Re:Why did we wait so long for the bicycle?
by hyperpallium on Monday July 15, 2019 @10:13PM
(#20446969)
Why not bamboo or balsa or bone?
The wheel existed before ball bearings - why are they necessary for bicycles? (is it an efficiency thing, for human powered?)
The safety-bicycle chain requires cheap precision mass engineering, but rope, rubber, axial rod (as in a car), or interlocking gears also work. Or direct, as in a penny-farthing. Or, no wheel power transfer, but push along with your feet, as in the Kirkpatrick bicycle.
The wheel existed before ball bearings - why are they necessary for bicycles? (is it an efficiency thing, for human powered?)
The safety-bicycle chain requires cheap precision mass engineering, but rope, rubber, axial rod (as in a car), or interlocking gears also work. Or direct, as in a penny-farthing. Or, no wheel power transfer, but push along with your feet, as in the Kirkpatrick bicycle.