Editing Freewheel (section)

== History ==

In 1869, [[William Van Anden]] of [[Poughkeepsie]], New York (USA) invented the freewheel for the [[bicycle]].<ref>Anden, William van [http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00088238 "Improvement in velocipedes"] U.S. patent no. 88,238 (issued:  23 March 1869).</ref>   His design placed a ratchet device in the [[Bicycle hub|hub]] of the front wheel (the driven wheel on the ''[[velocipede]]'' designs of the time), which allowed the rider to propel himself forward without pedaling constantly.<ref>{{cite web|title=Van Anden Dexter Velocipede|url=http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_269.html|publisher=National Museum of American History|access-date=8 April 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108124345/http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_269.html|archive-date=8 November 2014}}</ref> Initially, bicycle enthusiasts rejected the idea of a freewheel because they believed it would complicate the mechanical functions of the bicycle.<ref>{{cite book|last=Herlihy|first=David|title=Bicycle: The History|year=2004|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|page=136}}</ref>   Bicycle enthusiasts believed that the bicycle was supposed to remain as simple as possible without any additional mechanisms, such as the freewheel.<ref>{{cite book|last=Herlihy|first=David|title=Bicycle: The History|year=2004|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|page=311}}</ref>

In the UK, a roller freewheel was patented by J. White and G. Davies of Coventry Machinist Co. in 1881 <ref>J. White G. Davies, UK Patent 512 of 1881, https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co25837/roller-clutch-as-fitted-to-cheylesmore-tricycle</ref> and fitted to the Chelseymore tricycle, but the pioneers of fitting the freewheel to the [[safety bicycle]] were Linley and Biggs Ltd (trading as the [[Whippet (bicycle)|Whippet Cycle Syndicate]]) who fitted a freewheel from the summer of 1894, in part to assist the operation of their 2-speed 'Protean' gear.

By 1899 there was widespread adoption in UK bicycle manufacture of the freewheel, usually combined with the back-pedal brake, and conversions were offered to existing bicycles.<ref>The Free Wheel, Cycling, 26 Aug 1899, pp28-32</ref><ref>"Fortune and Bantham are fitting the cheapest and most effective back-pedalling brake to any machine on the market", [[Telegraph & Argus|Bradford Daily Telegraph]], 12 Aug 1899, p1</ref>

In 1899 the same system in the USA was known as the “[[coaster brake]]”, which let riders brake by pedaling backwards and included the freewheel mechanism.<ref>{{cite book|last=Herlihy|first=David|title=Bicycle: The History|year=2004|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|page=297}}</ref>   At the turn of the century, bicycle manufacturers within Europe and America included the freewheel mechanism in a majority of their bicycles but now the freewheel was incorporated in the rear [[sprocket]] of a bicycle unlike Van Anden’s initial design.<ref>{{cite book|last=Herlihy|first=David|title=Bicycle: The History|year=2004|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|page=310}}</ref>

In 1924 French firm Le Cyclo introduced a gear-shifting bicycle with a two sprocket freewheel, which let riders to go uphill with more ease. In the late 1920s, Le Cyclo began using both front and rear [[derailleur]]s in combination with a double [[chainring]], giving the bicycle twice as many gears. In the early 1930s, Le Cyclo invented a four sprocket freewheel, and several years later the company combined the four sprocket freewheel with a triple chainring giving the bicycle twelve gears.<ref>{{cite book|last=Herlihy|first=David|title=Bicycle: The History|year=2004|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|pages=353–355}}</ref>

In the 1960s and 1970s Japanese manufacturers introduced their own versions of the derailleur. [[SunTour]] notably introduced the slant parallelogram rear derailleur design in 1964, which is tilted to keep the pulley closer to each cog of the freewheel as it shifts, providing smoother and better shifting than its European equivalents. This version of the derailleur became the standard when SunTour's patent expired in the 1980s, and is still the model for today's designs.<ref>{{cite book|last=Herlihy|first=David|title=Bicycle: The History|year=2004|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|page=365}}</ref>