The following
outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to bicycles:
Bicycle – pedal-driven,
human-powered,
single-track vehicle, having two
wheels attached to a
frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist or a bicyclist, and the activity is called
cycling. Also known as a bike, push bike or cycle.
What type of thing is a bicycle?
Bicycles can be described as all of the following:
The bicycle has undergone continual adaptation and improvement since its inception. These innovations have continued with the advent of modern materials and computer-aided design, allowing for a proliferation of specialized bicycle types.
Uses
Bicycles have been and are employed for many uses:
Unicycles,
tricycles and
quadracycles are not strictly bicycles, as they have respectively one, three and four wheels, but are often referred to informally as "bikes".
In its early years, bicycle construction drew on pre-existing technologies. More recently, bicycle technology has in turn contributed ideas in both old and new areas.
A number of formal and industry standards exist for bicycle components to help make spare parts exchangeable and to maintain a minimum product safety.
The
International Organization for Standardization,
ISO, has a special technical committee for cycles, TC149, that has the following scope: "Standardization in the field of cycles, their components and accessories with particular reference to terminology, testing methods and requirements for performance and safety, and interchangeability."
CEN, European Committee for Standardization, also has a specific Technical Committee, TC333, that defines European standards for cycles. Their mandate states that EN cycle standards shall harmonize with
ISO standards. Some CEN cycle standards were developed before ISO published their standards, leading to strong European influences in this area. European cycle standards tend to describe minimum safety requirements, while ISO standards have historically harmonized parts geometry. The TC149 ISO bicycle committee, including the TC149/SC1 ("Cycles and major sub-assemblies") subcommittee, has published the following standards:
The
Vienna Convention on Road Traffic of the
United Nations considers a bicycle to be a vehicle, and a person controlling a bicycle (whether actually riding or not) is considered an operator.