A Brief History of Bicycle Engineering

This video explores some of the challenges in designing early bicycles and how concepts such as wheel circumferences, gear ratios, and torque were used to solve problems.
I feel that the engineering of bicycles is a great way to connect some basic mathematical ideas into mechanical problem solving. Playing with properties of circles and ratios as a way to make a bike move faster builds a context to bring these geometric ideas into something physical and creative.
The story also shows how creativity and engineering don't follow a linear path. Seeing novel solutions, failed experiments, and missed opportunities give us a great framework to inspire us and guide us through new problems.

[@jhtprojects4431]

Excellent explanation. Thank you. Someone wrote "If your bike has a derailleur, then you can thank randonneurs." Those early cyclotourists and brevet riders lobbied for Years to convince the regulators to allow derailleurs in racing. The Technical Trials of the 1930s gradually developed lighter, better performing, more reliable components. One thing in the video: the sound of a coasting hub is at the point where the rider is pedaling.

[@BHALT0S]

i once read, the bicycle is amazing, in that the engine, the passenger and the driver as one person all contribute to its motion.

[@Coastal_Cruzer]

Yep

[@xopurp]

it’s insane this doesn’t have at least a million views, extremelyyyy well done !!!

[@jun-yuncharliegreen8743]

Really good video! Needs more views for sure

[@madeinfoxtrap5539]

Great video ! Recumbent bicycles Were considered Cheating and were Outlawed by the Tour de France After a recumbent Rider beat all others On upright bicycles

[@Sam-mv6rp]

Internal hub gears pre date the derailer as a viable multi gear system by a good 20 years if i think correctly

[@drill_fiend1097]

It's making a comeback with belt drives.

[@bikee1394]

Dude forgot include internal hub gears.. famous 30 years prior derailleurs

[@tarazzzs]

Cool educational video with cool animations, loving it.

[@reasonformath]

Thank you!

[@dontfearthereaper2887]

Greatest transportation machine ever invented

[@polyrhythmia]

Bikers of the world: Unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains! I see the bicycle as being a stride amplifier.

[@vojtechpilar5809]

This video is fantastic and easily deserves millions of views.

[@hemanthrvn4661]

Beautiful illustrations..really great work

[@BaiZhijie]

This video is a great breakdown of the engineering concepts behind bikes! Great work!

[@reasonformath]

Thanks so much!

[@potsato]

Underrated video! Should’ve gotten a million more views

[@dontfearthereaper2887]

is underrated, just like bicycles are, cause the world is addicted to oil

[@reasonformath]

thanks!

[@Superwazop]

Incredible

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Beautiful animation.

[@reasonformath]

Thank you!

[@fatbikearcticnomad2122]

Wow, awesome video of bicycle history!

[@Leviajohnson]

Oh this is excellent

[@gur262]

This visualizes various concepts way better than most cycling channels ever did. Maybe a video on engineering lost/ignored could be nice. Bikeracing never accepted recumbents or aerodynamic fairings. Whether the geometry, especially Highspeed downhill, is ideal is also questionable given the rules squeezing racebikes into certain dimensions. Motorcycle racing once featured dustbin fairings for great aero. I assume thats more related to less power making topspeed a more important component, but if they were in fashion in racing they might be for normal motorcycles making them more efficient. When i look at cars I don't think the 4 seat arrangement comes from a place of logic either but rather as evolution from horse drawn carriages. I know a certain width is necessary to not fall over but outside of racing context seating people behind one another seems better. Just that at the point aerodynamics started to really matter, speeds got high, the layout we know was too established. Or so i assume.

[@franadia5508]

One of the best videos I've ever seen

[@reasonformath]

Thank you - really appreciate that.

[@MysticFluff1]

Amazing video, I will certainly show this to my students, thank you

[@reasonformath]

Thanks! Please tell them I say hi.

[@adamsvoboda7717]

Very interesting, thank you

[@getting_better]

Cool animations! Great explanations! Amazing video!

[@LukasSiemoneit]

Thank you for this excellent video!

[@reasonformath]

You're very welcome!

[@scottstevens7253]

Great stuff, thanks

[@asadabdulqaabir4006]

What? I can't believe that aerodynamic butt cones are not a thing today.

[@reasonformath]

I know, Someone should start a GoFundMe to bring back the butt cone.

[@JayLato]

Amazing production

[@hunt-showdown]

learned so much! thanks

[@Surroundex2]

Great work

[@danielreitermusic]

Cool animations! A couple small nits though - the ancient greek weapon 'polybolos' had an endless chain drive as far back as 250BC. Also, I think bicycle makers in the day of the penny-farthing had definitely conceived of using a chain drive. Many of the women's tricycle designs in that same era had chain drives for example. If you look at old photos the chains look pretty big and heavy though. I'm guessing that it just wasn't as practical back then with the chain technology of the time - and combined with the lack of pneumatic tires a large wheel was just a practical, simple, and affordable option.

[@joefields719]

Thanks teach!

[@jasonz7788]

Great video thank you

[@ola_vii]

Good vibes video and nice animation. Perhaps Gentulio Campagnolo should have had a credital mention when speaking about the history of bicycling inventions related to gears.

[@williamwelmans8648]

Excellent video.!

