the middle of this video off of the safety bicycle from the historic video clip was incredible, I'm waiting to see you do that in one of your videos.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

Haha. Thanks again for the support. I hadn't even thought about that dismount, but you are absolutely correct.

[@BartAnderson_writer]

I think bike design reached its height in the 1980s or early 90s. Since then, minor improvements especially for niche applications. But nothing that changes the basic nature of bikes the way that frame design, inflatable tires and gears did. E-bikes though are a game changer, as you say.

[@Rose_Butterfly98]

I know of an old recumbent bike that was made to replace penny farthings. The small front wheel might have been an issue but with what modern day stuff we have we can just put suspension on it or something. I think they'd be great for commuting they aren't as low as many recumbents today which become a safety risk and they're still driven by the rear wheel. Heck, extend it and use hub centers steering, it would be a great cargo bike as well.

[@dirtywaterpj_dj]

It shouldn’t be forgotten how much of an impact the bicycle had on women’s mobility. I’m sure it helped in the drive, sorry, towards more equality in the early 20th century.

[@daniellarson3068]

Bloomers

[@WaffleAbuser]

Not to mention children’s mobility. It allowed for children living in the countryside to get to school with relative ease even if there was no school nearby or no school bus.

[@TCJB33]

Part of the beginning of the move from the local to the global perhaps? The move away from the home and the family stronghold to modern deracinated man?

[@daniellarson3068]

@@TCJB33 I had to look that one up: deracinated - Uprooted from one's natural geographical, social, or cultural environment. "a deracinated writer who has complicated relations with his working-class background" Yet - When it seems bicycles today sort of form a community. People wave to one another on bikes. There are group rides. Even local bike shops work to knit cyclists together. Perhaps the more general move from rural to urban that was beginning in the 1890s when farms became more mechanized can be considered a better root cause. But,.....hey,.....I'm just a You Tube commenter. I will also add that at that time there were many immigrant groups from around the globe. These folks were surely uprooted from "old country."

[@Fetucinee]

The safety bicycle is one of those designs that got it as close to perfect at its onset relegating innovation to material science and componentry. All of which comprise refinements rather than a transformation of the original proposition.

[@heywhotsgoinon8286]

Good interesting video. Cheers.👍

[@turboseize]

Some things come and go in circles. We're back to wide, supple tyres, forks with some flex designed into them and some drop bars are even becoming flared again... We're back to the 1920s, basically. The only really noteworthy improvements are better brakes, better lights and the parallelogram derailleur.

[@mihkelmagi1484]

Interesting video. I like how you compare old and new tech and you're right, new tech is generally better, but old has more style (imho). I personally commute every weekday 10+10 km on a 1930 Opel bike. At that time, Opel was one of the biggest bicycle manufacturers in the world. I have only modernized the rims and tyres, originally it had beaded tyres (not wire tyres). I find it superior to new bikes in all aspects, exept brakes. The front brake is a joke, very similar to the highwheel brake in the video. Rear brake is an original F&S Torpedo, which brakes, but it needs a lot of force to skid the rear wheel. Single speed, ofcourse. However, the materials are very high quality. It was made when quality was more important than today. This is the category where, I think old tech beats new.

[@bow-tiedengineer4453]

I'd partially agree on the quality, although at least part of that is due to survivorship bias. Personally, that's a big part of why I enjoy old things across the board, old vehicles, old tools, old furniture, old cookware: More of it was high quality, and almost all of the low quality examples were destroyed ages ago.

[@5thElem3nt]

My bike in the 1990 had rim brakes with bowden cables, a bottle dynamo and incandescent light. Which was a typical bike 30 years ago. More ore less every week something needed to be repaired or adjusted. If you by a bike today, it usually has hydraulic disc brakes, a hub dynamo and LEDs. The back light even has capacitors, so that the light stays on a few minutes, when you stop the bike. All these things make the bike so much more reliable.

[@NoOne-ef7yu]

The very first motorcycles were built on the old frame of the "safety bicycle". So, every innovation in motorbike frames, brakes, and in general can be traced back to the humble old bicycle.

[@tomrogue13]

One of the neighbors down the road from me has an older bike just sitting outside. It looks so pretty and i wanna stop in and see if i could buy it

[@magnusskallagrimsson6707]

A note on brakes - ABS (I do not recall youmentioning it). Riese & Muller have an ABS option for brakes - which is great for their heavier frames.

