Outline of bicycles
A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist or a bicyclist, and the activity is called cycling. Also known as a bike, push bike or cycle and these innovations have continued with the advent of modern materials and computer-aided design, allowing for a proliferation of specialized bicycle types. Recreation, bicycle touring, mountain biking, BMX and physical fitness, scouting, troop movement, supply of provisions, and patrol. Show and performance, e. g. circus clowns, used as instrument by Frank Zappa. List of bicycle types Bicycles can be categorized in different ways, e. g. by function, by number of riders, by general construction, by gearing or by means of propulsion. The more common types include utility bicycles, mountain bicycles, racing bicycles, touring bicycles, hybrid bicycles, cruiser bicycles, less common are tandems, tall bikes, fixed gear, folding models and recumbents. Unicycles and quadracycles are not strictly bicycles, as they have respectively one, more recently, bicycle technology has in turn contributed ideas in both old and new areas.
For details on specific parts, see list of bicycle parts and category. Bicycle frame The great majority of bicycles have a frame with upright seating which looks much like the first chain-driven bike. CEN, European Committee for Standardisation, has a specific Technical Committee, TC333 and their mandate states that EN cycle standards shall harmonize with ISO standards. Some CEN cycle standards were developed before ISO published their standards, European cycle standards tend to describe minimum safety requirements, while ISO standards have historically harmonized parts geometry
Shared space
Shared space is an urban design approach which seeks to minimise the segregation of pedestrians and vehicles. This is done by removing features such as kerbs, road markings, traffic signs. It has been suggested that, by creating a sense of uncertainty and making it unclear who has priority. This is conducive to an environment for both pedestrians and vehicles. Shared space schemes are motivated by a desire to reduce the dominance of vehicles, vehicle speeds. Shared space design can take different forms depending on the level of demarcation and segregation between different transportation modes. Variations of shared space are used in urban settings, especially those that have been made nearly car-free. As a separate concept, shared space normally applies to semi-open spaces on busier roads, the origin of term is generally linked with the work of Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman, who pioneered the method in the Dutch province of Friesland. Prior to the adoption of the term, street design projects carried out in Chambéry, the term was used by Tim Pharoah to describe informal street layouts with no traffic demarcation.
The term has been applied, especially by Ben Hamilton-Baillie. The European Shared Space project developed new policies and methods for the design of public spaces with streets between 2004 and 2008 under the leadership of Hans Monderman until his death in 2008. A review of the evolution of the shared space concepts is offered in Transport Reviews, Shared space is a design approach rather than a design type characterised by standard features. Hans Monderman suggested that a behavior in traffic is more positively affected by the built environment of the public space than by conventional traffic control devices. A reason for the apparent paradox that reduced regulation leads to safer roads may be found by studying the risk compensation effect, were losing our capacity for socially responsible behaviour. The greater the number of prescriptions, the more peoples sense of personal responsibility dwindles. When you dont exactly know who has right of way, you tend to seek eye contact with other road users and you automatically reduce your speed, you have contact with other people and you take greater care.
Monderman has stated that objections are more a matter of communication than design, the UKs Department for Transport issued national guidance on shared space in 2011. Their primary research in Ashford, suggested that in streets with high volumes of traffic, most people, but particularly women and older people, found the shared space intimidating and preferred the previous layout with conventional crossings. There are wide-ranging reservations about the practicality of the shared space philosophy, Shared space is bitterly opposed by many organisations representing blind, partially sighted and deaf people
Cycling
Cycling, called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, exercise or sport. Persons engaged in cycling are referred to as cyclists, bikers, or less commonly, apart from two-wheeled bicycles, cycling includes the riding of unicycles, quadracycles and similar human-powered vehicles. Bicycles were introduced in the 19th century and now approximately one billion worldwide. They are the means of transportation in many parts of the world. Cycling is widely regarded as an effective and efficient mode of transportation optimal for short to moderate distances. Cycling offers a reduced consumption of fuels, less air or noise pollution. These lead to financial cost to the user as well as to society at large. By fitting bicycle racks on the front of buses, transit agencies can significantly increase the areas they can serve, in many countries, the most commonly used vehicle for road transport is a utility bicycle. These have frames with relaxed geometry, protecting the rider from shocks of the road, utility bicycles tend to be equipped with accessories such as mudguards, pannier racks and lights, which extends their usefulness on a daily basis.
