The Foundations of Bicycle Racing and the Golden Age of the

Racing Bicycle



The sport of bicycle racing

has been around since the

earliest days of the

velocipedes of the 19th

century.



Following the advent of the high-wheeled

“ordinaries” bicycle racing became a very

popular, yet quite hazardous activity. These

cumbersome cycles with hard rubber tires and

a brake in name only required considerable

courage to ride and gave rise to the term

“breakneck speed” since a crash often resulted

in the rider getting pitched over the front of

the wheel, often with devastating results. The

desire for even greater speed resulted in ever

larger wheel diameters since the only way to

get the cycle to go faster was to increase the

size of the driving wheel



With front wheels reaching 60 inches in diameter and

beyond, a search for a safer design led to the development

of the bicycle known as the “safety” which had both

wheels of equal size. The invention and development of

the pneumatic tire was a significant development in

bicycle racing and the first recorded race using pneumatic

tires was held in 1889. Safety bicycle design, pneumatic

tires, and the principle of gearing combined to bring

bicycle racing to a new level of competition, and soon

these bicycles racing on banked wooden tracks became

the sensation of the sporting world.



Professional bicycle racing

in velodromes was an

immensely popular

spectator sport in the

United States with racers

like Arthur Zimmerman

and Marshall “Major”

Taylor receiving the

accolades awarded to

superstars, their sport of

bicycle racing practically

the national sport of the

United States



Track racing prospered in Europe as well.

In 1881 a new form of track racing

originated in England – Six Day Racing –

where racers rode ordinaries

continuously around a cinder track for

six days or until fatigue overtook them.

The grueling event was soon abandoned

in England but was quickly adopted in

America where six-day racing was

enthusiastically embraced in venues like

New York’s Madison Square Garden. In

1899 the single rider competition was

outlawed for humanitarian reasons but

continued with two man teams racing

around the clock for six days



In Europe, track racing was popular, but it was road racing that captured the imagination of the people. Long

distance races from city to city such as the 355 mile (572 km) race from Bordeaux to Paris, or the punishing 795

mile (1280 km) race from Paris to Brest and back to Paris were contested before the turn of the last century.

Other races that begun then, such as Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege , are still being held to this day,

but it was in 1903 that the “race to end all races” was devised, the epic Tour de France



A Belgian team assembles before

the start of the 1925

Paris-Roubaix



Frames of prewar racing bicycles were made of lightweight butted tubing using lugged construction. Wheel

rims were made of wood and were quite durable given the harsh road conditions encountered, however,

aluminum rims became the standard for road racing by 1937. Derailleurs, though developed as early as the

1900's, were rarely used in road racing competition. The competitors believed derailleurs were unreliable and

created excessive drag, and were not even allowed to be used in the Tour de France until 1937. Multiple gear

ratios were used however. With up to three gear cogs on the rear freewheel, a gear change could be affected by

dismounting the bike, loosening the wingnuts, sliding the rear wheel in the frame dropout to release the chain

tension, placing the chain on the new cog, repositioning the rear wheel to gain proper

chain tension, remembering to retighten the wingnuts before remounting once more.



The Belgian racer Romain

Maes with Georges

Speicher at the start of the

1935 Tour de France. Maes

led the Tour from start to

finish. 1933 TdF winner

Speicher finished 6th

overall.



Maes with Gabriel

Ruozzi taking a moment

to chat at the start of a

stage in the 1935 Tour de

France. The era of

derailleurless bicycles in

professional road racing

was coming to an end.



Using their numerous racing victories

to promote their line of bicycles,

Automoto proudly displays their

competition bicycle, 'model Tour de

France' alongside the more

"pedestrian" models.



Roger Lapebie,

winner of the 1937

Tour de France,

leading the

peloton.This was the

first year derailleurs

were permitted in the

TdF and the average

overall speed for the

Tour increased

dramatically.



Lapebie's 1937 Tour de France win,

along with Eloi Meulenberg's 1937

World Championship title using

Super Champion derailleurs signaled

a new era for the racing bicycle.



1950 Thanet Silverlight

fixed gear time trial bicycle



1955 Gillott

derailleur-equipped time

trial bicycle



In England, "massed start" races on

open roads were banned in favor of

individual time trials, where one

rider at a time set off to complete the

course against the clock. Time trial

bikes were often fixed gear bicycles,

with derailleur equipped bicycles

used when the terrain required

multiple gears.