[@JohnPowell6]

I think the freewheel is the greatest innovation, moreso than the double diamond. It greatly increased the efficiency and rideability of the bike. Also would like to see you find a recumbent enthusiast and do a upright vs recumbent smack down.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

I need to try a recumbent

[@maxsievers8251]

It's not that hard to ride a fixed gear. I think the freewheel was pushed on the customers like indexed shifting and disc brakes. Except for hilly terrain and mountains no freewheel is fine. With internal gear hubs multiple gears without a freewheel is possible.

[@ms.karihart2983]

I enjoyed your channel and content I’m new to biking (mtb/gravel ) I’m looking into commuting by bike Thank you again

[@PaxV]

@Shifter; I consider your bike an oddity, living in the Netherlands I would say my first bikes were much like the singer, single geared, backpedalbrake with basic lighting. I have replaced my 70cm Batavus Stabilo with a nice Azor Guilliame 73cm both havbe front racks (to the frame not the wheel), a back cargocarrier, 7 (or 8) inwheel gears, and drum brakes. No maintenance. After 17 year my Batavus still shifts, still drives, but the wheels are mostly gone (full steel with steel rims (28 1 3/4 x 1 1/4th) I now drive my Azor which is 2" balloons, I'm 50 so I appreciate the soft ride, both completely battery free, using dynamo's (in-hub) without e-support (I'm 50 not disabled or lazy) I make frequent rips to the city and it's 5-10km for a single trip, double for the round trip. I's day the biggest innovations in cycling are in cargobikes seeing I consider big 3 wheeeled flatbeds and cargobikes which needed roadaccess and not a baikepath a normal thing , which no longer exist. I moved my stuff from a studentappartment to another building using a flatbed cargo bike. Rediculously low geared, but very powerful and able to move up or down. THOUGH BRAKES WERE FUNCTIONAL, BUT IMPRACTICAL. Talking 30 years ago. now with 2 wheeeled cargobikes these things are easily forgotten. However I doubt I could load up a couch and a fridge on an urban arrow.

[@Shifter_Cycling]

I have a video about getting my hands on a true Dutch-style bike, so I completely understand what you are talking about here. I love the durability, simplicity and longevity.

[@rzpogi]

You forgot to mention pedals. Bike Pedals have roughly have been the same since the Penny Farthing. Sure there are those shoe fitting bike pedals, but the everyday bicycle has a foot pedal with a bearing on the middle to transfer vertical force from the leg to the crank arm. Also, probably along with the general theory of relativity, how a bike and motorbike balances itself when in motion is not fully understood.

[@monowheeling]

Nice topic! How about the weight? I'd also think that tires are worth mentioning. The Priority doesn't have those, but a modern 2.5" failsafe tire is just an awesome improvement in comfort, safety and zero-maintenance.

[@Martin-Teufel]

The bike was really a great invention and I love them more than cars. Everyone can have a great mobility at low costs. Bikes are quiet and are slow enough to watch your surroundings. Even today I personly prefer the upright seating position with a seat suspension, nearly like the old bikes. Perfect brakes have never been to important to me, because you are not to fast. Even the material of the bike, steel or alluminium is not to important for a bike for daily use.

[@happychaosbikelab]

Love your vids. QQ: How tall are you or rather whats size P8 are you pedaling in he video? I'm 5'9 and curious about sizing btwn the med vs. large.

[@robbi27]

I always thought it was the UCI. Great video 👍

[@dutchy1121]

The bicycle also let to flight, the Wright brothers ran a bicycle shop and used many of the parts from their shop in creating the first airplane.

[@balk0vic]

I think, if you consider certain categories of commuter and race bikes (regulated by UCI), there is not much change. If you consider other bikes, like - mountain bikes, time trial bikes, triathlon bikes, motorbikes, weird folding bikes. There is some apparent innovation.

[@fantomx11]

When mentioning innovation in frames, you didn't mention recumbent bikes. Especially the three wheeled ones seem to be pretty good for people who might have stability issues preventing them from rising regular bikes.

[@robertbergren8680]

Nice vid. I worked in bike shops from '82 to '98. I appreciate all innovations. Some are bust but how do you know til you try. Some standards help to be able to service old bikes. Also, infrastructure is getting better, although auto traffic is busier than ever. The real losers a century ago were the horse poop shovelers.

[@georgeg7840]

My first real (adult sized, multi speed) bicycle was a 10 speed in the late 1970’s, I had it for about a decade, bicycles have improved since then but not by much and there are still some 10/12 speed bicycles from back then in use today.

