Complex sentence: There followed a period of rapid growth and in 1886 the company began to produce bicycles, the first of them branded as the "Germania", and by 1892, bicycle manufacturing had completely replaced knitting machine production.
Split into simpler sentences: There followed a period of rapid growth and in 1886 the company began to produce bicycles, the first of them branded as the "Germania". By 1892, bicycle manufacturing had completely replaced knitting machine production.