History of Road Bikes

Records suggest that the first road bicycle race was 1,200 metres and was held 31st May 1968 at the Parc de Saint Cloud, Paris. It was won by expatriate Englishman, Dr. James Moore, who rode a racing bicycle with solid rubber tyres. The majority of the earlier races were approximately 1Km. There was a tendency for early road bikes racing to take place in and around cities. The urban emphasis was largely due to the nature of the cycle industry. Many manufacturers took the race as an opportunity to show case and promote their new road bicycle technology. Even today many road bicycle manufacturers use famous races such as Tour De France, Girod’Italia and Vuelta a Espana to display their latest product.

Many of the earlier road races involved expensive machines and rules excluding bicycle mechanics from amateur competition. This meant that many of the road bikes racers were middle or upper class. As time went on point-to-point races became very popular with the general public. By the early 1900’s, few established manufacturers had started to mass-produce bicycles. The bike craze had finally hit England, which meant larger crowds at races. This gave way for the introduction of branding endorsements. This meant that more and more working class people were able to participate in future races.