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The first invention that can realistically be said resembles a bicycle was constructed around 1790 by Comte Mede de Sivrac of France. Called a celerifere, it was a wooden scooter-like device with no pedals or steering. http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2014/08/23/the-evolution-of-bicycles-a-patent-history/id=50861/
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A similar model to the Celerifere, the Draisine improved the first bicycle by implementing a steering mechanism attached to the front wheel. http://web.pdx.edu/~lesseg/Project%201/index.html
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In the intervening decades of the 1820s-1850s witnessed many developments concerning human-powered vehicles often using technologies similar to the draisine, even if the idea of a workable 2-wheel design, requiring the rider to balance, had been dismissed. http://popchartlab.com/products/the-evolution-of-bicycles
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Many historians credit Pierre and Ernest Michaux as being the true inventors of the modern bicycle. This father and son duo operated a company that made carriages in Paris when they first assembled a two-wheeled vélocipède around 1867. This bike was was propelled like a tricycle, with its cranks and pedals connected to the front wheel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bicycle
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By 1870, metalworking had improved to the point that bicycles began to be constructed entirely of metal, an improvement in both performance and material strength, and bike design began to change accordingly. The pedals were still attached directly to the front wheel but solid rubber tires and long spokes on a much large front wheel provided a greatly improved ride. http://popchartlab.com/products/the-evolution-of-bicycles
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The next stage of bicycle development came with the creation of the safety bicycle, which transformed the bicycle from a dangerous contraption limited to the realm of reckless young men to a reliable and comfortable device that could be safely used by people of all ages for everyday transportation. http://web.pdx.edu/~lesseg/Project%201/index.html
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Over the years, bicycle design, materials, components and manufacturing processes have improved to create bikes of today, increasingly sophisticated and efficient machines. http://web.pdx.edu/~lesseg/Project%201/index.html
