Bicycles as we know them now have been around since 1861, when Pierre Michaux, an independent Parisian locksmith developed the velocipede with pedals, named the “Michaudine” after its inventor.

It was at this moment that we saw the first form of the modern bicycle. The previous prototype, the “running machine”, (or the “Draisine”), invented some 50 years beforehand, was similar but without pedals, which made it fundamentally different from its illustrious descendant in terms of how it was used.

And so the first bicycle company, the Michaux firm, was created. The product was met with such keen interest and was such a hit right from the day of its release, that in only a few years the company was employing over 300 people.

However, after this, the competition and the war of 1870 brought this success to an end. But the craze surrounding the product only got stronger and grew every year. America, England and then other countries all over the world would start to join in this frenzy.

Very quickly, the first races were organised, accompanied by their publicity. The Tour de France was born in 1903 and would eventually become, as everybody knows, a legendary and historical event; the Giro d’Italia would follow it along with numerous team races across all the European countries and then all over the world.

The bicycle quickly stopped being regarded purely as a leisure item, soon also becoming the worker’s companion and being used by all different members of society.

It has even been the star of epic films like Vittorio De Sica’s “Bicycle Thieves” in 1948, and we can just as easily find it in any number of films up until the present day. The bicycle has also got a prominent sporting image with the ever-growing media coverage of races: we can rediscover nature during the first days off work in France (“à bicyclette” as Yves Montand used to sing) or we can sign ourselves up to sports clubs and enter competitions ourselves.

Has it declined with age? Not at all! The bicycle is something which knows how to evolve with the latest trends: the VTT came to the forefront, then the BMX came to the forefront, then the e-bike or the fixed-gear which has today seduced users in the trendy districts of Paris.

It’s been a hundred years, even 150 years, that the bicycle has been at the heart of our lives and has left its tyre-marks on our era. Learning to ride a bike has become an important step in our lives, just like starting school or even getting married.

A popular saying has got it in a nutshell:
“It’s just like riding a bike !”

See also > The century of the electric bicycle