Editing Bicycle (section)

==Social and historical aspects==
The bicycle has had a considerable effect on human society, in both the cultural and industrial realms.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-06-17 |title=How bicycles transformed our world |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/how-bicycles-transformed-world |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=[[National Geographic]] |language=en}}</ref>

===In daily life===
{{See also|Cycling infrastructure|History of cycling infrastructure}}
[[File:Cyclists in a Greymouth street, passing the premises of Mrs S Beresford, dressmaker, between 1898 and 1905 (4641058720).jpg|thumb|Cyclists in [[Greymouth]], New Zealand (c.1898-1905)]]
Around the turn of the 20th century, bicycles reduced crowding in inner-city tenements by allowing workers to commute from more spacious dwellings in the suburbs. They also reduced dependence on horses. Bicycles allowed people to travel for leisure into the country, since bicycles were three times as energy efficient as walking and three to four times as fast.

[[File:Canal Forsyth Streets bikeway jeh.JPG|thumb|left|Bikeway in [[New York City]], USA (2008)]]
In built-up cities around the world, [[urban planning]] uses [[cycling infrastructure]] like bikeways to reduce [[traffic congestion]] and air pollution.<ref>{{cite journal | pmc = 3005092 | pmid=21174189 | doi=10.1007/s11524-010-9509-6 | volume=87 | issue=6 | title=Built environment influences on healthy transportation choices: bicycling versus driving | year=2010 | journal=J Urban Health | pages=969–93 | last1 = Winters | first1 = M | last2 = Brauer | first2 = M | last3 = Setton | first3 = EM | last4 = Teschke | first4 = K}}</ref> A number of cities around the world have implemented schemes known as [[bicycle sharing system]]s or community bicycle programs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shaheen |first1=Susan |last2=Guzman |first2=Stacey |last3=Zhang |first3=Hua |title=Bikesharing in Europe, the Americas, and Asia |journal=Transportation Research Record |volume=2143 |year=2010 |pages=159–67 |doi=10.3141/2143-20|s2cid=40770008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Shaheen |first=Stacey |author2=Stacey Guzman |title=Worldwide Bikesharing |journal=Access Magazine |year=2011 |url=http://uctc.net/access/39/access39_bikesharing.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326063609/http://www.uctc.net/access/39/access39_bikesharing.shtml |archive-date=26 March 2012 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shaheen |first1=Susan |last2=Zhang |first2=Hua |last3=Martin |first3=Elliot |last4=Guzman |first4=Stacey |title=China's Hangzhou Public Bicycle |journal=Transportation Research Record |volume=2247 |year=2011 |pages=33–41 |doi=10.3141/2247-05|s2cid=111120290 |url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt62d8f2g3/qt62d8f2g3.pdf?t=psbd9f }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cyclescheme.co.uk/|title=Tax free bikes for work through the Government's Green Transport Initiative |publisher=Cyclescheme}}{{primary source inline|date=September 2015}}</ref>

In the [[Netherlands]] all train stations offer free [[bicycle parking]], or a more secure parking place for a small fee, with the larger stations also offering bicycle repair shops. Cycling is so popular that the parking capacity may be exceeded, while in some places such as Delft the capacity is usually exceeded.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2482297.ece/So_many_bikes%2C_so_little_space
| title = So many bikes, so little space
| first1 = Joel | last1 = Broekaert
| first2 = Reinier | last2 = Kist
| name-list-style = amp
| date = 12 February 2010
| newspaper = NRC Handelsblad
| access-date = 13 February 2010
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213211227/http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2482297.ece/So_many_bikes%2C_so_little_space
| archive-date = 13 February 2010
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> In [[Trondheim]] in Norway, the [[Trampe bicycle lift]] has been developed to encourage cyclists by giving assistance on a steep hill. Buses in many cities have [[bicycle carrier]]s mounted on the front.

There are towns in some countries where [[bicycle culture]] has been an integral part of the landscape for generations, even without much official support. That is the case of [[Ílhavo Municipality|Ílhavo]], in Portugal.

