dandy-horse

plural dandy-horses · alternative dandy horse

1. UKhistoricalA two-wheeled foot-propelled vehicle with no pedals or brakes; a draisienne.

   In 1817 and in 1818, France and Germany both claimed they had come up with the first mechanism for a bike. It was a piece of wood with a wheel at one end and a wheel at the other, and you walked it along. In England, they called it a dandy horse.

   1998 November 29, Eric Epstein, “A Passion for Old Bicycles Spun Into a Museum”, in New York Times, retrieved 31 May 2014

   1 more example

   Because these riders preferred smooth pavements to rough roads, they tended to travel on pavements and on park footpaths, where inevitable collisions with pedestrians resulted in such practices being outlawed. The dandy horse went out of fashion nearly as quickly as it came in.

   2015, Chris Boardman, The Biography of the Modern Bike: The Ultimate History of Bike Design, Hachette, →ISBN, page 10

   Synonyms: hobby horse, draisienne