I've just read what I wrote.
I didn't mean the Rover Safety Bicycle was built by Kirkpatrick MacMillan in 1839. Doh!
It was, of course in 1886 that John Starley invented the Starley safety bicycle. (god bless you google) With pneumatic tyres appearing at the same time, and the roads devoid of motorcars, that really must have been *the* golden age of cycling!
Aah nostalgia!
Simon Bird
London
England