Is this an image of an old cycle used by Indian police staff 100 years ago? Know the truth

Currently, an image of a vintage cycle with spring tyres and riffle is going viral on social media. Users are claiming that this is an old model bicycle that was used by Indian police staff. 

However, Fact Crescendo found the claim to be false. This is not an image of a cycle used by Indian police staff. This cycle was used during WW1 and was manufactured in Germany. 

What’s the claim? 

Sharing the image, one social media user wrote that around 100 years ago this used to be a means of conveyance for police officers. 

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Fact Check- 

A Google Reverse Image Search led us to the same image uploaded by a Facebook user in 2022. The caption states that this is an image of a military bicycle with a spring wheel and it was used in the 1900s. Along with that the user gave credit to a website for this image. 

Taking a clue from the above post, we visited the given website. We found that the same image of the bicycle was published on the website. According to the information, the bicycle was named as Herrenrad Victoria ‘Model 12’. This is a german made bicycle that was used during WW1. 

Further, we found a YouTube video in which a person can be heard explaining about the bicycle. He said, during WW1, Germany did not have a dedicated military. So they started building bicycles like these which were used during its invasion into Belgium. You can see the image of the bicycle from 1.15 minutes onwards. 

Conclusion: 

Fact Crescendo found the claim to be false. This is not an image of a bicycle used by Indian police 100 years ago. This bicycle was manufactured and used by Germans during WW1.