As the bicycle is so effective as a means of various companies have developed methods of carrying anything from the weekly shop to children on bicycles. Certain countries rely heavily on bicycles and their culture has developed around the bicycle as a form of transport. In Europe and the Netherlands have the most bicycles per capita, road bikes tend to have a more upright shape and a shorter wheelbase, which make the bike more mobile but harder to ride slowly. The design, coupled with low or dropped handlebars, requires the rider to bend forward more, making use of stronger muscles, the price of a new bicycle can range from US$50 to more than US$20,000, depending on quality and weight. However, UCI regulations stipulate a legal race bike cannot weigh less than 6.8 kg, being measured for a bike and taking it for a test ride are recommended before buying. The drivetrain components of the bike should be considered, a middle grade dérailleur is sufficient for a beginner, although many utility bikes are equipped with hub gears.
If the rider plans a significant amount of hillclimbing a triple-chainrings crankset gear system may be preferred, the relatively lighter and less expensive double chainring may be better. Much simpler fixed wheel bikes are available, many road bikes, along with mountain bikes, include clipless pedals to which special shoes attach, via a cleat, enabling the rider to pull on the pedals as well as push. For basic maintenance and repairs cyclists can carry a pump, a repair kit, a spare inner tube, and tire levers
Dead end (street)
A dead end, known as a cul-de-sac, is a street with only one inlet/outlet. While historically built for reasons, one of its modern uses is to calm vehicle traffic. The term dead end is understood in all varieties of English, some of these are used only regionally. In the United States and other countries, cul-de-sac is often not a synonym for dead end and refers to dead ends with a circular end. See below for regionally used terms, Dead ends existed in towns and cities long before the automotive 20th century, particularly in Arab and Moorish towns. The earliest example was unearthed in the El-Lahun workers village in Egypt, the village is laid out with straight streets that intersect at right angles, akin to a grid, but irregular. Dead-end streets appeared during the period of Athens and Rome. The 15th century architect and planner Leon Battista Alberti implies in his writings that dead-end streets may have been used intentionally in antiquity for defense purposes, the same opinion is expressed by an earlier thinker, when he criticized the Hippodamian grid.
But for security in war the opposite, as it used to be in ancient times, for that is difficult for foreign troops to enter and find their way about when attacking. In the UK, their existence is implied by an 1875 law which banned their use in new developments. In the earlier periods, traffic was excluded from residential streets simply by gates or by employing the cul-de-sac and it was in the UK that the cul-de-sac street type was first legislated into use, with The Hampstead Garden Suburb Act 1906. Unwins applications of the cul-de-sac and the related crescent always included pedestrian paths independent of the road network, the 1906 Act defined the nature of the cul-de-sac as a non-through road and restricted its length to 500 feet. Garden cities in the UK that followed Hampstead, such as Welwyn Garden City all included culs-de-sac, the US Federal Housing Authority recommended and promoted their use through their 1936 guidelines and the power of lending development funds. In Canada, a variation of Stein’s Radburn 1929 plan that used crescents instead of culs-de-sac was built in 1947 in Manitoba, Wildwood Park, the Varsity Village and Braeside, subdivisions in Calgary, Alberta used the Radburn model in the late 1960s.
Although dead end streets, i. e. Doxiadis has additionally argued their important role in separating man from machine, originally unplanned dead ends have been created in the centers of cities that are laid on a grid by blocking through traffic. A recent variation of limiting traffic is the closure by using retractable bollards which are activated by designated card holders only. However, not only do they stop cars, they stop ambulances and other emergency vehicles, Dead ends are created in urban planning to limit through-traffic in residential areas. This design improvement, which selectively excludes one mode of transport while permitting others and its application retains the dead ends primary function as a non-through road, but establishes complete pedestrian and bicycle network connectivity
Cycling infrastructure
Cycling infrastructure refers to all infrastructure which may be used by cyclists. The manner in which the road network is designed, built. The cycling network may be able to provide the users with direct, convenient routes minimizing unnecessary delay, settlements with a dense road network of interconnected streets tend to be viable utility cycling environments. A bikeway is a lane, way or path which in some manner is specifically designed, bike lanes demarcated by a painted marking are quite common in many cities. Cycle tracks demarcated by barriers, bollards or boulevards are quite common in some European countries such as the Netherlands and they are increasingly common in other major cities such as New York City, Ottawa and San Francisco. Montreal and Davis, which have had segregated cycling facilities with barriers for several decades, are among the earliest examples in North American cities, some share the roadway with motor vehicles—bicycle boulevard, advisory bike lane—or shared with pedestrians—greenway, shared use path.
