A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A .mw-parser-output .vanchor>:target.vanchor-textbackground-color:#b1d2ffbicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bicycles and horse buggies were the two mainstays of private transportation just prior to the automobile, and the grading of smooth roads in the late 19th century was stimulated by the widespread advertising, production, and use of these devices.[9] More than 1 billion bicycles have been manufactured worldwide as of the early 21st century.[1][2][3] Bicycles are the most common vehicle of any kind in the world, and the most numerous model of any kind of vehicle, whether human-powered or motor vehicle, is the Chinese Flying Pigeon, with numbers exceeding 500 million.[1] The next most numerous vehicle, the Honda Super Cub motorcycle, has more than 100 million units made,[42] while most produced car, the Toyota Corolla, has reached 44 million and counting.[4][5][6][43]
In built-up cities around the world, urban planning uses cycling infrastructure like bikeways to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution.[77] A number of cities around the world have implemented schemes known as bicycle sharing systems or community bicycle programs.[78][79] The first of these was the White Bicycle plan in Amsterdam in 1965. It was followed by yellow bicycles in La Rochelle and green bicycles in Cambridge. These initiatives complement public transport systems and offer an alternative to motorized traffic to help reduce congestion and pollution.[80] In Europe, especially in the Netherlands and parts of Germany and Denmark, bicycle commuting is common. In Copenhagen, a cyclists' organization runs a Cycling Embassy that promotes biking for commuting and sightseeing. The United Kingdom has a tax break scheme (IR 176) that allows employees to buy a new bicycle tax free to use for commuting.[81]
Bicycles helped create, or enhance, new kinds of businesses, such as bicycle messengers,[117] traveling seamstresses,[118] riding academies,[119] and racing rinks.[120][119] Their board tracks were later adapted to early motorcycle and automobile racing. There were a variety of new inventions, such as spoke tighteners,[121] and specialized lights,[116][121] socks and shoes,[122] and even cameras, such as the Eastman Company's Poco.[123] Probably the best known and most widely used of these inventions, adopted well beyond cycling, is Charles Bennett's Bike Web, which came to be called the jock strap.[124]
Many newer or smaller companies only design and market their products; the actual production is done by Asian companies. For example, some 60% of the world's bicycles are now being made in China. Despite this shift in production, as nations such as China and India become more wealthy, their own use of bicycles has declined due to the increasing affordability of cars and motorcycles.[127] One of the major reasons for the proliferation of Chinese-made bicycles in foreign markets is the lower cost of labor in China.[128]
One of the profound economic implications of bicycle use is that it liberates the user from motor fuel consumption. (Ballantine, 1972) The bicycle is an inexpensive, fast, healthy and environmentally friendly mode of transport. Ivan Illich stated that bicycle use extended the usable physical environment for people, while alternatives such as cars and motorways degraded and confined people's environment and mobility.[130] Currently, two billion bicycles are in use around the world. Children, students, professionals, laborers, civil servants and seniors are pedaling around their communities. They all experience the freedom and the natural opportunity for exercise that the bicycle easily provides. Bicycle also has lowest carbon intensity of travel.[131]
In case of a brand new motor bicycle, the purchase receipt is required. In case of a used motor bicycle, the registration papers are required to determine the age of the vehicle. If these documents are not in English language, English translation is required.
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