Why do alt-history people never focus on infrastructure or innovation? What would have happened had bikes been invented centuries before cars instead of around the same time? How different would the built environment and our culture have looked?
Personally, I think centuries of more established bike use would have created an infrastructure that limits how well cars take off. Cities would have entrenched themselves in a cheap, dense manner of transit.
I could be wrong, lots of dense cities were wrecked by the car when it was commercialized. I’d love to hear any thoughts :)
Definitely agreed it’d work well on footpaths. I think given what frost heaves and the city budget have done to local sidewalks, it might still be useful (I’m not sure they count as modern or well-paved). If I can find some more square tubing, and some mesh or perforated metal for the guard around the wheel, I think it could be a fun bit of welding practice. It’s too bad the larger bike wheel sizes seem to be very expensive.
Maybe look for a modern horse-cart wheel. There are some pretty lightweight ones that are very tall.
That’s a good idea, I’ll see what I can find!