High Wheeled Bicycle Dare Devils postcard

High Wheeled Bicycle Dare Devils postcard This vintage High Wheeled Bicycles being put thru their paces by the first early extreme stunt riders. here you have several examples of tricks daring young men would pull to show off their athletic ability and devil may care attitude. The bicycle was developed in fits and starts with the walking machine of 1817 probably as its origen but didn't gain popularity until 1865s velocipedes/ boneshakers addition of peddles to the front wheel. In 1870 the first High Wheeled bicycle tried to resolve the uncomfortable ride with a huge front wheel and an all metal machine. (Previous to this metallurgy was not advanced enough to provide metal which was strong enough to make small, light parts out of.) The pedals were still attached directly to the front wheel with no freewheeling mechanism. Solid rubber tires and the long spokes of the large front wheel provided a much smoother ride than its predecessor. The front wheels became larger and larger as makers realised that the larger the wheel, the farther you could travel with one rotation of the pedals. You would purchase a wheel as large as your leg length would allow. This machine was the first one to be called a bicycle ("two wheel"). These bicycles enjoyed a great popularity among young men of means (they cost an average worker six month's pay), with the hey-day being the decade of the 1880s. All sorts of additions and subtractions and redesigns occured including putting the smaller wheel up front to stop people from coming to a sudden stop and taking a header into the ground as the high centre of gravity would catapult the rider right over the wheel, then the modern pedal and chain system and two tires of the same height were reintroduced to bring the bicycle in line with what we know as the bicycle of today.