In cities where bicycles are not integrated into the public transportation system, commuters often use bicycles as elements of a [[mixed-mode commuting|mixed-mode commute]], where the bike is used to travel to and from train stations or other forms of rapid transit. Some students who commute several miles drive a car from home to a campus parking lot, then ride a bicycle to class. [[Folding bicycle]]s are useful in these scenarios, as they are less cumbersome when carried aboard. Los Angeles removed a small amount of seating on some trains to make more room for bicycles and wheel chairs.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://la.streetsblog.org/2008/10/16/metro-making-room-for-bikes-on-their-trains/
| title = Metro Making Room for Bikes on Their Trains
| author = Damien Newton
| date = 16 October 2008
| publisher = LA.StreetsBlog.Org
| access-date = 12 February 2010}}</ref>
[[File:Cyclists at red 2.jpg|left|thumb|Urban cyclists in [[Copenhagen]], Denmark, at a traffic light]]

Some US companies, notably in the [[High tech#Technology sectors|tech sector]], are developing both innovative cycle designs and cycle-friendliness in the workplace. [[Foursquare (company)|Foursquare]], whose CEO [[Dennis Crowley]] "pedaled to pitch meetings ... [when he] was raising money from [[venture capitalists]]" on a two-wheeler, chose a new location for its New York headquarters "based on where biking would be easy". Parking in the office was also integral to HQ planning. Mitchell Moss, who runs the [[Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management]] at [[New York University]], said in 2012: "Biking has become the mode of choice for the educated high tech worker".<ref>Bernstein, Andrea, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120223233448/http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/transportation-nation/techies-cutting-edge-bike-commuting "Techies on the cutting edge... of bike commuting"], ''[[Marketplace (radio program)|Marketplace]]'', 22 February 2012. "Bernstein reports from the [http://transportationnation.org/ Transportation Nation] project at WNYC". Retrieved 22 February 2012.</ref>

Bicycles offer an important mode of transport in many developing countries. Until recently, bicycles have been a staple of everyday life throughout Asian countries. They are the most frequently used method of transport for commuting to work, school, shopping, and life in general. In Europe, bicycles are commonly used.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/10/24/240493422/in-most-every-european-country-bikes-are-outselling-cars|title=In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling New Cars|date=24 October 2013|newspaper=NPR|last1=Calamur|first1=Krishnadev}}</ref> They also offer a degree of exercise to keep individuals healthy.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bicyclevehiclefo0000lowe |first=Marcia D. |last=Lowe |year=1989 |title=The Bicycle: Vehicle for a Small Planet |publisher=Worldwatch Institute |isbn=978-0-916468-91-0 |url-access=registration }}{{page needed|date=September 2015}}</ref>

Bicycles are also celebrated in the visual arts. An example of this is the [[Bicycle Film Festival]], a film festival hosted all around the world.

===Poverty alleviation===
[[File:Banana-bike.jpg|thumb|Men in Uganda using a bicycle to transport bananas]]{{Excerpt|Bicycle poverty reduction}}

===Female emancipation===
{{See also|Bicycling and feminism}}
[[File:A wheel within a wheel page 56.jpg|thumb|upright| "Let go – but stand by"; [[Frances Willard (suffragist)|Frances Willard]] learning to ride a bicycle<ref name=Willard1895/>]]
The safety bicycle gave women unprecedented mobility, contributing to [[Emancipation of women|their emancipation]] in Western nations. As bicycles became safer and cheaper, more women had access to the personal freedom that bicycles embodied, and so the bicycle came to symbolize the [[New Woman]] of the late 19th century, especially in Britain and the United States.{{sfn|Herlihy|2004|pp=266–71}}<ref name="Distillations">{{cite journal|last1=Roberts |first1=Jacob |title=Women's work |journal=Distillations |date=2017|volume=3|issue=1 |pages=6–11 |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/womens-work|access-date=22 March 2018}}</ref> The [[Bike boom#1890s|bicycle craze in the 1890s]] also led to a movement for so-called [[Victorian dress reform|rational dress]], which helped liberate women from corsets and ankle-length skirts and other restrictive garments, substituting the then-shocking [[bloomers (clothing)|bloomers]].{{sfn|Herlihy|2004|pp=266–71}}

