• Bicycling Science by David Gordon Wilson is an authoritative guide on all things related to the science of cycling. Ideal for anyone looking to better understand the methods and mechanics of why cycling works, the book offers a comprehensive overview of areas like energy, power, stability, aerodynamics, and even comfort.
• As a UX Designer, this book offers a great insight into how the aspects of science relate to an improved cycling experience. It also offers an understanding of how physics and engineering can be applied to better enhance a cyclist's understanding of form and function.
• For a deeper understanding of design and engineering related to cycling, this book is a great fit. Other books that may be of interest to a UX Designer include The Physics of Cycling, Fundamentals of Bicycle Maintenance, and Bike Storage and Racks.
🎀 Highlights
The International Human Powered Vehicle Association (IHPVA) was founded in the mid-1970s, leading to a wide variety of new designs and large increases in speeds and performances of new bicycle types.
Bicycle speed records are nowadays regularly set at speeds of well over 80 mph, 135 km/h, 37.5 m/s. (These records are not wholly valid, because they can be set at the limits of permissible downslope, wind, and so on.)
It is a potent time for bicycling, because many large cities have racks of standard bicycles that can be picked up fairly easily for rental use.
Therefore, while there is no longer a sense of excitement over new types of bicycles, there is a sense that they have matured and can be quickly produced for wider use for the benefit of users and nonusers.
These major developments lead many to forecast a new period of greater use of bicycles in cities. Therefore, while there is no longer a sense of excitement over new types of bicycles, there is a sense that they have matured and can be quickly produced
More exercise is prescribed for greater health.
Cars are facing greater restrictions because of the emissions
These major developments lead many to forecast a new period of greater use of bicycles in cities. Therefore, while there is no longer a sense of excitement over new types of bicycles, there is a sense that they have matured and can be quickly produced for wider use for the benefit of users and nonusers.
machine” that the rider straddled and propelled with his feet on the ground) was invented in Germany in 1817, and this is when the history of the bicycle and motorcycle begins. That first bicycle found a promising acceptance in several countries but was suppressed by the authorities in Mannheim (late 1817),
machine” that the rider straddled and propelled with his feet on the ground) was invented in Germany in 1817, and this is when the history of the bicycle and motorcycle begins. That first bicycle found a promising acceptance in several countries but was suppressed by the authorities in Mannheim (late 1817), Milan (1818), London, Philadelphia, New York (1819), and Calcutta (1820), so that by 1821 it had virtually died out (Lessing 2017).
although Pinkerton, a long-time rider of high bicycles, believed the supposed dangers to be highly exaggerated. Designers and inventors tried for many years to arrive at a safer machine. Success came with the so-called
although Pinkerton, a long-time rider of high bicycles, believed the supposed dangers to be highly exaggerated.
the so-called safety, first in 1878 with the Xtraordinary and the Facile, and reaching significant commercial success with John Kemp Starley’s 1885 safeties, which, with Dunlop’s pneumatic tires reinvented in 1888, became by 1890 very similar to the safety bicycle of today.
Many boats, even large ones, were muscle powered until the seventeenth century.
A short review of the misuse of human muscle power throughout history (Wilson 1977) shows the bicycle to be a brilliant culmination of the efforts of many people to end such drudgery.
Muscle use in most farm work and forestry fell into the same general
The men were likely to be criminals (real or supposed), chained to their benches.
it is now known that muscles develop maximum power when they are contracting quickly against a smaller resistance, in what is termed a good impedance match. In the bicycling context specifically, this good impedance match might be called an optimum gear ratio.
Inclining the treadwheel makes a more upright position possible, and the arms can push less. Finally we arrive at the vertical treadwheel,
The first clearly human-powered vehicles known to history (if classes like wheelbarrows and carts pulled or pushed by men and women are excluded) were carriages supposedly propelled by footmen, in France in the 1690s (Ritchie 1975, 16). (An alleged earlier effort by a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci has been convincingly shown by Lessing to be a fake.)
