In the late 1880s, cycling was becoming a popular form of transportation and hobby due in large part to John Dunlop's 1888 patent for the inflatable bicycle tyre.
In the years before John Dunlop invented the pneumatic tire, Rudge addressed the rough ride by producing a four-bladed, spring-suspended fork in 1887.
In 1887, he developed the first practical pneumatic or inflatable tyre for his son's tricycle, fitting it to a wooden disc 96cm across in the yard of his home in Belfast.
He demonstrated the supremacy of John Boyd Dunlop's newly invented pneumatic tyres in 1889, winning the tyre's first ever races in Ireland and then England.
John F. Kennedy | Pope John Paul II | Elton John | John | John Lennon | John Wayne | John McCain | John Kerry | John Cage | Olivia Newton-John | John Williams | John Peel | John Adams | John Steinbeck | John Travolta | John Milton | John Zorn | John Marshall | John Howard | John Singer Sargent | John Ruskin | John Updike | John Maynard Keynes | John Coltrane | John Cleese | St. John's | John Waters | John Lee Hooker | John Huston | John Ford |