Who patented the first commercially successful pneumatic bicycle tyre in 1888?

John Boyd Dunlop patented the first commercially successful pneumatic bicycle tyre in 1888.

Dunlop was a Scottish veterinary surgeon living in Belfast when he developed an air-filled tyre for his son’s tricycle. He bonded rubber sheets around a tube, inflated it with air, and attached the assembly to the wheel. The design made cycling considerably more comfortable than riding on solid tyres.

Dunlop’s patent was granted in 1888, but it was later declared invalid because fellow inventor Robert William Thomson had patented an earlier pneumatic tyre concept in 1845. Thomson’s design was not commercially successful, whereas Dunlop’s practical bicycle application quickly became popular.

Another common confusion involves Charles Goodyear, whose name is associated with vulcanized rubber, not the invention of Dunlop’s bicycle tyre. The Dunlop company became an important tyre manufacturer, although its later corporate history was separate from Dunlop’s original invention.