Baron Karl von Drais, a resident of Mannheim, studied mathematics and mechanics in Heidelberg and invented a binary digit system, a paper-strip piano-music recorder, a typewriter, and—during a series of bad harvests after 1812—two human-powered “driving machines” on four wheels. In 1815 the Indonesian volcano Tambora exploded, expelling the greatest known mass of dust into the atmosphere (estimated at seven times the amount from Krakatoa in 1883) and making 1816 “the year without a summer” in central Europe and the New England states. Starvation was widespread, and horses were killed for lack of fodder, the price of oats then playing the same role as the oil price fairly recently. Lessing (1995) believes that the consequent shortage of horses led von Drais to develop his two-wheeled “running machine” with front-wheel steering from the outset (figure
Baron Karl von Drais, a resident of Mannheim, studied mathematics and mechanics in Heidelberg and invented a binary digit system, a paper-strip piano-music recorder, a typewriter, and—during a series of bad harvests after 1812—two human-powered “driving machines” on four wheels.
1815 the Indonesian volcano Tambora exploded, expelling the greatest known mass of dust into the atmosphere (estimated at seven times the amount from Krakatoa in 1883) and making 1816 “the year without a summer” in central Europe and the New England states. Starvation was widespread, and horses were killed for lack of fodder, the price of oats then playing the same role as the oil price fairly recently.
Lessing (1995) believes that the consequent shortage of horses led von Drais to develop his two-wheeled “running machine” with front-wheel steering from the outset (figure 1.4).
earlier assumption was that he had no preconception that the steering would enable him to balance but simply thought that it would be a convenience.
ice skating, which “had long been a means of travel and transport in the Netherlands with its many canals,”
Lessing (1995, 130) makes a powerful argument that ice skating, which “had long been a means of travel and transport in the Netherlands with its many canals,” led to roller skating.
A preserved flyer for an outdoor demonstration between The Hague and Scheveningen in 1790 shows what appear to be the earliest in-line roller skates.
In 1821, Lewis Gompertz fitted a swinging-arc ratchet drive to the front wheel (figure 1.5) so that the rider could pull on the steering handles to assist his feet.
However, by this time so many restrictions had been put upon velocipedes that they lost their usefulness: “for they gave orders that those who rode velocipedes should be stopped in the streets and highways and their money taken from them. This they called putting down the velocipede by fines” (Davies 1837).
which belongs to the second step in our three-step
rims. It was only in
It was only in the late 1860s that rubber was fastened onto the rims to cushion the harsh ride and ball bearings were first used to give easier running,
the high bicycle enabled people to travel much farther than was comfortably possible on a velocipede. In Britain the roads were good enough for the country to be traversed from Lands End in southwest Cornwall to John O’Groats in northeast Scotland
the high bicycle enabled people to travel much farther than was comfortably possible on a velocipede. In Britain the roads were good enough for the country to be traversed from Lands End in southwest Cornwall to John O’Groats in northeast Scotland (924 mi; 1,490 km) in seven days (Ritchie 1975);
It is doubtful that anyone in the United States used bicycles for long-distance travel except a few enthusiasts and people who wanted to set records.
Family men, even if they were still athletic, hesitated to ride because of the reported frequent severe injuries
The new freedom and style were restricted to rich young men. Strict dress codes prevented all but the most iconoclastic of women from riding high-wheelers. Family men, even if they were still athletic, hesitated to ride because of the reported frequent severe injuries to riders who fell (some feel that these reports were exaggerated).
The new freedom and style were restricted to rich young men. Strict dress codes prevented all but the most iconoclastic of women from riding high-wheelers. Family men, even if they were still athletic, hesitated to ride because of the reported frequent severe injuries to riders who fell (some feel that these reports were exaggerated). Unathletic or short men were excluded automatically.
