California Bicycle Museum

The safety problems of the high-wheel machines forced the invention of a better option, and the bicycle that emerged from England in 1885 soon became known as the “safety bike.” The safety bike forced the high wheel to extinction, and through the 1890s most high wheel bikes were unused and would later serve as scrap metal to support World War I. Aside from small changes in materials, the safety bikes of the late 1800s are very similar to modern bikes. With equal size wheels and a chain drive, the new bike allowed the rider to sit low enough to touch the ground with his or her feet. For racers, the smaller safety bike was as fast as the high wheel, because the new chain-operated drivetrain incorporated gears, ending the problematic 1:1 pedalstroke to wheel circumference ratio limit. Major innovations of the early safety bike included the chain, which had become cheaper to manufacture, the pneumatic tire—invented in 1888—and the diamond-shaped frame, also from 1888. For women, the new safety bikes were socially liberating because they provided a practical means of personal transportation that required women to adopt—and men to accept—less restrictive clothing. Corsets and long dresses gave way to bloomers and eventually trousers.

In 1888, George Pierce added children’s bikes and trikes to a line of birdcages, bathtubs and iceboxes manufactured by his company. By 1895 Pierce was only producing bicycles. In time, trademarks of Pierce bicycles came to include the elegant leaf spring fork and the rear “monoshock” suspension. Known as the Pierce Hygienic Cushion Frame, it was marketed for its “healthful” cushioning properties. Only after Pierce’ death in 1911 did the company become renowned for the production of the luxury Pierce Arrow automobiles.

Photograph by Bruce Playle.

Manufacturer: Pierce Arrow

Location: United States

Museum Collection

Private Collector, item on loan to California Bicycle Museum