Bike Design Lineage - A Discussion

[dnc1]

I tend to agree - the delivery/carrier bikes generally branching off of the roadster. The only issue I have is that the "cycle truck" name tends to be associated with the Schwinn model, though the Schwinn Cycletruck was relatively late to the game. Other companies were making carrier bicycles before Schwinn was, and certainly the style was common in Britain before Schwinn started its model. So I think your assessment is good, though I like "carrier" or "delivery" bike better just because everyone thinks "Schwinn" when they hear "cycle truck". Admittedly this might be a bit nit-picky.

This is possibly the earliest delivery bicycle I'm aware of, dating from 1910, recently found by a cycling museum in France.....

Interesting thread. Form and function. Seems early times, Europe Asia design focused more transport utility function, commuting, delivery. USA seem focus more leisure fun factor, cruisers, bmx, mtb etc.
[


Bicycles never stopped being seen as transport for adults in most of the rest of the world, whereas in America for many years they were seen as mere children's playthings outside of the sporting world.

 

[Freqman1]

If you really want to fill this family tree out you need to go back to the draisine/hobby horses and take a look at how these morphed into the velocipedes and look at the evolution of those then to the ordinaries, to include racers, and all the variations of building the better mouse trap e.g. Star, Kangaroo, King, Eagle to name a few. Next move to the early safety and how they evolved-all the different drives, suspensions, frame styles, wheel sizes--oh yeah side-by-sides and other tandems of two-10 riders, Rex (three wheels), etc... . What about the development of multi-geared bikes which starts about 1899? The first Sturmey 3 spd was 1902. I know a couple here think I was just being facetious with my response but actually this is how I view the evolution without running down a hundred different rabbit holes. I think the Don Adams book, "Collecting and Restoring Antique Biccyles" would be an eye opener here and paints a much better picture of the evolution of the bicycle as we know it today.

 

[dnc1]

Where does the 'Hen and chicks' design fit in?
Mmmmm Pentacycles.

 

[Freqman1]

Where does the 'Hen and chicks' design fit in?
Mmmmm Pentacycles.

I think you would find a lot of dead ends on the family tree! Other things that cloud the taxonomy here would be; are racing bikes decendants of racing ordinarys or pedestrian safety bikes? A pushcart as the origin of the delivery cycles e.g. Cycletruck? Probably many more examples like this as well as the afore mentioned motorcycle influence for motorbikes and Sting-Rays.

 

[cyclingday]

Don’t forget HPV’s and Recumbents.

 

[Thee]

Don’t forget HPV’s and Recumbents.

Huh ? They’ve got penicillin for that !

 

[Thee]

Actually it’s -

Klunker ➡
+
BMX ➡


Mountain Bike


Commercially produced has nothing to do with the evolution lineage , it’s just what you read on wiki

 

[Miq]

Interesting thread. Form and function. Seems early times, Europe Asia design focused more transport utility function, commuting, delivery. USA seem focus more leisure fun factor, cruisers, bmx, mtb etc.

Yes, this leisure time exploded during the post war prosperity in the US. People could imagine how to have fun on bikes and it seems like the tree starts to branch out into very different forms because of it.

Like most family trees it starts at the roots. Start with the basic bike design for riding gravel/paved streets as basic transportation. Then we like to see where else we can ride them. Off road, up & down mountain sides, rough roads, off cliffs, etc. When things break humans try to build it stronger for rough conditions, windy conditions, steep conditions, etc. Then morph/refine a design that excels for certain conditions. So many ways to have fun on a bike, so many great bikes to have different kinds of fun.

I think it’s cool how the simple pieces can be rearranged for different riding applications like racers or cruisers or BMX verts, but the pieces can also get rearranged for fashion and style like muscle bikes and low riders. There’s a huge range of performance and fun for such a basic handful of parts.

Seeing the pics of the bikes on the tree, and mentioning some of the important aspects of that branch of the tree has been helping me understand how those rearrangements fit each branch @SuperDirtMan. It doesn’t always make perfect sense or have clear dividing lines but it is fun to hear what everyone has been tossing in. It’s the open exchange of ideas that’s the point of this if you ask me, not that we all agree or are interested in the same branches as each other. Love seeing crazy old delivery bikes from France, and thinking about bikes being derived from other things like motorcycles and hobby horses.

I don’t think anyone has mentioned low riders until I just did above. Hope they don’t end up near the recumbents…

 

[bulldog1935]

Most people want to believe racing had more to do with developing the modern bicycle than any other activity.
Gears weren't allowed in TdF before 1955, but gears were already prominent for decades in bikes for transportation.
BTW, roads were first paved for bicycles - not for recreation, but for transportation.
Only in the US did Henry Ford change development of the bike to kids toys - in the rest of the world, bikes were developed for transportation.

I believe the biggest single step was made by the French constructeurs, especially during the WWII occupation.
Bikes for utility, bikes for hauling - there was a daily pedal race to get produce from outlying farms to Paris markets.
650b was the original gravel bike.

There was no gas, no automobiles, France was not at war - everyone had jobs, and their transportation budgets went into nice bicycles.
Jan Heine's great article

Cycling under the German Occupation

When I was researching our René Herse book, the most difficult part of the story were the war-time years. Herse started making bikes in 1940, while Paris was occupied by the Germans. Being conditioned by war movies and war-time memories from German relatives, I found…

www.renehersecycles.com

Modern marketing has very little to do with the history and development of the bicycle - it's simply where most cyclists get their information.

 

[Thee]

Low Riders ugh ! yup right in there with recumbents ! They move just as fast ! But the comfort level appears much higher - stretched out like super man with kryptonite between his legs in contorted agony - all worth it for the handling capability ! Especially the ultra responsive raked out front end !