In the 1890s, the bicycle craze swept across Europe and North America, sparking a moral panic about its effects on health, morality, and social order. Critics warned that cycling would lead to physical degeneration, promote sexual immorality, and undermine traditional gender roles, particularly as women began to embrace the activity. Despite the panic, the bicycle became a symbol of freedom and emancipation, especially for women, who gained new mobility and independence.

The bicycle craze and the associated panic have been celebrated in poetry and prose, with writers like H.G. Wells and Arthur Conan Doyle embracing cycling as a symbol of modernity and liberation. Poets such as Amy Levy and others used the bicycle as a metaphor for freedom and the breaking of social conventions. The panic has also been analyzed in literary criticism as an example of how new technologies can provoke irrational fears and challenge established norms.