The bicycle was recognized by 19th-century feminists and [[suffragist]]s as a "freedom machine" for women. American [[Susan B. Anthony]] said in a ''[[New York World]]'' interview on 2 February 1896: "I think it has done more to emancipate woman than any one thing in the world. I rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel. It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her seat; and away she goes, the picture of untrammelled womanhood."<ref name=HustedHarper1898/>{{rp|859}} In 1895 [[Frances Willard (suffragist)|Frances Willard]], the tightly laced president of the [[Woman's Christian Temperance Union]], wrote ''A Wheel Within a Wheel: How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle, with Some Reflections by the Way'', a 75-page illustrated memoir praising "Gladys", her bicycle, for its "gladdening effect" on her health and political optimism.<ref name=Willard1895/> Willard used a cycling metaphor to urge other suffragists to action.<ref name=Willard1895/>

In 1985, Georgena Terry started the first women-specific bicycle company. Her designs featured frame geometry and wheel sizes chosen to better fit women, with shorter top tubes and more suitable reach.<ref>{{cite web |title=6 Questions for Women's Bicycling Pioneer Georgena Terry |url=https://velojoy.com/2012/07/04/6-questions-for-womens-bicycling-pioneer-georgena-terry/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825135522/https://velojoy.com/2012/07/04/6-questions-for-womens-bicycling-pioneer-georgena-terry/ |archive-date=25 August 2012 |publisher=Velojoy |date=4 July 2012 |access-date=14 July 2021}}</ref>

===Economic implications===
[[File:Columbia Bicycles 1886 Advertisement.svg|left|thumb|upright|[[Columbia Bicycles]] advertisement from 1886]]

[[Bicycle industry|Bicycle manufacturing]] proved to be a training ground for other industries and led to the development of advanced metalworking techniques, both for the frames themselves and for special components such as [[ball bearing]]s, [[washer (mechanical)|washers]], and sprockets. These techniques later enabled skilled metalworkers and mechanics to develop the components used in early automobiles and aircraft.

[[Wright brothers|Wilbur and Orville Wright]], a pair of businessmen, ran the [[Wright Cycle Company]] which designed, manufactured and sold their bicycles during the [[bike boom]] of the 1890s.<ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11373/ |title = Wilbur Wright Working in the Bicycle Shop |website = [[World Digital Library]] |date = 1897 |access-date = 22 July 2013 }}</ref>

They also served to teach the industrial models later adopted, including mechanization and [[mass production]] (later copied and adopted by [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] and [[General Motors]]),{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=23}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=106}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=108}} vertical integration{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=106}} (also later copied and adopted by Ford), aggressive advertising{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|pp=142–47}} (as much as 10% of all advertising in U.S. periodicals in 1898 was by bicycle makers),{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=145}} lobbying for better roads (which had the side benefit of acting as advertising, and of improving sales by providing more places to ride),{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=108}} all first practiced by Pope.{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=108}} In addition, bicycle makers adopted the annual model change{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=23}}<ref>Babaian, Sharon. ''The Most Benevolent Machine: A Historical Assessment of Cycles in Canada'' (Ottawa: National Museum of Science and Technology, 1998), p. 97.</ref> (later derided as [[planned obsolescence]], and usually credited to General Motors), which proved very successful.<ref>Babaian, p. 98.</ref>

Early bicycles were an example of [[conspicuous consumption]], being adopted by the fashionable elites.{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=8}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=12}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=14}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=23}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|pp=147–48}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|pp=187–88}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=208}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|pp=243–45}} In addition, by serving as a platform for accessories, which could ultimately cost more than the bicycle itself, it paved the way for the likes of the [[Barbie doll]].{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=23}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=121}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=123}}

Bicycles helped create, or enhance, new kinds of businesses, such as bicycle messengers,{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=212}} traveling seamstresses,{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=214}} riding academies,{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=131}} and racing rinks.{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=30}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=131}} Their board tracks were later adapted to early [[motorcycle racing|motorcycle]] and [[automobile racing]]. There were a variety of new inventions, such as [[spoke]] tighteners,{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=125}} and specialized lights,{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=123}}{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=125}} socks and shoes,{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|pp=125–26}} and even cameras, such as the [[Eastman Kodak|Eastman Company]]'s Poco.{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=238}} 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]].{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=128}}

[[File:Person mit fahrrad feb07.jpg|thumb|upright|A man uses a bicycle to carry goods in [[Ouagadougou]], Burkina Faso.]]
They also presaged a move away from public transit{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|pp=214–15}} that would explode with the introduction of the automobile.

