Birth Of The Bike (1937)

Item title reads - The birth of the bike. M/S of a lady on an old-fashioned ’hobby horse’ bicycle, she is wearing a long dress and bonnet. C/U of the bottom of the bicycle, there are no pedals so she has to use her feet. M/S of a man on a smaller bicycle also propelling himself with his feet. Next we see a machine from 1839, the handlebar was carried in an iron fork and wooden wheels were propelled by pedals and cranks fitted to one of the axles. Various shots of this bicycle. Then came the Velocipede in 1861, it has four wheels and is made from metal and wood with front driving and rear steering, various shots of this bicycle. Then came the boneshaker, with the pedals on the front wheel, a lady sits on it. M/S as a man jumps on one and cycles off. C/U of 1878 ’extraordinary’ it had ball bearing fitted to hubs and was front wheel driven. M/S of the big front wheel and small back one, it resembles a penny-farthing. Various shots as people cycle around on them. In 1879 came a chain driven safety bike with the saddle further back than modern bicycles and a footrest for coasting. M/S of a lady in a tricycle which is steered by hand grips, it has a big back wheel and two small ones in front. M/S as she cycles off. M/S of a bicycle with two very large wheels and a saddle in the middle, it is steered by handles. M/S of an 1885 version with rubber tyres and a saddle in the middle, more like modern bicycles. M/S of another with plunger brake to front tyre. M/S of a modern bicycle. M/S of a tandem. M/S of lot of cyclists riding down a road. FILM ID: A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLORE OUR ONLINE CHANNEL, BRITISH PATHÉ TV. IT’S FULL OF GREAT DOCUMENTARIES, FASCINATING INTERVIEWS, AND CLASSIC MOVIES. FOR LICENSING ENQUIRIES VISIT British Pathé also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (1910-1932), Empire News Bulletin (1926-1930), British Paramount (1931-1957), and Gaumont British (1934-1959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website.