The Grand Imperial Grandson of Great Ming

Transmigrated into the body of Zhu Yunteng, the grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, he is unwilling to accept a tragic fate for himself and begins to find ways to build power and prepare for rebellion.

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Chapter 222 The Invention of the Bicycle

Most people in later generations are familiar with tricycles and bicycles. Even some children can roughly draw their shapes.

Furthermore, given that this was ancient times, production conditions and materials were limited, so Zhu Yunwen's bicycle tricycle had fewer parts and a very simple main body.

Therefore, the bicycle that Zhu Yunwen drew on the diagram basically consisted of a main beam, two wheels, and some simple supports.

The handlebars are also very simple. In fact, this bicycle is very simple. The main technical problem lies in the material of the wheels, which needs to have a certain shock absorption effect. Then the chain needs to solve the existing problems.

Then comes the most difficult part: the brakes.

According to Zhu Yunwen's imagination, the brake cable should be made of steel wire, and the brake pads should be made of iron.

Although it's a bit more complicated to make, it's not a big problem.

As for the chain, it's more complicated. The only solution is to modify it into something similar to a lock, and then make the gears match the holes in the lock.

Finally, there's the issue of wheel shock absorption, which is definitely not something that can be made with rubber right now.

Even if it could be made, the cost would be too high, and the required quantity would be far too large.

Therefore, we should not use rubber for the time being, as it cannot be made immediately and requires a certain amount of time.

Therefore, Zhu Yunwen decided to use wooden wheels instead.

After resolving these issues, Zhu Yunwen handed the drawn blueprints to the Minister of Works, instructing him to manufacture the parts according to his requirements.

The bicycle's frame and the pivot points for the front and rear wheels must all be made of iron, specifically wrought iron that is not easily deformed, or preferably steel.

As for the wheels, apart from the central bearing which is made of steel, the entire wheel frame and rim are made of wood, as are the handles.

The Minister of Works dared not delay. Upon receiving the blueprints, he immediately began production.

Actually, things like handles, frame, front and rear wheel brackets, and wheels are easy to make. The part that's a bit technically difficult is the bearing. Zhu Yunwen wanted steel bearings, so we needed to add small steel balls to make the best bearings available at that time.

Besides that, there are the gears, which are a bit difficult to make. They have to be made in the correct proportions and match the required chain.

Moreover, there can be almost no significant errors. Of course, these problems are somewhat difficult, but given the current state of development in the Ming Dynasty, anything that can be made by hand is not impossible to produce.

So in just two days, the Minister of Works personally delivered all the parts that Zhu Yunwen needed to him.

Zhu Yunwen was quite satisfied with the parts, so he began to assemble them.

After a simple assembly, a basic bicycle made of wood and steel was presented to Zhu Yunwen.

Zhu Yunwen tried riding it and immediately discovered that there were many problems. Although he could ride it, it was not very easy and required a lot of effort to pedal.

Therefore, Zhu Yunwen guessed that the size of the gears was not in a good proportion.

Simply put, the front gear is too big, while the rear gear used to drive the rear wheel is too small. So, pedaling the large gear once will cause the small gear to rotate more than ten times, which requires too much effort and does not achieve a good ratio.

In short, the gear ratio is too high.

So Zhu Yunwen quickly wrote it down and reduced the size of the gears in front of him to achieve a more balanced proportion.

Then I rode it for a bit more and felt that the handlebars were too loose. The holes where the handlebars connect to the frame were a bit too big, which made the handlebar support feel loose after it went through. It was a bit unstable when turning and felt a bit detached from the frame.

Zhu Yunwen also noted this down, requiring that the two connections should fit together perfectly, leaving only a little room for rotation.

Aside from that, the only other problem is that the wheels don't turn very smoothly.

Simply put, the bearings weren't made well. But in ancient times, having such a craftsmanship was already quite an achievement, since it's unrealistic to expect them to make bearings that perfect.

In addition, the wheels are made of wood, so they make hard contact with the ground, which will definitely make the ride less smooth.

Zhu Yunwen felt that if possible, they should try to make rubber.

Even if we don't make them entirely of rubber tires like in later generations, simply wrapping a rubber sheet around the edge of the wooden wheel would greatly reduce the vibration caused by the wood hitting the ground hard.

In addition, the wood is too hard, and the ground is also too hard, which not only fails to provide any shock absorption, but also makes it easy to slip.

If you brake while riding fast, it won't have an anti-slip effect, so only rubber can solve these problems.

Regardless, the basic form of the bicycle has been completed. With further modifications, it should become even more perfect.

As Zhu Yunwen rode his bicycle, he made this summary in his mind.

Just then, Zhao Qingzhu came out of the room and saw Zhu Yunwen riding a bicycle back and forth in the East Palace courtyard. Her eyes widened immediately, and she quickly ran up and said:

"Those drawings you made before, were they for making this thing? Amazing! It can actually carry you back and forth? And it has two wheels? And it doesn't fall over? That's incredible!!!"

Seeing Zhao Qingzhu's surprise, Zhu Yuntong couldn't help but chuckle to himself. The feeling of being a transmigrator finally gave him a sense of superiority.

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