A Brief History of Human Powered Transportation

Materials Concepts

Bicycle development was slow until new materials were introduced for reducing the weight and the cross-country capability of the mountain bike was demanded. The color picture below shows the carbon fiber composite frameset of the Zipp 3001 bike.

The full photograph indicates the cantilevered seat structure, the aero-dynamic wheels, arm supports on the handlebars, and multi-speed gearing that complete the bike.

From: McMahon. Jr, & Graham. Jr, "The Bicycle and the Walkman," Merion (1992)

From: http://www.zipp.com/framedef.html