The bicycle

Today, the bicycle is very important to many people.
They do not want to do without it.
The bicycle is precious to them and is part of their way of life.

The bicycle is the most common vehicle in the world.
But it is much more than a machine that you use to get around.
The bicycle is also important in sports and for your health.
And it is sustainable.
Sustainable means that an object should last a long time
and that you need little material to produce it.

The design of bicycles is closely linked to technical progress.
It changes when there are new technical inventions.
The design also depends on the way you produce a bicycle.

The look of bicycles changed over the past.
Take the drive, for example.
The drive describes how the bicycle moves.
In the past, you could only move a bicycle with your body strength.
Today, a bicycle can also have an electric motor.

The front wheel and the rear wheel also look different today.
The same goes for the suspension.
The suspension reduces shocks and bumps so that you do not feel them as much.

Technology changes all the time.
You can see this especially well if you look at the frame.

The frame is built from bars and can be made from different materials,
for example from metal or from plastics.
When it comes to the frame, you can see that the design
depends more and more on technology.
The question is:
What can you do with technology and what is not possible?

This exhibition shows the highlights of bicycle design like:
• The dandy horse from Karl Drais
• The high wheel bicycle
• The safety bicycle
• The folding bicycle
• The bicycle for everyday life
• The modern bicycle for sports

The exhibition shows the development of bicycles:
from producing only few pieces by hand to producing many pieces with machines.

The exhibition also shows the newest trend:
Bicycles printed by a 3-D printer.
A 3-D printer is a device that can produce objects.
3-D is short for 3-dimensional.
A 3-dimensional object is not flat like a piece of paper.
It sticks out into the room.

All the bicycles in the exhibition show how design changed cycling
and also people’s lives.