The first bikes are believed to have emerged from the forests of central Germany in 1816. The first official bike race took place in 1868 in France. In 1885, safety bicycles were manufactured in Coventry, England – a close cousin of today’s bike. Cycling was introduced at the first modern Olympics in 1896.

The world bicycle started being used several years after first bicycles appeared for sale. Those first models were called velocipedes. First bicycles were created in France, but its modern design was born in England. Inventors who first conceived modern bicycles were either blacksmiths or cartwrights.

Vehicles that have two wheels and require balancing by the rider date back to the early 19th century. The first means of transport making use of two wheels arranged consecutively, and thus the archetype of the bicycle, was the German draisine dating back to 1817.

The first commercially available bicycles were created in France in the 1860s. However, the modern design we know today was created in England. About 100 million bicycles are manufactured worldwide each year. Currently, it’s estimated that there are over 1 billion bicycles in use all around the world!