The term bikeway is largely used in North America to describe all routes that have designed or updated to encourage more cycling or make cycling safer. There is no usage of segregation, in some cases it can mean the exclusion of motor vehicles. Thus, it includes bike lanes with solid painted lines but not lanes with dotted lines and it includes cycle tracks as physically distinct from the roadway and sidewalk. And it includes bike paths in their own right of way exclusive to cycling, there have been a lot of studies on the safety of all types of bikeways. Proponents say that segregation of cyclists from fast or frequent motorized traffic is necessary to provide a safe, opponents point out the increased risk from various types of infrastructure including shared use paths. Different countries have different ways to define and enforce bikeways. Controversies have surrounded bikeways, particularly in North America and the United Kingdom, proponents argue that dedicated bike lanes have been implemented in many cities and are both popular and safe.
Jurisdictions have guidelines around the selection of the right bikeway treatments in order make routes more comfortable, a buffered bike lane is typically a lane with a wide painted buffer to demarcate a larger gap between the cycle lane and other traffic. A physically marked and separated lane dedicated for cycling that is on or directly adjacent to the roadway, bike paths are paths with their own right of way dedicated to cycling, though in many cases shared with pedestrians and other non-motorized traffic. A greenway is a long, narrow piece of land, often used for recreation and pedestrian and bicycle user traffic, a shared use path supports multiple modes, such as walking, inline skating and people in wheelchairs. A bicycle boulevard is a low speed street which has been optimized for bicycle traffic, bicycle boulevards discourage cut-through motor vehicle traffic but allow local motor vehicle traffic. They are designed to give priority to cyclists as through-going traffic, an advisory bike lane is a bike lane which motorists may legally encroach
Bicycle performance
A bicycles performance, in both biological and mechanical terms, is extraordinarily efficient. In terms of the amount of energy a person must expend to travel a given distance, in terms of the ratio of cargo weight a bicycle can carry to total weight, it is a most efficient means of cargo transportation. The higher efficiencies in each range are achieved at higher power levels, a human being traveling on a bicycle at 16–24 km/h, using only the power required to walk, is the most energy-efficient means of human transport generally available. Air drag, which increases with the square of speed, requires higher power outputs relative to speed. A bicycle in which the rider lies in a position is referred to as a recumbent bicycle or, if covered in an aerodynamic fairing to achieve very low air drag. On firm, flat ground, a 70 kg person requires about 60 watts to walk at 5 km/h, active humans can produce between 1.5 W/kg and 24 W/kg. 5 W/kg is about the level reachable by ordinary male athletes for longer periods, maximum power levels during one hour range from about 250 W to 500 W The energy input to the human body is in the form of food energy, usually quantified in kilocalories or kiloJoules.
This can be related to a distance travelled and to body weight. The rate of consumption, i. e. the amount consumed during a certain period ot time, is the input power. This can be measured in kcal/day or in J/s = W and this input power can be determined by measuring oxygen uptake, or in the long term food consumption, assuming no change of weight. This includes the power needed just for living, called the basal metabolic rate BMR or roughly the resting metabolic rate, the required food can be calculated by dividing the output power by the muscle efficiency. From the example above, if a 70 kg person is cycling at 15 km/h by expending 60 W, for calculating the total food required during the trip, the BMR must first be added to the input power. If the 70 kg person is an old, short woman, her BMR could be 60 W, viewed this way the efficiency in this example is effectively halved and roughly 2 kJ/ total food is required. With long and fast or uphill cycling, the food requirement however becomes evident.