[@daniellarson3068]

Lots of old Schwinns around from that time. They can be had for cheap.

[@michaelmartin4383]

A bicycle is a very efficient, simple machine and this concept was discovered years ago. The basic principle of the bicycle hasn't changed, it is marketing that has changed. You have to pay a lot more today for a bicycle or bicycle component that dose exactly the something as older bicycles.

[@BodyKnight]

Aluminum was so expensive that the Washington Monument has an apex made out of aluminum.

[@chrisparsonson420]

When I was a kid (about 70 years ago) I had a bike with a 3-speed. The gears lived in the hub of the rear wheel, were filled with oil, and almost never went wrong. I guess if you spend a huge amount of money you can get a bike with a million external gears where they get covered in grit and water and don't often go wrong But if you are a normal kind of guy the derailleur gears seem to be cheap and not very good. If I could find a bike with an old style 3-speed I'd buy it immediately

[@ytr8989]

Any old bike is better than what they make today.

[@stevethe3060]

The Penny farthing literally looks like a large wheeled unicycle with a stabilising wheel ,I used to see a guy regularly ride a modern version to work each morning let’s hope he didn’t go over the bars or get knocked off as I haven’t seen him for a long time hopefully he just replaced it with a modern pedal bicycle,as for the roads ,although there’s some upgrades to accommodate cycling I’d like to see cycle networks that run alongside or go in a similar direction to all main roads like A roads so people can cycle to work or other destination in a straighter line rather than be taken out so far in zig zags it doubles or triples the distance and increases the time a cyclist has to take to get to work or other destination compared to a motorised vehicle user.

[@purplebrick]

Thanks for the history, very informative. I really wish people were given a better education of other vehicles/modes of transportation when doing driver training. Everyone could benefit from understanding that semi trucks cannot stop on a dime, the point of lane positioning when driving a motorcycle, the vulnerability of a cyclist when being pasted by a car... I could go on. Drivers are arrogant and entitled because they are not shown how to share the road. Lip service is given to sharing the road in lots of driver training but not much else. Driving is not a God given right, you have to be licensed. Hence you have a responsibility to be safe and learn about other modes of transportation.

[@gregroemke1564]

Great video! I’d be curious to see how the cost of the singer bicycle compared to the average income at the time, compared to the cost of the priority bicycle to today’s average income.

[@dragonflyslayer984]

The real innovation of bicycles is the motorcycle. Adrenaline and laziness are the two driving forces that lead to new innovations. Now we are putting motor on them again like it's something new. 😂

[@itsjusttravis692]

I got interested in the fact that Singer went from bicycles to sewing machines and did some research, but I think you got Singer Corporation (sewing machine) confused with Singer Motors (George Singer bicycle)

[@genuinejojo]

Nice history lesson on old bicycle and I really like the black bomber-jacket you wore. May I know the brand of the jacket?

[@codylittlefield7885]

I want an 8 so bad. If this was out when I got the Continuum, I would've gone for this instead.

[@alexandergilmour8451]

One thing that struck me a while ago is that the effective gear ratio I would be riding on a penny farthing based on my inside leg length is the same as my preferred fixed gear ratio.

[@jrother]

The way I mainly look at it, apart from some real exceptions, the 20th century was an era more of refinement than revolutionary innovation. Another example that may not resonate with everyone, is the John Browning tilting barrel semi-auto pistol design. It was a significant improvement but also one of many available designs at the time, but now, a century later, almost all larger bore autoloading handguns are refinements of this basic design. In many ways, cars today are a refinement, rather than a true innovation, on the first horseless carriages. Many home appliances also follow this pattern. The microwave perhaps being an exception.

[@drlukewhite]

I wonder whether there are also things that have regressed -- durability? user serviceability?

[@daniellarson3068]

One cannot weld carbon fiber.

[@GordoGambler]

I made a bunch of CF addons on my tour bike and 2 chain cases. The first thing I did for practice was wet wrap 3 layers around a broken steel fork. No prep at all. 2 days hardening, then I laid it on the garage cement floor and WHACKED it with a steel hammer. The floor shook but NOTHING dented. LOL. My seat tube and BB area is wrapped, so ZERO chance it bends or breaks.

[@biercenator]

Also double-butted tubing for steel frames. (Re innovation in materials, carbon frames might not retain structural integrity as long as the Singer.)