[@reasonformath]

Thank you!

[@JavierBonillaC]

Fascinating!

[@BigBeezyBtown]

This was awesome. Thank you

[@reasonformath]

Thanks so much!

[@macsnafu]

I think butt cones need to make a comeback, if only for the photo ops.

[@AFV85]

Jean Loubeyre of Paris. He indisputably patented a 2 speed derailleur device called 'La Polyceler' in 1895 (French Patent and shimano took over being 100 years old now derailleur was invented well before 1937

[@tranhai8895]

Is the electronic groupset/shifter the new standard for Tour De France road bikes?

[@reference2592]

Fantastic

[@marc.silden]

Perfect!

[@micgalovic]

Good animations

[@kato_dsrdr]

Wait, so the bike chain was invented by da vinci? Damn.

[@fuerLutzi]

What about the bearings? I heard ballbearings were invented for bicycles. True?

[@AFV85]

Bike radar has the storey and a 2 gear rear wheel system amd rear derailleur like an old front mech was used in 1869

[@Lucius1958]

Rather surprising that you showed Leonardo's chain sketch without even mentioning the bicycle drawing attributed to Salai...

[@Wasketa]

Very impressive, now the future for bicycles are the gearboxes

[@evangelistbricescott7182]

The ending 😂😂😂

[@dodginglions5163]

The butt cone should be reintroduced.

[@frankhooper7871]

Interesting and informative - but surprised no mention was made of hub gears, developed in the early 1900s.

[@Cheesicle_]

hub gears?

[@sweetalert480]

how about tire?

[@bikerider4326]

1817 the Swiftwalker created by Karl Von Drais is the very first bike. 🤔

[@cheesechomp3r554]

Why is the resolution 1x1?

[@reasonformath]

The aspect ratio is square because I first posed this to my TikTok account, and a 1:1 aspect was a good compromise between the default horizontal aspect of KZbin and the vertical of TikTok.

[@danielchesley9802]

It's 3:38am for me right now why am I watching this??

[@mtbalpinecounty]

💪

[@Happy_HIbiscus]

😊😊😊😊

[@the.communist]

Didnt campy invent the derailleur?

[@QuixoteX]

So... what about that butt cone?

[@izysly6924]

Now you are just talking dirty. (Do it again)

[@jacobjames1171]

4:10 early masher

[@chillchilli2671]

Back then, derailleurs were considered cheating. 1970: front suspension was considered cheating. 1980: having rear suspension was considered cheating 2018: having a electric motor was considered cheating. I'm thinking the pinion gearbox is definitely gonna be considered cheating

[@lese39]

I refuse to believe people though first in doubling the wheel size than to do a chain, gear or belt drive. When presented with the problem of "it's hard to steer the wheel you're pedaling" the immediate solution is to move the pedaling to the other wheel.

[@reasonformath]

I hear you. The most obvious solution is easy to see with the benefit of hindsight.

[@jaykay3407]

There's a 900yr old temple in India with a bicycle carved in granite, on it. I dont think your time line is correct somehow.

[@Diwasho]

Yes, there certainly was an even earlier version of the bicycle that didn't have pedals, you had to walk on the ground like the Flintstones while riding it. It was invented by the same person who invented the meat grinder.

[@bikee1394]

yeah ofc everyone knows india invented everything first on the planet

[@jaykay3407]

@@bikee1394 just not sanitation 😄

[@GbpsGbps-vn3jy]

And yet we have hi-tech derailleur systems that occasionally drop our chains \o/

[@kendurham5684]

Engineering 101 for preschoolers

[@DavidGS66]

The biggest problem is theft, 1/2 due to cyclists themselves underestimating the risk by not using a Ulock & registering.

[@lebowskiduderino89]

I got drunk one day and tried to ride a penny farthing. I fell down and broke my coccyx, cocxyx? Coxyxc? Ha ha! I always wanted to write the word coccyx, coxyx, cocoyxx? In a comment! Am I the first person to write the word coccyx? In a comment? Let me know in the comments!!!!

[@10000spidersinatrenchcoat]

Did you have to wear the butt cone? 😂

[@RobertoFischer]

You skipped the multi-speed rear wheel hub entirely..... Your history cannot be right.

[@bambukouk]

lot of nonsense about higher CogG being "harder to balance" actually the reverse is the case - the higher the CofG the easier it is to balance I know it not only from the theory, but also from practice 😜

[@reasonformath]

With a higher center of gravity, smaller shifts in weight have a bigger impact. I ride a unicycle, and the short ones are easier to balance than the tall ones since a small movement in the arms is less apt to throw you off balance.

[@bambukouk]

@@reasonformath I have no personal experience of unicycling, but I am sure the same applies. As you say "...With a higher centre of gravity, smaller shifts in weight have a bigger impact..." i.e. it requires less effort to keep bike balanced - kzbin.info5C6cid5RBk8?si=v3IB2rtnwmVISp0L 🤪 I know how much more difficult it is to do the same on lowracer recumbent... 👍

[@bigtsperspective5831]

Probably should study a little bit more. There’s proof of bicycles for hundreds of years before the pf . Solid European perspective

[@markusseppala6547]

A bit too much repeating the same facts but cool video.