Friday Photo - French Soldier with 1896 Gladiator Folding Bicycle

French Infantryman with folding bicycle

In the late 1890s, many European armies were looking at bicycles for military usage. There were two problems with standard bikes:

• They took a lot of space when transported by train or ship
• When troops had to fight their way across rough terrain, infantrymen would have to leave their bikes, fight their way forward, then go back, get their bikes and return.

In France, the Gladiator Cycle Company came up with a folding bicycle they wanted to sell to their military. A series of staged photos were taken, including the one above, showing a soldier in a variety of positions he might be expected to take while performing his duties. Other photos from the series can be seen on the Cycling History blog.