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
as a one-word piece of supporting evidence, let me just say - Boneshakers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velocipede#Boneshaker