"Transferable Technology: From the Bicycle to the Aeroplane and the Car"

[deliquium]

A blog post from December 2105 -

"Before Orville and Wilbur Wright gained fame as the first people to make a controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight they owned and ran a bicycle repair, rental and sales company in Dayton, Ohio, under the name the Wright Cycle Exchange . . . "

http://wp.me/p5eGAy-uD

[whoof]

A blog post from December 2105 -

"http://wp.me/p5eGAy-uD

How did Brexit turn out in the end?

[Brucey]

the blog post is good fun but repeats the assertion that the Wright Bros 'invented' LH pedal threading. It is my understanding that it was first used by JK Starley, who made the first 'safety bicycle'.

cheers

[JakobW]

Of course a lot of the aviation pioneers (at least in the UK) started out as cycling enthusiasts if not cycling manufacturers; for instance Sir Charles Rolls (of Rolls-Royce) fame raced cycles while he was at Cambridge.

I've always wondered how many of the early aerodynamicists were cyclists; certainly in the​ late 19th century bicycles would have been one of the few forms of transport going fast enough to benefit from aero gains, and certainly the only form where the benefits would have been immediately obvious to the rider.

[9494arnold]

Mr Martin of Aston Martin fame was an eminent Tricycle Racer in his day

[9494arnold]

LWB Martin Bath Road Club member and one time holder Edinburgh to York Trike record.

[rmurphy195]

As far as I can recollect from bits of reading/info in museums etc. many car makers in Europe started life making bicycles, then motorised bicycles, then cyclocars/cars. In those early days they used the technology they knew as a basis for moving on.The wheels on those early vehicles,and the chain drive, are the most obvious examples of this approach - bringing in of course the technologies used by carriage makers.

Just as an aside, the Iron Bridge demonstrates this approach very clearly - look closely and you will realise that it's put together using mainly carpentry techniques (mortise/tenon joints, wedges and pegs). And of course the classic arch which goes back to the stonemasons art.