Waxing and Waning Enthusiasm Although the enormous enthusiasm for the bicycle in most “Western, developed” countries in the 1890s waned sharply toward the end of the decade, that is not to state that the bicycle fell into wide disuse. Not many workers could afford bicycles, but well-to-do people used them for commuting and shopping, and later, in Europe at least, the “cloth-cap” (i.e., working) class used them also for sport and for weekend and vacation travel.
The International Human Powered Vehicle Association (IHPVA) was founded in the mid-1970s, leading to a wide variety of new designs and large increases in speeds and performances of new bicycle types.
Bicycle speed records are nowadays regularly set at speeds of well over 80 mph, 135 km/h, 37.5 m/s. (These records are not wholly valid, because they can be set at the limits of permissible downslope, wind, and so on.)
It is a potent time for bicycling, because many large cities have racks of standard bicycles that can be picked up fairly easily for rental use.
Therefore, while there is no longer a sense of excitement over new types of bicycles, there is a sense that they have matured and can be quickly produced for wider use for the benefit of users and nonusers.
These major developments lead many to forecast a new period of greater use of bicycles in cities. Therefore, while there is no longer a sense of excitement over new types of bicycles, there is a sense that they have matured and can be quickly produced
More exercise is prescribed for greater health.
Cars are facing greater restrictions because of the emissions
These major developments lead many to forecast a new period of greater use of bicycles in cities. Therefore, while there is no longer a sense of excitement over new types of bicycles, there is a sense that they have matured and can be quickly produced for wider use for the benefit of users and nonusers.
machine” that the rider straddled and propelled with his feet on the ground) was invented in Germany in 1817, and this is when the history of the bicycle and motorcycle begins. That first bicycle found a promising acceptance in several countries but was suppressed by the authorities in Mannheim (late 1817),
machine” that the rider straddled and propelled with his feet on the ground) was invented in Germany in 1817, and this is when the history of the bicycle and motorcycle begins. That first bicycle found a promising acceptance in several countries but was suppressed by the authorities in Mannheim (late 1817), Milan (1818), London, Philadelphia, New York (1819), and Calcutta (1820), so that by 1821 it had virtually died out (Lessing 2017).
although Pinkerton, a long-time rider of high bicycles, believed the supposed dangers to be highly exaggerated. Designers and inventors tried for many years to arrive at a safer machine. Success came with the so-called
although Pinkerton, a long-time rider of high bicycles, believed the supposed dangers to be highly exaggerated.
the so-called safety, first in 1878 with the Xtraordinary and the Facile, and reaching significant commercial success with John Kemp Starley’s 1885 safeties, which, with Dunlop’s pneumatic tires reinvented in 1888, became by 1890 very similar to the safety bicycle of today.
Many boats, even large ones, were muscle powered until the seventeenth century.
A short review of the misuse of human muscle power throughout history (Wilson 1977) shows the bicycle to be a brilliant culmination of the efforts of many people to end such drudgery.
Muscle use in most farm work and forestry fell into the same general
The men were likely to be criminals (real or supposed), chained to their benches.
it is now known that muscles develop maximum power when they are contracting quickly against a smaller resistance, in what is termed a good impedance match. In the bicycling context specifically, this good impedance match might be called an optimum gear ratio.
Inclining the treadwheel makes a more upright position possible, and the arms can push less. Finally we arrive at the vertical treadwheel,
The first clearly human-powered vehicles known to history (if classes like wheelbarrows and carts pulled or pushed by men and women are excluded) were carriages supposedly propelled by footmen, in France in the 1690s (Ritchie 1975, 16). (An alleged earlier effort by a pupil of Leonardo da Vinci has been convincingly shown by Lessing to be a fake.)
