Thread: Bikes we like
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Old 09-21-16, 05:16 PM
  #1096  
smallwheeler
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peugeot:

Originally Posted by tcs
Peugeot - world's oldest folding bicycle company?
developed for the french army in the early 90's...

The French army began experimenting with cycling infantrymen in the late 1870s; by the 1890s it had formulated official regulations on military cycling that covered the organization and responsibilities of corps of infantry cyclists, who were principally to be used as liaison officers transmitting orders and other communications. To maximize the bicycle's wartime utility, in 1890 Captain Gerard, the leading French advocate of military cycling and the commander of the cycling company based in Saint-Quentin, designed a folding bicycle that soldiers carried on their backs over unfavourable terrain. After rigorous testing, a military commission d'experience concluded that the folding bicycle was 'good for wartime use.'
The increasing importance and potential contributions of military cycling were officially recognized in 1901, when cycling infantrymen paraded down the Champs-Elysees during the July 14th celebrations and Gerard himself was received by the president of the Republic. Four years later Gerard, now a major, was in command of a battalion of four companies of cyclists. In October 1913, as war loomed ever closer, the French army created ten groups of chasseurs cyclistes, each of which had four hundred men.
'The Tour de France: A Cultural History' by Christopher S. Thompson
The Captain Gerard Folding Bicycle had a number of modifications in 1912 to bring it up to date for the French army. It was now fitted with mudguards and more modern handlebars. Brakes were an option too. Although they were made for the military, Peugeot also marketed them to the civilian market from the start of production; in the 1901 catalogue further down the page you can see illustrations of men, women, children and even priests riding them. (They were particularly suitable for priests who, with their long cassocks, had a similar problem to women when riding bicycles).























Last edited by smallwheeler; 09-21-16 at 05:47 PM.
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