Pedersen bicycle
Encyclopedia
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
that was developed by Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
inventor Mikael Pedersen
Mikael Pedersen
Mikael Pedersen was a Danish inventor much associated with the English town of Dursley. He is chiefly known today for the highly distinctive Pedersen bicycle...
and produced in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
town of Dursley
Dursley
Dursley is a market town in Gloucestershire, England. It is under the North East flank of Stinchcombe Hill , and about 6 km South East of the River Severn. The town is adjacent with Cam which, though a village, is a community of double the size...
. Though never hugely popular, they enjoy a devoted following and are still produced today. Their unusual frame
Bicycle frame
A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, on to which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles, a main triangle and a paired rear triangle...
is described as pure cross, was marketed as cantilever
Cantilever bridge
A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using cantilevers, structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end. For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed to handle road or rail traffic use trusses built from...
, and features a distinctive hammock
Hammock
A hammock is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a woven network of twine or thin rope stretched with ropes between two firm anchor points such as trees or posts....
-style seat
Bicycle saddle
A bicycle saddle, often called a seat, is one of three contact points on an upright bicycle, the others being the pedals and the handlebars.The bicycle saddle has been known as such since the bicycle evolved from the draisine, a forerunner of the bicycle...
. Variations include lightweight racing
Racing bicycle
A racing bicycle, also known as a road bike, is a bicycle designed for competitive road cycling, a sport governed by according to the rules of the Union Cycliste Internationale...
, tandem
Tandem bicycle
The tandem bicycle or twin is a form of bicycle designed to be ridden by more than one person. The term tandem refers to the seating arrangement , not the number of riders. A bike with two riders side-by-side is called a sociable.-History:Patents related to tandem bicycles date from the late 19th...
, and folding
Folding bicycle
A folding bicycle is a bicycle designed to fold into a compact form, facilitating transport and storage. When folded, the bikes can be more easily carried into buildings and workplaces or onto public transportation or more easily stored in compact living quarters or aboard a car, boat or plane...
designs. Other Pedersen innovations include two and three-speed internally geared rear hubs
Hub gear
A hub gear, internal-gear hub, or just gear hub is a gear ratio changing system commonly used on bicycles that is implemented with planetary or epicyclic gears. The gears and lubricants are sealed within the hub-shell of the bicycle's rear wheel, as opposed to derailleur gears, where the gears and...
.
History
Pedersen received a patent in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
for his bicycle in the early 1890s and constructed the first model out of wood. He formed the Pedersen Cycle Frame Co. Ltd and when that fell into financial difficulties, production was continued by the Dursley Pedersen Cycle Co. The design was also licensed to other manufacturers, and approximately 30,000 units were produced by the early 1920s, but the design never really caught on.
In 1978, Jesper Sølling resumed production in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and has been followed by others.
Technology
Pedersen wrote that he developed the hammock style seat first. It provides suspensionBicycle suspension
A bicycle suspension is the system or systems used to suspend the rider and all or part of the bicycle in order to protect them from the roughness of the terrain over which they travel...
from road imperfections with much less weight, 4 ounces (113.4 g) instead of 3 pounds (1.4 kg) of traditional leather and steel spring saddles
Bicycle saddle
A bicycle saddle, often called a seat, is one of three contact points on an upright bicycle, the others being the pedals and the handlebars.The bicycle saddle has been known as such since the bicycle evolved from the draisine, a forerunner of the bicycle...
of the day. Pedersen then developed a frame, a truss
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...
assembled from several thin tubes, around his new seat design. He attributed his inspiration to the Whipple-Murphy bridge truss
Truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...
. The design initially did not support seat height adjustment, and even after some adjustability was added, required the manufacture of eight different sizes. The non-standard frame design would not accommodate a traditional front fork
Bicycle fork
A bicycle fork is the portion of a bicycle that holds the front wheel and allows the rider to steer and balance the bicycle. A fork consists of two fork ends which hold the front wheel axle, two blades which join at a fork crown, and a steerer or steering tube to which the handlebars attach ...
. Instead, Pedersen developed a fork that also consisted of thin tubes assembled into a truss, which was attached to the frame with bearings at two distinct points, instead of through a traditional head tube
Head tube
Most bicycles, tricycles and motorcycles have a tubular frame. The front fork pivots within the head tube . On a motorcycle, the "head tube" is normally called the steering head...
. Pedersen also received patents for a chainwheel and bottom bracket
Bottom bracket
The bottom bracket on a bicycle connects the crankset to the bicycle and allows the crankset to rotate freely. It contains a spindle that the crankset attaches to, and the bearings that allow the spindle and cranks to rotate. The chainrings and pedals attach to the cranks...
combination and lightweight pedals
Bicycle pedal
A bicycle pedal is the part of a bicycle that the rider pushes with their foot to propel the bicycle. It provides the connection between the cyclist's foot or shoe and the crank allowing the leg to turn the bottom bracket spindle and propel the bicycle's wheels...
.