Help me, Internet

[nonionay]

What are the minimum technological requirements for developing bicycles? If there are bikes, then what other tech should be reasonably expected?
I'm worldbuilding on the fly, and I have the urge to throw them into my sword-and-sorcery-ish story. If I can make my story different by having a sword-wielding heroine on a bike, I will.

Posted via Journaler.

Comments

[fenmere.livejournal.com]

If you can make a wagon, you can make a bicycle. It will be a direct drive bike, though, with the pedals attached directly to the front wheel. Some of the first bikes were wooden.

Speed and safety didn't really pick up until the use of rubber tires (not necessarily inflated).

If you can make chainmail, I think you can make a bike chain. Good metal sprockets are probably more of a trick.

Brakes are not likely, but could be done using materials from a stringed instrument, leather pads, and some basic leavers.

You can make a pretty low-tech modern style bike, materials wise, not quite medieval but perhaps Renaissance. The more sophisticated it is, the more expensive, as the fiddly parts are probably all done by hand by several different artisans.

Peasants would have to make their own, so they'd be quite rudimentary.

[shadesofmauve]

Rudimentary and heavy. You could do it! But you'd have to remember the weight of the thing in the story.

[shelly-rae.livejournal.com]

Simple bikes are pretty much big wheels and pedals but they don't move well over rough terrain and the require a sturdy grip. I don't think riding and sword swinging would work all that well together. There are some pretty sweet bamboo bikes out there in the world but they have fancy tech components. But if your tech is up to late 1890s bikes would/could be there.
Anon