Bicycles were invented in France in the 1790s the were made of wood had a front wheel thatdidn't move from left to right and didn't have pedals in 1817 a steerable front wheel was developed by Baron Karl von Drais in Germany and in 1839 the first pedals were introduced by Kirkpatrick MacMillan a blacksmith front Scotland the first bikes had large front wheels because it was believed that the bigger the front wheel the faster the bike