Velociped

Velociped, also spelled velocipede, is a historical term for early forms of the bicycle. The word combines Latin velocitas, meaning swiftness, with ped- meaning foot, and was used in the 19th century to describe pedal-powered precursors of the modern bicycle. Velocipeds varied from simple, ground-propelled devices to early pedal-powered machines.

The development began with Karl Drais’s run-and-push Laufmaschine of 1817, a two-wheeled vehicle propelled by the rider pushing with the feet on the ground. Pedals were added later in France during the 1860s by Pierre Michaux and his company, giving rise to the pedal-driven velocipede. The early pedal models, often called boneshakers for their uncomfortable rides on wooden and iron components, featured rigid frames and solid wheels.

In the 1870s, Britain popularized the penny-farthing or ordinary velocipede, with a very large front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel. This design improved speed but reduced stability and safety. By the late 1870s and early 1880s, designers shifted toward the safety bicycle: wheels of more equal size, a chain drive, and more practical geometry, culminating in innovations attributed to James Starley and his collaborators. The safety bicycle laid the groundwork for the modern bicycle, becoming dominant by the 1880s.

Today the term velocipede is primarily of historical interest, used in discussions of early bicycle development and museum contexts. It reflects an important phase in the evolution from first rides to the contemporary two-wheeled bicycle.