March Veteran and Vintage Cycle Club

The velocipede or boneshaker as it was commonly called first appeared in the UK in 1868 but its roots go back to the early 19th century. At that time the first two wheel in-line machine, the Hobby Horse, appeared. The Hobby Horse was driven by pushing your feet along the ground. It found favour for a few years with the young upper class but then faded into obscurity.
In 1861 a Parisian manufacturer who was already making three wheel velocipedes put pedals onto the front wheel of a Hobby Horse and in doing so created the first true two wheel bicycle.
1868 and an example was brought into the UK and soon became popular, with a number of engineering firms producing them. The example shown here was made by John Garrood, an engineer and wheelwright from Fakenham in Norfolk. He produced a range of machines for boys, youths and men but this one is thought to be the only surviving example and dates from 1870. Despite its age this machine is still ridden on occasions.

The wheels are wooden with iron rims. The main frame is solid wrought iron. The "sprung" iron section supporting the leather seat would provide minimal comfort from the "bone shaking" shocks coming from the rough 19th century roads. A rudimentary brake operated by twisting the handlebar is fitted but actually of no real use. These velocipedes suffered from an unusual problem particularly in the summer. The wooden wheels would dry and shrink causing the iron tyres to come loose or worse fall off. Many riders had an ingenious way to prevent this.... It is reputed that they would ride to the local pub (which was frequently by the village pond) and put their machine in the pond. Later they would walk (or stagger!) home returning in the morning to collect their transport. The wooden wheels would have swelled up by this time and would then be OK until the next visit.