J. K. Starley's company became the Rover Cycle Company Ltd. in the late 1890s, and then renamed the [[Rover Company]] when it started making cars. [[Morris Motors]] Limited (in [[Oxford]]) and [[Škoda Auto|Škoda]] also began in the bicycle business, as did the [[Wright brothers]].<ref>
{{cite web
| title = The Wrights' bicycle shop
| year = 2007
|url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/Wrightbrothers/who/1893/shop.cfm
| access-date = 5 February 2007
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070125080218/http://www.nasm.si.edu/wrightbrothers/who/1893/shop.cfm
| archive-date = 25 January 2007
| url-status = dead
}}</ref> Alistair Craig, whose company eventually emerged to become the engine manufacturers [[Ailsa Craig Engines|Ailsa Craig]], also started from manufacturing bicycles, in Glasgow in March 1885.

In general, U.S. and European cycle manufacturers used to assemble cycles from their own frames and components made by other companies, although very large companies (such as Raleigh) used to make almost every part of a bicycle (including bottom brackets, axles, etc.) In recent years, those bicycle makers have greatly changed their methods of production. Now, almost none of them produce their own frames.

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.<ref>
{{Cite news|author=Francois Bougo|date=26 May 2010|title=Beijing looks to revitalise bicycle culture|publisher=Agence France-Presse|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iQeSSys_rKGJ7ve4u1ZsVyIA_LmQ|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531125628/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iQeSSys_rKGJ7ve4u1ZsVyIA_LmQ|archive-date=31 May 2010}}</ref> One of the major reasons for the proliferation of Chinese-made bicycles in foreign markets is the lower cost of labor in China.<ref>[[The Economist]], 15 February 2003</ref>

In line with the European financial crisis of that time, in 2011 the number of bicycle sales in Italy (1.75&nbsp;million) passed the number of new car sales.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19801599 |title=Italian bicycle sales 'surpass those of cars' |date=2 October 2012 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

===Environmental impact===
[[File:Utrecht - panoramio (2).jpg|thumb|Bicycles in [[Utrecht]], Netherlands]]

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.<ref>Illich, I. (1974). ''Energy and equity''. New York, Harper & Row.</ref> 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.<ref>[http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/global-cyclists-say-no-carbon-opt-cdm "Global cyclists say NO to carbon – opt for CDM"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004035739/http://blogs.worldbank.org/publicsphere/global-cyclists-say-no-carbon-opt-cdm |date=4 October 2017 }}, The World Bank, 27 October 2015</ref>

