Historedia
Episode 1 of 2

Formation of Michaux et Cie

When
1868
Where
Paris
Part of
Pierre Michaux and the front-wheel-driven velocipede

Michaux partnered with the Olivier brothers in 1868 to create the first company to mass-produce pedal-powered velocipedes.

In 1868, Pierre Michaux formed a partnership with the Olivier brothers under his own name, Michaux et Cie. This company was the first to mass-produce pedal-powered velocipedes, known as the Michaudine. The Oliviers stayed behind the scenes to avoid failure risks.

Sources

  1. Pierre Michaux Wikipedia, revision of 2026-01-09
  2. History of the bicycle Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-16

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.