1691年法国人西弗拉克发明了两个轱辘一前一后的车。1817年冯·德雷斯发明了可驾驶的自行车,不久麦克米伦为车的后轮装上了脚踏板和曲柄。1860年这些装置被移到了前轮。由于没有齿轮和链条,踏板每转一圈,车轮也只能转一圈,所以当时的车前轮做得特别大。据说1897年洋务派领袖人物李鸿章访美时,在纽约遇见一位骑高轮自行车的女孩,特意邀她到旅馆相见。 In 1691 French West Flacco invented two wheels in tandem. In 1817 Von Dresse invented a driveable bicycle, and MacMillan soon fitted pedals and cranks to the rear of the car. In 1860 these devices were moved to the front wheels. Since there was no gear and chain, the wheel could only rotate one revolution per pedal, so the front wheel was particularly large at the time. It is said that when Li Hongzhang, the leader of the Westernization Movement, visited the United States in 1897, she met a girl riding a bicycle in New York and invited her to the hotel.