===Manufacturing===
{{See also|List of bicycle manufacturing companies}}
[[File:J-w-waldrons-smith-bicycle-works-1900.jpg|thumb|J W Waldron's Smith & Bicycle Works in Brighton, England, ca.1900]]
The global bicycle market is $61&nbsp;billion in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=High Growth and Big Margins in the $61 Billion Bicycle Industry|url=http://seekingalpha.com/article/133109-high-growth-and-big-margins-in-the-61-billion-bicycle-industry|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090428021811/http://seekingalpha.com/article/133109-high-growth-and-big-margins-in-the-61-billion-bicycle-industry|archive-date=28 April 2009|access-date=24 October 2011|publisher=Seeking Alpha}}</ref> {{As of|2009}}, 130 million bicycles were sold every year globally and 66% of them were made in China.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dare.co.in/opportunities/manufacturing/the-business-of-bicycles.htm |title=The Business of Bicycles &#124; Manufacturing &#124; Opportunities |publisher=DARE |date=1 June 2009 |access-date=24 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110153856/http://dare.co.in/opportunities/manufacturing/the-business-of-bicycles.htm |archive-date=10 November 2011 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ EU28 Bicycle market 2000–2014<ref name=conebi2014/>
|-
! Year !! production (M) !! sales (M)
|-
| 2000 || 14.531 || 18.945
|-
| 2001 || 13.009 || 17.745
|-
| 2002 || 12.272 || 17.840
|-
| 2003 || 12.828 || 20.206
|-
| 2004 || 13.232 || 20.322
|-
| 2005 || 13.218 || 20.912
|-
| 2006 || 13.320 || 21.033
|-
| 2007 || 13.086 || 21.344
|-
| 2008 || 13.246 || 20.206
|-
| 2009 || 12.178 || 19.582
|-
| 2010 || 12.241 || 20.461
|-
| 2011 || 11.758 || 20.039
|-
| 2012 || 11.537 || 19.719
|-
| 2013 || 11.360 || 19.780
|-
| 2014 || 11.939 || 20.234
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right;"
|+ EU28 Bicycle market 2014<ref name=conebi2014>{{cite web |url=http://www.conebi.eu/?wpdmdl=892 |title= 2014 European Bicycle Industry & Market Profile |publisher= Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry |date= 2015}}</ref>
|-
! Country !! Production (M) !! Parts (M€) !! Sales (M) !! Avg !! Sales (M€)
|-
| Italy || 2.729 || 491 || 1.696 || 288 || {{#expr:1.696*288round1}}
|-
| Germany || 2.139 || 286 || 4.100 || 528 || {{#expr:4.1*528round1}}
|-
| Poland || .991 || 58 || 1.094 || 380 || {{#expr:1.094*380round1}}
|-
| Bulgaria || .950 || 9 || .082 || 119 || {{#expr:.082*119round1}}
|-
| The Netherlands || .850 || 85 || 1.051 || 844 || {{#expr:1.051*844round1}}
|-
| Romania || .820 || 220 || .370 || 125 || {{#expr:.370*125round1}}
|-
| Portugal || .720 || 120 || .340 || 160 || {{#expr:.340*160round1}}
|-
| France || .630 || 170 || 2.978 || 307 || {{#expr:2.978*307round1}}
|-
| Hungary || .370 || 10 || .044 || 190 || {{#expr:.044*190round1}}
|-
| Spain || .356 || 10 || 1.089 || 451 || {{#expr:1.089*451round1}}
|-
| Czech Republic || .333 || 85 || .333 || 150 || {{#expr:.333*150round1}}
|-
| Lithuania || .323 || 0 || .050 || 110 || {{#expr:.050*110round1}}
|-
| Slovakia || .210 || 9 || .038 || 196 || {{#expr:.038*196round1}}
|-
| Austria || .138 || 0 || .401 || 450 || {{#expr:.401*450round1}}
|-
| Greece || .108 || 0 || .199 || 233 || {{#expr:.199*233round1}}
|-
| Belgium || .099 || 35 || .567 || 420 || {{#expr:.567*420round1}}
|-
| Sweden || .083 || 0 || .584 || 458 || {{#expr:.584*458round1}}
|-
| Great Britain || .052 || 34 || 3.630 || 345 || {{#expr:3.630*345round1}}
|-
| Finland || .034 || 32 || .300 || 320 || {{#expr:.300*320round1}}
|-
| Slovenia || .005 || 9 || .240 || 110 || {{#expr:.240*110round1}}
|-
| Croatia || 0 || 0 || .333 || 110 || {{#expr:.333*110round1}}
|-
| Cyprus || 0 || 0 || .033 || 110 || {{#expr:.033*110round1}}
|-
| Denmark || 0 || 0 || .470 || 450 || {{#expr:.470*450round1}}
|-
| Estonia || 0 || 0 || .062 || 190 || {{#expr:.062*190round1}}
|-
| Ireland || 0 || 0 || .091 || 190 || {{#expr:.091*190round1}}
|-
| Latvia || 0 || 0 || .040 || 110 || {{#expr:.040*110round1}}
|-
| Luxembourg || 0 || 0 || .010 || 450 || {{#expr:.010*450round1}}
|-
| Malta || 0 || 0 || .011 || 110 || {{#expr:.011*110round1}}
|-
! EU 28 !! 11.939 !! 1662 !! 20.234 || {{#expr:7941.2/20.234round0}} || 7941.2
|}

===Legal requirements===
{{Main|Bicycle law}}

Early in its development, as with [[automobile]]s, there were restrictions on the operation of bicycles. Along with advertising, and to gain free publicity, [[Albert A. Pope]] litigated on behalf of cyclists.{{sfn|Norcliffe|2001|p=108}}

