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June 27, 2014
Q. For what group in our society was the coming of the “Rover” safety bicycle of 1885 probably the greatest boon? The Starley & Sutton Co. model had both wheels the same size, thus offering the safest and most efficient combination for a bicycle.
A. Its invention casts a new light on the old quip that “a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle,” says Eric Chaline in “Fifty Machines that Changed the Course of History.” Ironically, the safety bicycle (so-called because the rider's feet could reach the ground) helped create the emancipated “new woman” of the late 19th century. Victorian women constrained by a modest dress code found it impossible to ride a penny-farthing with its oversized front wheel, yet even in a floor-length skirt, they had no problem with the safety bicycle. “Thus, the long fight for women's political and social emancipation began when they took to the streets on bicycles, giving them unprecedented mobility, self-reliance and independence.”
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