To complete the calculation, the type of food consumed determines the overall efficiency. For this the energy needed to produce and cook the food must be considered. In utility cycling there is a variation, an elderly person on an upright roadster might do less than 10 km/h while a fitter or younger person could easily do twice that on the same bicycle. For cyclists in Copenhagen, the average cycling speed is 15.5 km/h, on a racing bicycle, a reasonably fit rider can ride at 40 km/h on flat ground for short periods
Bicycle touring
Bicycle touring means self-contained cycling trips for pleasure and autonomy rather than sport, commuting, or exercise. Touring can range from single-to multi-day trips, even years, Tours may be planned by the participant or organised by a holiday business, a club, or a charity as a fund-raising venture. Historian James McGurn speaks of bets being taken in London in the 19th century for riders of hobby-horses – machines pushed by the rather than pedaled – outspeeding stagecoaches. One practitioner beat a four-horse coach to Brighton by half an hour, There are various accounts of 15 to 17-year-olds draisienne-touring around France in the 1820s. On 17 February 1869 John Mayall, Charles Spencer and Rowley Turner rode from Trafalgar Square, the Times, which had sent a reporter to follow them in a coach and pair, reported an Extraordinary Velocipede Feat. Three riders set off from Liverpool to London, a journey of three days and so more akin to modern cycle-touring, in March that same year. A newspaper report said, Their bicycles caused no little astonishment on the way, at some of the villages the boys clustered round the machines, where they could, caught hold of them and ran behind until they were tired out.
Many enquiries were made as to the name of them queer horses, some called them whirligigs, between Wolverhampton and Birmingham, attempts were made to upset the riders by throwing stones. The New York Times spoke of quantities of flying like shuttles hither and thither. But while British interest had less frenzy than in the United States, the expansion from a machine that had to be pushed, or propelled through pedals on a small front wheel, made longer distances feasible. A rider calling himself A Light Dragoon told in 1870 or 1871 of a ride from Lewes to Salisbury, across southern England. The title of his book and Woes, suggests a less than event-free ride but McGurn says it seems to have been an adventure, despite bad road surfaces, dust. John Foster Fraser and two set off round the world on safety bicycles in July 1896. He, Edward Lunn and F. H. Lowe rode 19,237 miles, through 17 countries, by 1878, recreational cycling was enough established in Britain to lead to formation of the Bicycle Touring Club, renamed Cyclists Touring Club.
It is the oldest national tourism organisation in the world, like those of other clubs, often rode in uniform. The CTC appointed an official tailor, the uniform was a dark green Devonshire serge jacket, knickerbockers and a Stanley helmet with a small peak. The colour changed to grey when green proved impractical because it showed the dirt, groups often rode with a bugler at their head to sound changes of direction or to bring the group to a halt. Confusion could be caused when groups met and mistook each others signals, the League of American Wheelmen in the U. S. was founded in Newport, Rhode Island on May 30,1880
History of the bicycle
Vehicles for human transport that have two wheels and require balancing by the rider date back to the early 19th century. The first means of making use of two wheels arranged consecutively, and thus the archetype of the bicycle, was the German draisine dating back to 1817. The term bicycle was coined in France in the 1860s, there are several early but unverified claims for the invention of the bicycle. The earliest comes from a said to be from 1534 and attributed to Gian Giacomo Caprotti. In 1998 Hans-Erhard Lessing described this as a purposeful fraud and equally unverified, is the contention that Comte the Sivrac developed a célérifère in 1792, demonstrating it at the Palais-Royal in France. The célérifère supposedly had two wheels set on a wooden frame and no steering, directional control being limited to that attainable by leaning. A rider was said to have sat astride the machine and pushed it along using alternate feet and it is now thought that the two-wheeled célérifère never existed and it was instead a misinterpretation by the well-known French journalist Louis Baudry de Saunier in 1891.
