- Started back in France in the 1800's

And in the 200 years since this sport has exploded!

5 Elements i am focusing on in cycling

- The Clothing

- The Bike

- Handlebars

- Helmets

- Pedals

- When cycling first started jerseys sold were made of wool.

- In the early 40’s there were two different types of new materials that came onto the markets one from the Italians and one from the English.

- The Italians came up with silk as a suitable material for jerseys

- And the British created a new type of material called polyester.

- Up until the 80’s the use of polyester was gradually increasing throughout the cycling community but in the 80’s teams found that this polyester could have different colours and they could have their own designs on the jerseys.

- And still today polyester is still used for jerseys.

- By the early 1900’s bikes quite resembles those of today because they had double-diamond frame, inflated tyres and they had equal tyre sizes.

'Roger Lapebie, winner of the 1937 Tour de France, leading the peloton. This was the first year derailleurs were permitted in the TDF and the average overall speed for the Tour increased dramatically.'

(The racing bicycle, 2013)

‘The minimum weight of the bicycle (in working order) shall be 6.800 kg, considered without on-board accessories in place, that is to say those items that may be removed during the event.’

(UCI, 2009)

'For all road, cyclo-cross and track events there is a minimum weight requirement of 6.8kg (14.99 lb).'

(USA Cycling, 2007)

- In cycling a lot of the materials that are used originally came from another sport which is highly funded (formula 1). Because in formula they are developing new materials to put on their cars these materials are then passed onto cycling to put on their bikes for example carbon fibre. this is an advantage to cycling as they don't need to spend millions of developing new materials and all they have to do is buy the rights to use the patent from the F1 teams who developed them.

- Through the years cycling became more and more popular in the sporting scene and so it became more about the sporting advantages rather than comfort.

- Through out the 50’s onwards when the bikes started to develop gears and brakes, this then further changed the shape of the bars slightly.  First of all it was only the brakes on the handlebars and the gear paddles on the frame of the bike.

'1960s—Racing bicycles become popular and feature dropped handlebars, narrow tires, numerous speeds and a lighter frame.’

(Mary Mancone, 2008)

- But during the 90’s and early 2000’s with the advancements of technology & materials the gears were combined with the brakes and both put on the handlebars because it was easier cycle with them combined due to them not needing to change cycling position.

- So this is when you’ll see the current shape of the bars like you see today.

Through the years up until the mid 70’s it was seen as not necessary to wear a helmet as it was seen as bad in sport as it reduces the speed. But during the mid 70’s the health & safety aspect overtook the need for speed and it became essential that riders must wear helmets at all times during a race. This is because of the speeds that the riders travel at and if they were to fall, then they could more than likely die from their injuries but with a helmet these odds were significantly reduced.

‘Cycle helmets were first introduced in America in the mid 1970s. At first they were promoted mainly by their manufacturers, who were often not afraid to denounce competitors' products as ineffective and bad for health.’

- Although in road cycling they haven’t changed all that much,helmets have differed in shape in other events such as time trials and track cycling due to the fact that it became more about aerodynamics. This has been during the last decade or so that these helmets have changed as they have focused on the finer details/causes of drag and are trying to reduce or remove them.

- When the bike was first invented there was one major flaw to the pedals. This flaw was that they were made of wood and easily broke when the slightest bit of pressure was applied. Bike manufacturers quickly found this out and created metal pedals. Metal was the main material for pedals up until around the 70’s and 80’s when manufacturers started to experiment with other materials such as plastics & rubbers.

- The clip ins are most used with competitive riders or amateur riders because they can utilise more muscle to move the pedals which helps for endurance rides & sprints due to the power transfer and how your feet are always in contact with the pedal.

‘The advantages of the clipless pedal was that they were safer to ride on in the event of an accident because of their ability to release under abnormal stress. In addition, the clipless pedal does not have bulky cages and straps fastened to the pedal and thus looks cleaner, faster, and more competitive.’

(Pasadena Bicycle Manufacturing Co, 2013)

The racing bicycle, 2013, early history, available from: http://www.theracingbicycle.com/Early_History.html

[Accessed 26/03/14]

UCI, 2009, technical regulations for bicycles, A practical guide to implementation, available from: http://www.uci.ch/Modules/BUILTIN/getObject.asp?MenuId=&ObjTypeCode=FILE&type=FILE&id=NTI0MDY&LangId=1 [Accessed 26/03/14]

Mary Mancone, 2008, the history of bicycles, An Abridged timeline, available from: http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall08/Mancone/history.html [Accessed 26/03/14]

John Franklin, 2000, Cycle helmets: 25 years along the road, available from: http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/digest/helmets25.pdf [Accessed 26/03/14]

(Pasadena Bicycle Manufacturing Co, 2013, bicycle pedal history, available from: http://www.sidemountpedal.com/images/PedalHistory.pdf [Accessed 26/03/14]