Bicycles: A Short History of These Vehicles and A List of Their Names Around the World

Around the world people in nearly every country count on bicycles to provide affordable, eco-friendly transportation. In contrast to automobiles that require their owners to purchase gasoline, pay for costly maintenance procedures, and rent garage space, bicycles are easy to care for, readily portable, and inexpensive to maintain.
Since the late nineteenth century, the bicycle has been an important part of popular culture and the advance of technology. But whether it is called a bicycle (English), vélo (Swiss French), Vélo (Swiss German), bicicletta (Italian), bicicleta (Spanish), or something else, the touring machine commonly known in English as a bicycle is actually one of the most popular forms of transportation in the world. Nearly one billion bicycles are on the road today, making them twice as numerous as automobiles across the globe. Wherever one travels, one is sure to find bicycles on the road.

A Brief History of Bicycles

Baron Karl von Drais introduced the very first bicycle in the early nineteenth century. The basic configuration of this velocipede, which is another name for a human-powered vehicle, consisted of two wheels mounted to a wooden frame. This early bicycle lacked the petal and chain system that is familiar to most bicycle riders today. A rider sat astride the velocipede’s frame and pushed the vehicle along with their feet. The front wheel could be turned from side to side in order to facilitate steering.
In the middle of the nineteenth century, Pierre Michaux and Pierre Lallement improved on this basic design with the addition of petals and a crank on the front wheel of the bicycle. By this time, the device had come to be known in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland as das Velo and in the French-speaking regions of the same country as le vélo. The bicycle grew in popularity quite rapidly, and in the later decades of the nineteenth century, an Englishman named J.K. Starley added the petal and chain drive system that is now part of nearly every bicycle or vélo that is on the market.
Bicycles or vélos have been key to the development of modern industry because of the many products that were first invented for bicycles but then later adapted for industrial use elsewhere. It is difficult to imagine modern industry, especially the automobile industry, without pneumatic tires, ball bearings, and chain-driven sprockets, all of which were first developed for the bicycle.

Words for Bicycle Around the World

Due to the widespread use of bicycles around the world, nearly every language has its own counterpart for the English word bicycle. Here are some of the most commonly used terms:
• bicycle — English speakers are familiar with the word bicycle that is derived from two Greek words: bi (two) and kyklos (wheel). The plural of bicycle is bicycles.
• vélo — Those who speak French in the French-speaking parts of Switzerland refer to the bicycle as le vélo. This term comes from the Latin word velox, which means “swift.” Vélo is, in fact, a shortened form of the word velocipede, and the plural of le vélo is les vélos.

• Velo — In the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, people use das Velo for bicycle. The etymology of this term is the same as the etymology for the Swiss French version of the word, and the plural form of das Velo is die Velos. They differ between Damenvelo and Herrenvelo (in english: ladies' bicycle and man's bicycle).
• bicicleta — Spanish speakers use the term bicicleta for “bicycle,” and it has an etymology similar to that of the English word bicycle. The plural form of bicicleta is bicicletas.
• bicicletta— Italian speakers use the term bicicletta for “bicycle,” and it has an etymology similar to that of the English word bicycle. The plural form of bicicletta is biciclettas.
• Other foreign words for bicycle include cykel (Swedish), sepeda (Indonesian), cykel (Danish), fiets (Afrikaans), and sykkel (Norwegian)

Conclusion

The two-wheeled, human-propelled machines known as bicycles, vélos, and so forth will no doubt continue to be important to human transportation and culture for centuries to come. Human beings will continue to improve on the basic design and adapt bicycles for use in touring, off-roading, and much more. There is almost no limitation to where the rider of a bicycle or vélo can go, and so this vehicle will be well-loved far into the future.