Bicycle invented earlier?

[fasquardon]

my attempts at visualizing that, says that bamboos ability to bend is either in the wrong direction (it bends from side to side, not up and down) or that it would become something that quite easily could snap if given a sharp bump since it would bend beyond its capability point

Right, I was imagining bamboo springs replacing the forks, with two pieces of bamboo on either side of the wheel forming an arch that had its apex at the hub of the wheel. This arch would then extend either vertically or horizontally to join with the rest of the frame.

I should note however, that real world bamboo bicycles just look like normal steel bicycles, and apparently the springiness of the bamboo is still useful while not breaking in the way you are imagining.

fasquardon

 

[Yuelang]

and maybe romans wont complain with all those bumpy ride with straw filled wheels and springless wooden - iron design. They didnt complain for cavalry riding without stirrups either

It wont be used much in civilian services, save perhaps fast mail or courrier service, but I can see the Legions being mounted on bikes for internal or border defense...

 

[Sian]

theres still the issue that they can't really move much faster than their train, which would still be mule or oxen driven wagons, as they have to use the materials loaded onto the train to build the nightly fortifications they were so fond of.

IF (and its a rather big 'if') Romans had access to the technological knowhow to build bikes, i don't think they would be used for much more than courier express, and prehaps scouting ahead in conflicts where there is reasonble access to good roads, and even then its a large quesiton if such limited scouting is useful.

 

[Yuelang]

theres still the issue that they can't really move much faster than their train, which would still be mule or oxen driven wagons, as they have to use the materials loaded onto the train to build the nightly fortifications they were so fond of.

IF (and its a rather big 'if') Romans had access to the technological knowhow to build bikes, i don't think they would be used for much more than courier express, and prehaps scouting ahead in conflicts where there is reasonble access to good roads, and even then its a large quesiton if such limited scouting is useful.

They are mainly for internal defense, with foodstocks and such stuffs spread on the frontier fortresses.

It would be far more easier and faster to assemble the men near a city (which they can double as garrison anyway), and then march quickly on their bike to the problems on the frontier. They will still march slower for conquest purposes though, but the defense of the Empire is much faster than before...

 

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

1) ball bearings
2) chains

To do those reliably and cheaply enough to be viable takes late 19th century tech

 

[fasquardon]

1) ball bearings
2) chains

To do those reliably and cheaply enough to be viable takes late 19th century tech

You can make bicycles without either bearings or chains - not as good as modern ones for sure, but good enough.

fasquardon

 

[Thesaurus Rex]

What about tricycles, though? Pedal-powered rickshaws full of stuff like you see in the East?

 

[Sian]

just had a image of an upsized children tricycle out of wood or metal with a small bench build on a flatbed between the rear wheels, with the pedals directly on the front wheel

 

[SRT]

I always thought those WW1 and interwar-era dragoons with folding bicycles were cool.

 

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

You can make bicycles without either bearings or chains - not as good as modern ones for sure, but good enough.

fasquardon

Good enough for what?

Bicycles didn't take off until ball bearings. True, 'penny farthings' were popular for a while, but they weren't terribly practical with those huge wheels.

 

[fasquardon]

Good enough for what?

Good enough to be a useful tool.

An earlier bicycle doesn't have to be as good as modern bicycles, or even as good as a penny farthing, they just have to be better than the existing tools of the time in some particular niche.

Keep in mind that in its day even the draisine was practical.

fasquardon

 

[Sior]

I've always understood bicycles as having been held back by the availability of cheap & high quality steel - when that arrived in the late 19th Century, bicycle technology took off.

But just now, I got to wondering if a bamboo bicycle would be practical...

fasquardon

 

[Jeeves]

But that bike still has Ball bearings in the hubs and bottom bracket, drawn steel wire for the spokes, extruded metal rims and pneumatic tires...

 

[Sior]

But that bike still has Ball bearings in the hubs and bottom bracket, drawn steel wire for the spokes, extruded metal rims and pneumatic tires...

How about this? wooden enough?

 

[Jeeves]

Yeah, but googling that Image tells me the bike weighs 70 lbs and is on the 6th set of gears after only 20 miles.

 

[Mongo]

Yeah, but googling that Image tells me the bike weighs 70 lbs and is on the 6th set of gears after only 20 miles.

I dare say that the gears could have been made of bronze. And the frame could have been a lot lighter, as with the image of the bamboo bike earlier on this thread. You are really reaching with your objections to the idea.

 

[HARRY]

Well here is an all wooden bike that looks a lot lighter but just as uncomfortable off a smooth road.