In 1880 the bicycle was a strange machine compared to today: with large wheels, no brakes, and treadles instead of peddles. A mere 10 years later, the bicycle would take the form we recognize today and the bicycle boom of the 1890’s would revolutionize society. The telephone, the keyboard, the bicycle and other Victorian Age inventions that are with us today adapted and survived to become so commonplace we can’t imagine them not being. Possibly if it wasn’t for a volcanic eruption and a world of famine the bicycle wouldn’t be. The bicycle impacted technology, manufacturing and society in ways we still experience today. Through an examination of the original machine for freedom by self propulsion the presenter Gordon Hobbis from Cap’s Bicycles will share his life long interest in pre 1900 bicycles along with items from his own collection.