The draisine is a means of transport similar to the bicycle, but without pedals: the propulsion is given by the push of the feet on the ground. Like bicycles, the draisine is a wooden vehicle, equipped with a steering handlebar, but has no brakes. The medium was invented in 1817 by the German baron, Karl Drais, and spread to several European and American countries. It was mainly used by aristocrats, for many of whom it was a sort of status symbol. It lost its importance in the 1960s, when the French inventor Ernest Michaux built a new vehicle, the velocipede, similar to the draisine but equipped with a new element: pedals. A short time later, in the 1980s, the modern bicycle was born. Today the draisine is a museum object, although there are “working” children’s models, which are used to teach cycling.
What is draisine: history and characteristics
The draisine is a two-wheeled vehicle, composed of a frame similar to that of a bicycle, but without pedals. Propulsion occurs thanks to the push that the driver gives on the ground with his feet. Like current bicycles, the draisine is equipped with a steering handlebar, which allows the rider to change direction without stopping. However, it does not have a braking system: to stop, you need to apply pressure with your feet on the ground. The speed that can be reached is limited: on average, it goes around 15 km/h.
Impossible ancestors: Leonardo’s bicycle and the celerifero
It is sometimes believed that, before the draisine, other vehicles similar to modern bicycles existed. Their existence, however, is doubtful.
For many years it was thought that Leonardo da Vinci had already designed a vehicle similar to a bicycle in all respects, complete with pedals and chain transmission. The drawing of the bicycle is present in the Codex Atlanticus, a collection of Leonardo’s writings and drawings. In 1997, however, the scholar Hans-Erhard Lessing demonstrated that the drawing was completely inconsistent and today scholars agree that it was an addition made later: Leonardo did not design any bicycle.
The existence of another possible ancestor of the bicycle is also very doubtful: the celerifero. It would have been a vehicle similar to the draisine, but without steering handlebars; the driver would have had to stop and turn the vehicle by hand every time he intended to change direction. The celerifero was invented by a French aristocrat, Count De Sivrac, in 1791, but there is no certain proof of its existence. According to many scholars, the story was invented for nationalist reasons: they wanted to demonstrate that France had invented a two-wheeled vehicle, the ancestor of the bicycle, before Germany.
The invention and history of draisine
The only certain ancestor of the bicycle is the draisine. The vehicle was invented by a German aristocrat, Count (baron in other sources) Karl Christian Ludwig Drais von Sauerbronn, in 1816. According to some scholars, the invention must be connected with the year without summer, that is, with the unusually cold temperatures of 1816, caused by the eruption of the Tambora volcano, and the consequent shortage of agricultural products: since horses were in short supply due to the lack of hay, Count Drais he would apply himself to invent an alternative means of transport. The theory is not proven, but it is certain that in the second half of the 1810s draisine was patented, under different names, in various countries. In Germany, Drais gave it the name laufmaschine (racing car). The first public demonstration took place in Mannheim on 12 June 1817
Draisine was used primarily by aristocrats and members of high society. Not being easy to drive, it caused frequent collisions with pedestrians, so many European and American cities issued ordinances banning its circulation in the busiest areas.
From the first years of its existence, the draisine also became a means of sporting competitions. The first demonstration race (according to most sources) took place in 1819 over a 10 kilometer course.
In the United States, the draisine was patented in New York by the inventor WK Clarkson Jr on 26 June 1819: for this reason, the day is sometimes considered – unfoundedly – the birth date of the bicycle.
From the draisine to the bicycle
The draisine lost its appeal in the 1860s, when a French inventor, Ernest Michaux, added a new element to the vehicle: pedals, which allowed it to provide propulsion without putting its feet on the ground. Originally the pedals were placed directly on the front wheel, which, for this reason, was much larger than the rear one. The new vehicle took the name of velocipede (which was the same name given, in some countries, to the draisine).
In the 1960s the first, rudimentary, braking systems were also introduced. In 1884 the English inventor John K. Starley added another element, the chain transmission, which allowed the pedals to be moved from the front wheel to a toothed gear: the modern bicycle was born.
The bicycle has definitively relegated the draisine to the world of memories, which today is a collector’s item, present in some museums. However, children’s draisins still have a practical function, as they are used to teach balance before mounting bicycles.
