News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Why did we wait so long for the bicycle?. Parent comment

Re:Why did we wait so long for the bicycle? by smileysteve on Monday July 15, 2019 @05:09PM (#20445307)
> expensive, flimsy bicycles are completely useless in a world with poor roads and deep wealth inequality.

You make a last great point with this.

Without paved roads, rubber, decent springs; all of the shortcomings are amplified. The gear drive works, but if you have a wood wheel, with a wood axle, w/ wood cogs, the tolerances to be both comfortable and effective on cobblestone or dirt would be troublesome.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why did we wait so long for the bicycle? by knodi123 on Monday July 15, 2019 @05:53PM (#20445647)
> Without ... rubber,

as a one-word piece of supporting evidence, let me just say - Boneshakers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velocipede#Boneshaker

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why did we wait so long for the bicycle? by tjmc on Monday July 15, 2019 @09:17PM (#20446747)
Agreed. Vulcanized rubber tires appear to be the major missing component. Vulcanization wasn't discovered until 1839 [1] and the need to further improve ride comfort (from solid rubber tires) helped spur the creation of the pneumatic tire in 1888 [2].

[1] https://www.britannica.com/technology/vulcanization [2] https://www.britannica.com/technology/tire#ref117797

[ Parent | on HN ]