Baron Karl von Drais, a resident of Mannheim, studied mathematics and mechanics in Heidelberg and invented a binary digit system, a paper-strip piano-music recorder, a typewriter, and—during a series of bad harvests after 1812—two human-powered “driving machines” on four wheels. In 1815 the Indonesian volcano Tambora exploded, expelling the greatest known mass of dust into the atmosphere (estimated at seven times the amount from Krakatoa in 1883) and making 1816 “the year without a summer” in central Europe and the New England states. Starvation was widespread, and horses were killed for lack of fodder, the price of oats then playing the same role as the oil price fairly recently. Lessing (1995) believes that the consequent shortage of horses led von Drais to develop his two-wheeled “running machine” with front-wheel steering from the outset (figure
Baron Karl von Drais, a resident of Mannheim, studied mathematics and mechanics in Heidelberg and invented a binary digit system, a paper-strip piano-music recorder, a typewriter, and—during a series of bad harvests after 1812—two human-powered “driving machines” on four wheels.
1815 the Indonesian volcano Tambora exploded, expelling the greatest known mass of dust into the atmosphere (estimated at seven times the amount from Krakatoa in 1883) and making 1816 “the year without a summer” in central Europe and the New England states. Starvation was widespread, and horses were killed for lack of fodder, the price of oats then playing the same role as the oil price fairly recently.
Lessing (1995) believes that the consequent shortage of horses led von Drais to develop his two-wheeled “running machine” with front-wheel steering from the outset (figure 1.4).
earlier assumption was that he had no preconception that the steering would enable him to balance but simply thought that it would be a convenience.
ice skating, which “had long been a means of travel and transport in the Netherlands with its many canals,”
Lessing (1995, 130) makes a powerful argument that ice skating, which “had long been a means of travel and transport in the Netherlands with its many canals,” led to roller skating.
A preserved flyer for an outdoor demonstration between The Hague and Scheveningen in 1790 shows what appear to be the earliest in-line roller skates.
In 1821, Lewis Gompertz fitted a swinging-arc ratchet drive to the front wheel (figure 1.5) so that the rider could pull on the steering handles to assist his feet.
However, by this time so many restrictions had been put upon velocipedes that they lost their usefulness: “for they gave orders that those who rode velocipedes should be stopped in the streets and highways and their money taken from them. This they called putting down the velocipede by fines” (Davies 1837).
which belongs to the second step in our three-step
rims. It was only in
It was only in the late 1860s that rubber was fastened onto the rims to cushion the harsh ride and ball bearings were first used to give easier running,
the high bicycle enabled people to travel much farther than was comfortably possible on a velocipede. In Britain the roads were good enough for the country to be traversed from Lands End in southwest Cornwall to John O’Groats in northeast Scotland
the high bicycle enabled people to travel much farther than was comfortably possible on a velocipede. In Britain the roads were good enough for the country to be traversed from Lands End in southwest Cornwall to John O’Groats in northeast Scotland (924 mi; 1,490 km) in seven days (Ritchie 1975);
It is doubtful that anyone in the United States used bicycles for long-distance travel except a few enthusiasts and people who wanted to set records.
Family men, even if they were still athletic, hesitated to ride because of the reported frequent severe injuries
The new freedom and style were restricted to rich young men. Strict dress codes prevented all but the most iconoclastic of women from riding high-wheelers. Family men, even if they were still athletic, hesitated to ride because of the reported frequent severe injuries to riders who fell (some feel that these reports were exaggerated).
The new freedom and style were restricted to rich young men. Strict dress codes prevented all but the most iconoclastic of women from riding high-wheelers. Family men, even if they were still athletic, hesitated to ride because of the reported frequent severe injuries to riders who fell (some feel that these reports were exaggerated). Unathletic or short men were excluded automatically.
Waxing and Waning Enthusiasm Although the enormous enthusiasm for the bicycle in most “Western, developed” countries in the 1890s waned sharply toward the end of the decade, that is not to state that the bicycle fell into wide disuse. Not many workers could afford bicycles, but well-to-do people used them for commuting and shopping, and later, in Europe at least, the “cloth-cap” (i.e., working) class used them also for sport and for weekend and vacation travel.
