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The Hobby
Horse was also known as a Velocipede, Draisine, Swift Walker, or Dandy Horse.
The photograph shows one at the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC).
This device displays many features of a current bicycle, although many of
them function differently.
The bike is powered by the riders feet pushing
on the ground. The wheel spokes are in compression rather than tension,
and the bearings are plane "parallel" bearings rather than the ball
or roller bearings of contemporary bicycles. Baron Karl von Drais of Sauerbrun,
Germany, was the first manufacturer and promoter of these devices. A
lighter version was later fabricated by Dennis Johnson in England. |
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