Earliest possible invention of the bycicle (a technological POD)

What's the earliest date in which the bicycle could have been invented? The chain and gears shold not need very advanced metallurgy, I think they would have been possible already during the Renaissance, or am I wrong? The tyres look much more difficult however: how feasible could a bycicle with wheels similar to those of a light chariot be?

Finally what could the possible uses be, apart from an extravaganza for bored nobles? Maybe as couriers in lands where horses or forage are at a premium? Or to have "flying companies" of infantry, similar to the mounted infantry of the late xixth century? Now that I think of it, the lack of good roads could be an insurmountable obstacles, as I would think that cross country bikes would be much more difficult to build earlier than OTL.

Has anyone ideas on this?
 
What's the earliest date in which the bicycle could have been invented? The chain and gears shold not need very advanced metallurgy, I think they would have been possible already during the Renaissance, or am I wrong? The tyres look much more difficult however: how feasible could a bycicle with wheels similar to those of a light chariot be?

Finally what could the possible uses be, apart from an extravaganza for bored nobles? Maybe as couriers in lands where horses or forage are at a premium? Or to have "flying companies" of infantry, similar to the mounted infantry of the late xixth century? Now that I think of it, the lack of good roads could be an insurmountable obstacles, as I would think that cross country bikes would be much more difficult to build earlier than OTL.

Has anyone ideas on this?

I think the big problem is not even metallurgy to build its pieces, but the lack of rubber industry to produce tires. I mean, there are those bicycle sketches from Leonardo Da Vinci (which are controversial, as no one knows if it's a hoax), and they use wooden frames, and early bicycles in the 19th Century already used metal, but its production only gained momentum when there was available material for a rather comfortable use. I really can't imagine someone would prefer a wooden-wheeled bicycle than a simple chariot, as you said, or simply riding a horse (if one could afford it).

Anyways, if they get around building it, I'm not sure it would be used for long travels, it would be extremely uncomfortable. Perhaps internal couriers, as you mentioned, or to deliver messenges between close locales (such as neighboring cities).
 
neither gear (not needed) nor chains (pedals can be placed directly on the wheel) are the important bottleneck for creating bicycles ... the important part is shock absorbers, as without them the nickname "Boneshaker" which the earliest bikes got, is rather apt, and it would never grow beyond being a fad.

that said, it've been discussed a good handful of times previously
 
The utility of a bicycle without rubber tires is quite simple: a kind of handcart. This is actually a very common use of bicycles in reality*, and it always puzzles me that no one mentions this in threads related to earlier inventions of bicycles. Since no one is actually riding the bicycle, it doesn't need to have a comfortable ride, or indeed gears, but rather can just be pushed, and is clearly possible for any civilization that merely has wheels. Admittedly, a bicycle-handcart can't carry as much as an ordinary handcart, but it's possible that the narrower wheelbase of the bicycle might make it suitable for certain situations where the handcart is too large, e.g. transporting material at building sites or through confined spaces like tunnels, or that it might be enough cheaper or simpler to be suitable for transporting light cargoes short distances.

*E.g.:

800px-Banana-bike.jpg
 
Sorry if the topic is trite, I hadn't found anything with the onsite search (but I am bad at using it), using google I just saw that there have already been several threads on this, the last in april.

The utility of a bicycle without rubber tires is quite simple: a kind of handcart. This is actually a very common use of bicycles in reality*, and it always puzzles me that no one mentions this in threads related to earlier inventions of bicycles. Since no one is actually riding the bicycle, it doesn't need to have a comfortable ride, or indeed gears, but rather can just be pushed, and is clearly possible for any civilization that merely has wheels. Admittedly, a bicycle-handcart can't carry as much as an ordinary handcart, but it's possible that the narrower wheelbase of the bicycle might make it suitable for certain situations where the handcart is too large, e.g. transporting material at building sites or through confined spaces like tunnels, or that it might be enough cheaper or simpler to be suitable for transporting light cargoes short distances.

Indeed, that's another interesting use (I think it would come to prominence in any post-apocaliptic scenario, but I digress...).
As I supposed then the bottleneck are the tires/suspensions: could some kind of leather (not inflated obviously) tyre be useful? Also brass springs possibly?

You know, I have this vision of roman messengers speeding along the limes on their bikes, or of colums of biker-musketeers, but yeah, probably that would be unfeasible and too much "rule-of-cool" to happen in real life...
 
If its to primarily to be used as a handcart, there's no need to reinvent the wheel, instead of merely rescaling existing handcart/wheelbarrow schematics... specially when noting that a cart is cheaper and easier to build, and easier to maintain than a bike.

Note that while often used interchangebly, suspension and shock absorbers are quite different beasts.

You either have to have early 20th century worth of level roads or shock absorbers (which need industrialization level metalilurgy and skill to make) to make for an effective bike as it would be to uncomfortable otherwise. An off-road bike have even steeper demands in terms of Shock absorbsion and suspension not achived before post-WWII
 
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You know, I have this vision of roman messengers speeding along the limes on their bikes, or of colums of biker-musketeers, but yeah, probably that would be unfeasible and too much "rule-of-cool" to happen in real life...



Not real life, but...'Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court' has a scene of knights in a similar situation. In real life...in ww1 Italian mountain troops (with plumes on their headgear) on bikes were used as mobile reserves to reinforce weak spots in the line. Other armies did this too, but without the critical plumes.
 
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Indeed, that's another interesting use (I think it would come to prominence in any post-apocaliptic scenario, but I digress...).
As I supposed then the bottleneck are the tires/suspensions: could some kind of leather (not inflated obviously) tyre be useful? Also brass springs possibly?



One of the more comfortable rides before air filled inner tubes came out had a suspended rope hammock saddle.
 
If its to primarily to be used as a handcart, there's no need to reinvent the wheel, instead of merely rescaling existing handcart/wheelbarrow schematics... specially when noting that a cart is cheaper and easier to build, and easier to maintain than a bike.

Even a very simple bike? I'm thinking of essentially a log with an axle at each end holding a wheel. Sure, it would be a terrible ride, but it seems to me to be simpler and considerably smaller than an actual handcart, while having lower ground pressure than a wheelbarrow thanks to using two wheels. It would be a niche kind of device, but I don't think it's totally crazy or anything.
 
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