1880s nonpareil “safety” type bicycle

1887 Non Pareil Type bicycle

1887 Non Pareil safety bicycle

Admittedly, we don’t know much about this bike.  Built by an unknown manufacturer, this is one of the missing links in the evolution of the bicycle. 

The earliest “Dandy Horse” Draissiene bikes of 1820 through the 1860’s looked like modern balance-bike designs for kids and didn’t have pedals. Eventually those velocipedes became bicycles by having crank arms and pedals that would directly rotate the front wheels. Those bikes, with their one to one gear ratios were slow, so Penny farthings of the 1870s and 80s increased that front wheel size as much as a rider’s inseam would allow, making their effective gearing bigger and delivering higher speeds.

Penny Farthings clearly had design issues that could be improved upon. The high center of gravity made them intimidating for beginners and produced some horrifying crashes for even the most skilled riders. Hence the drive to develop the “safety” bicycle.

Most likely this bike was built in the 1880s and is one of the first chain-driven bicycles in existence. The humble chain doesn’t seem like much of an advancement, but it really was a game changer. Now bicycles could be driven by the rear wheel instead of the front so the steering could be quicker and more predictable. With a chain drive, gear ratios could deliver more comfortable pedaling or faster speeds, and those speeds could be attained closer to the ground, with the rider situated between two similarly-sized wheels.

Try to find a new chain for this, why don’t you

The saddle leather has rotted away

This brake lever would push a spoon down on top of the front tire

A post for an oil lamp on the fork

Inefficient and noisy, similar to the Simpson lever chain

A couple more advancements were to follow this bike. In 1890 John Boyd Dunlop invented the pneumatic tire, a development that made bicycles safer and more practical over rough roads with better traction as well as increasing rider comfort many times over. In the late 1890’s the Diamant roller chain (a chain which is very similar to the bushingless design that we still use today) came on the scene and quickly replaced inefficient and noisy earlier chains like the one on this bike.