Cycling as a sport tests the skill, speed and endurance of the competitors

Forerunner of a present-day bicycle was built for Comte Sivrace in 1791 in Paris. In 1817 a significant advance was made by the German engineer Baron Von Drais-de-Sauerbrun, who first introduced the pivoting front wheel. In 1839 Macmillan, a blacksmith at Courthill (Scotland), developed the technique of treadle propulsion and discovered that a rider can drive forward and maintain balance. Gradually the velocipedes came into being which were also known as bone shakers. These velocipedes went through technical changes and the machine that brought the final change of the bicycle was the Rover safety model in 1885. However it was Raleigh in 1901 who introduced the first all-steel bicycle.

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