The first verifiable claim for a used bicycle belongs to German Baron Karl von Drais. Drais invented his Laufmaschine of 1817 that was called Draisine or draisienne by the press and it was initially manufactured in Germany and France. On his first reported ride from Mannheim on June 12,1817 and this design was welcomed by mechanically minded men daring to balance, and several thousand copies were built and used, primarily in Western Europe and in North America. Its popularity rapidly faded when, partly due to increasing numbers of accidents, however, in 1866 Paris a Chinese visitor named Bin Chun could still observe foot-pushed velocipedes. The concept was picked up by a number of British cartwrights, during the summer of 1819, the hobby-horse, thanks in part to Johnsons marketing skills and better patent protection, became the craze and fashion in London society. The dandies, the Corinthians of the Regency, adopted it, riders wore out their boots surprisingly rapidly, and the fashion ended within the year, after riders on sidewalks were fined two pounds.
However, Willard Sawyer in Dover successfully manufactured a range of treadle-operated 4-wheel vehicles, the first mechanically propelled two-wheel vehicle is believed by some to have been built by Kirkpatrick MacMillan, a Scottish blacksmith, in 1839. A nephew claimed that his uncle developed a rear-wheel drive design using mid-mounted treadles connected by rods to a rear crank, similar to the transmission of a steam locomotive. Proponents associate him with the first recorded instance of a traffic offence. Bestride a velocipede. of ingenious design knocked over a pedestrian in the Gorbals and was fined five British shillings, the evidence is unclear, and may have been faked by his son. A similar machine was said to have produced by Gavin Dalzell of Lesmahagow
Bike rental
A bike rental or bike hire business is a bicycle shop or other business that rents bikes for short periods of time for a fee. Most rentals are provided by bike shops as a sideline to their businesses of sales and service. As with car rental, bike rental shops primarily serve people who dont have access to a vehicle, typically travelers, specialized bike rental shops thus typically operate at beaches, parks, or other locations that tourists frequent. In this case, the fees are set to encourage renting the bikes for a few hours at a time, as many websites providing services to book a car on rent now, the trend of bike rental services started in many regions. Bike rental services are mostly providing in areas which have tourist attractions like in Cyprus there are many websites offering bike rental services, tourists feel comfort in the motorbike which able them to feel the environment in a better way. Bicycle sharing systems provide access to vehicles for a period of time. They have distinctive access schemes, some free access to members and others charge a monthly or yearly fee.
Some schemes operate stations across a city, serve members only. A user can purchase a yearly or monthly pass provides access to a bike with a smart card. However, many bicycle sharing systems offer daily or weekly memberships which permits their use by tourists and other occasional users
Indoor cycling
Classes generally use specialized stationary bicycles. Features include a device to modify the difficulty of pedalling, specially shaped handlebars. Many have a flywheel, which simulates the effects of inertia. The pedals are equipped with toe clips as on bicycles to allow one foot to pull up when the other is pushing down. They may alternatively have clipless receptacles for use with cleated cycling shoes, padded shorts aid comfort and avoid the chafing caused by the sewn seams in underwear. If the exercise is not done correctly or the position is bad, injuries can occur, problems with the lower back. To avoid injury and aid comfort it is important to make sure the bio-mechanical position of the rider is correct, group cycling bikes have a wide range of adjustment, and it is essential to obtain the correct setup prior to riding. The seat position must be right for the participants height, the height of the seat should be in level with the hip when the participant is standing next to the cycle.
Horizontally, the seat should be set in order for the front of the knee to be directly in line with the ball of the foot when the pedal is pointing forward. This results in a position where the knee is bent at an angle between 25% and 35% when the leg is extended with the foot resting flat at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Handlebar height can be adjusted for comfort, less experienced riders may want to set them higher to lower back discomfort. A reasonable reference point is to set it in level with the seat, some of the movements and positions include hill climbs and interval training. A well-trained instructor uses music, motivation and enthusiastic coaching to lead students through a ride that best suits their fitness level and goals. Most instructors will lead what is called a ride, where students will sprint, run and jump all in the same ride. In the early 2000s, terrain-based classes that simulate outdoor conditions were introduced, terrain-based classes are designed to improve a riders outdoor skill set and increase endurance while providing an intense cardio-based workout.
Participants set goals based on their rate, which can be measured by hand or using a heart rate monitor. One of the advantages of indoor cycling is that each participant can exactly control his/her level of intensity to suit ability or fitness level. The classes can therefore be heterogeneous, as an alternative, participants can judge their level of exertion relative to a perceived exertion scale
