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> 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 pave
by smileysteve 7y ago
> 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.
- knodi123 7y ago> Without ... rubber, as a one-word piece of supporting evidence, let me just say - Boneshakers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velocipede#Boneshaker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velocipede#Boneshaker
- tjmc 7y agoAgreed. 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 https://www.britannica.com/technology/vulcanization [2] https://www.britannica.com/technology/tire#ref117797 https://www.britannica.com/technology/tire#ref117797