The 1968 [[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 or driver.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=United Nations |url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/1977/05/19770524%2000-13%20AM/Ch_XI_B_19.pdf |title=Convention on Road Traffic |date=1968-11-08 |location=Vienna |pages=69 |chapter=Transport and Communications}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rules of the road for bicycles |url=https://www.progressive.com/lifelanes/on-the-road/bicycle-traffic-laws/ |access-date=April 1, 2024 |website=www.progressive.com}}</ref> The traffic codes of many countries reflect these definitions and demand that a bicycle satisfy certain legal requirements before it can be used on public roads. In many [[jurisdiction]]s, it is an offense to use a bicycle that is not in a roadworthy condition.<ref name="Arthurs-Brennan 2019 r622">{{cite web | last=Arthurs-Brennan | first=Michelle | title=What can cyclist legally do, and not do, in Europe? | website=cyclingweekly.com | date=March 22, 2019 | url=https://www.cyclingweekly.com/routes/overseas/can-cyclist-legally-not-europe-411273 | access-date=March 1, 2024}}</ref><ref name="United Nations Treaty Collection 1968 b248">{{cite web | title=Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, Chapter XI Transport and Communications, B. Road Traffic, 19. Convention on Road Traffic | website=United Nations Treaty Collection | date=November 8, 1968 | url=https://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetailsIII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XI-B-19&chapter=11 | ref={{sfnref | United Nations Treaty Collection  | 1968}} | access-date=March 1, 2024}}</ref>

In some countries, bicycles must have functioning front and rear lights when ridden after dark.<ref name="Home Page 2017">{{cite web | title=Bicycle road rules : VicRoads | website=Home Page | date=1 July 2017 |url=https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/road-rules/a-to-z-of-road-rules/bicycles | access-date=28 February 2023}}</ref><ref name="Service-public.fr 2022">{{cite web | title=Accessoires obligatoires à vélo | website=Service-public.fr | date=16 August 2022 |url=https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F34169 | language=fr | access-date=28 February 2023}}</ref>

Some countries require child and/or adult cyclists to wear helmets, as this may protect riders from head trauma. Countries which require adult cyclists to wear helmets include Spain, [[Bicycle helmets in New Zealand|New Zealand]] and Australia. Mandatory helmet wearing is one of the most controversial topics in the cycling world, with proponents arguing that it reduces head injuries and thus is an acceptable requirement, while opponents argue that by making cycling seem more dangerous and cumbersome, it reduces cyclist numbers on the streets, creating an overall negative health effect (fewer people cycling for their own health, and the remaining cyclists being more exposed through a reversed [[safety in numbers]] effect).<ref>{{Cite news|date=5 April 2017|title=Want Safer Streets for Cyclists? Ditch the Helmet Laws.|language=en|work=Bloomberg.com|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-05/why-bike-helmet-laws-don-t-work|access-date=29 August 2020}}</ref>

===Theft===
{{Main|Bicycle theft}}
[[File:2008-09-06 Solitary bicycle wheel in a bike rack.jpg|thumb|upright|A bicycle wheel remains chained in a bike rack after the rest of the bicycle has been stolen at east campus of [[Duke University]] in [[Durham, North Carolina]].]]

Bicycles are popular targets for theft, due to their value and ease of resale.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Van Lierop|first1=Dea|last2=Grimsrud|first2=Michael|last3=El-Geneidy|first3=Ahmed|year=2014|title=Breaking into Bicycle Theft: Insights from Montreal, Canada|journal=International Journal of Sustainable Transportation|volume=9 |issue=7 |pages=490–501|doi=10.1080/15568318.2013.811332 |bibcode=2015IJSTr...9..490V |s2cid=44047626 |url=https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/articles/1v53k2443 }}</ref> The number of bicycles stolen annually is difficult to quantify as a large number of crimes are not reported.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bicyclelaw.com/p.cfm/bicycle-safety/about-bike-theft |title=About Bicycle Theft |publisher=bicyclelaw.com |access-date=12 February 2014}}</ref> Around 50% of the participants in the Montreal International Journal of Sustainable Transportation survey were subjected to a bicycle theft in their lifetime as active cyclists.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://tram.mcgill.ca/Research/Publications/Cycling_theft.pdf|title = Breaking into bicycle theft: Insights from Montreal, Canada|last = van Lierop Grimsrud El-Geneidy|date = 2015|journal = International Journal of Sustainable Transportation| volume=9 | issue=7 | page=490 | doi=10.1080/15568318.2013.811332 | bibcode=2015IJSTr...9..490V | s2cid=44047626 |access-date = 30 September 2015}}</ref> Most bicycles have serial numbers that can be recorded to verify identity in case of theft.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://bikeindex.org/serials#fn-all-bikes-serials
| title = Bike serial numbers
| quote = Okay, fine, so maybe there are a few bikes without serial numbers, but this is rare and typical only on hand made bikes or really old bicycles.
| access-date = 2 August 2017}}</ref>
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