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A thought: The invention of the bicycle came at a similar time like engine driven vehicles. Before those became popular, the direct competitor for bicycles (o
by atoav 4y ago
A thought:
The invention of the bicycle came at a similar time like engine driven vehicles. Before those became popular, the direct competitor for bicycles (one person transportation) were horses.
There might have literally not been a need to invent a bicycle as horses fulfilled the same purpose and had the advantage that they fared better on the back then nearly non-existent infrastructure.
Also: a single person transportation vehicle was not something a lot of people needed in their lives. You needed something to move stuff, but the demand to move single people daily came into existence with the dawn of big cities.
- odd_perfect_num 4y agoIt takes a LOT more calories to power a horse than a biker.
- atoav 4y agoOn a cretan mountain path with before christ technology?
- Psychlist 4y agoThere's a reason that horses were the fancy sports car/military tool of the animal transport world. They eat a lot, break easily, and don't last long. People used oxen, donkeys, llama etc way more than horses. And the Chinese invented wheelbarrows and used them extensively rather than using draft animals. They often use bicycles much the same way as wheelbarrows now, and rich people often find that amusing (possibly because a KMart bike is a toy, a Chinese bike is a workhorse).