Bicycle messengers, or bike couriers, are individuals who work for courier companies and deliver items by bicycle. These messengers are more frequently found in the central business districts of metropolitan areas. Courier companies use bike messengers because bicycles can travel faster than cars and motorcycles. This is possible because bike messengers can exploit openings in traffic too small for motor vehicles.
Almost as soon as the modern bicycle was developed, people began to use it for delivery purposes. During the bicycle book of the 1890s, Western Union employed a number of bicycle messengers in New York City and in other large population areas of the United States.
The earliest recorded post-war American bicycle courier company was founded by Carl Sparks of San Francisco of 1945. The company was named Sparkie’s and is still in existence today. By the 1970s, there were well-established companies providing bicycle courier services in many major cities in the United States.
In Europe, the bicycle didn’t reappear as a means of courier until 1983. The two London groups On Yer Bike and Pedal-Pushers were the pioneers of the pedal-over-petrol movement. The rest of the city’s courier companies followed suit fairly quickly. By the end of the decade, cycle couriers were common in Central London. They were so popular a manufacturer named a range of mountain bikes for them.
On the continent, entrepreneurs were inspired by seeing couriers in the United States or in London. They began offering bicycle courier services in the late 1980s. By 1993, there were enough bicycle couriers in Europe and North America that more than 400 attended the inaugural Cycle Messenger Championships in Berlin.
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