Pierre Michaux
Pierre Michaux (born June 26, 1813 in Bar-le-Duc ; † 1883 in Paris ) was a wagon builder and founder of the Michaux works, a two-wheeler factory that opened in 1869. With Louis-Guillaume Perreaux he developed the Michaux-Perreaux steam wheel .
Pierre Michaux and his son Ernest are considered to be possible inventors of the pedal drive in bicycles . One story tells that Pierre Michaux fitted cranks and pedals to a wheel to be repaired. At the world exhibition in 1867 , he presented two copies of his Velocipede and thus attracted international attention. Together with the Olivier brothers, he then founded the Michaux & Co.
The legend
According to legend, in 1861 Piere Michaux received an old trolley for repairs from a Parisian hat manufacturer named Brunel ; however, older sources speak of a tricycle. After the master repaired the vehicle, his son Ernest brought it back. He found the movement over long distances tiring and suggested to his father to drive the front wheel in a similar way to a grindstone with a bottom bracket .
However, old drawings by Michaux senior show that the carriage builder did not immediately think of a crank mechanism on the front wheel, but rather of a drive with a drive rod . A first sketch shows a crank on the rear wheel that had to be turned with a long hand bar. In a second construction, the hand bar was rotatably attached to a front wheel spoke, similar to a locomotive or Thomas McCall's bicycle . But even this was not realized technically, only the version with pedals on a crank directly on the front wheel.
Some older bicycle books claim that Pierre Michaux invented his invention back in 1855. His son Ernest denied this in a letter from 1893 and assured there that 1861 was the correct year.
See also
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Michaux, Pierre |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French wagon builder and founder of the Michaux Werke, a two-wheeler factory that opened in 1869 |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 26, 1813 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bar le Duc |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1883 |
| Place of death | Paris |