I haven't been following this thread closely, and so I haven't seen any references to Durkopp if they have been mentioned. Didn't Durkopp start making bicycle in 1867 or something like that? And they continued until at least the 1950s. That's a pretty long tenure, and I think qualifies them to have been "there at the beginning!"
Dave Ross (with a ca-1937 Durk K-V mod 116 restoration in progress) Portola Valley, CA
David Toppin schrieb:
> The Germans weren't really there at the beginning (1880's) of the
era,
> Pope, Overman, Spalding, Gormully & Jeffrey . Of course Baron von
Drais is
> credited with the invention of the hobby horse, and he was German.
Some
> believe there were others before him because his machine seems to be
too
> refined to be the first...
>
> Schwinn wasn't around until 1895 when the bicycle industry was in
full
> swing. That was the heyday.