The net effect of their approach was to create an airplane that could move in a straight line from its launch, but little else. The Wrights designed an aircraft that allowed the operator to induce and control a roll, and thus to turn an airplane. They had gotten into the bicycle business in the early 1890s, in the midst of a national craze for cycling. While the Wrights had only moderate success in the business, building bicycles taught them the basics of mechanics and materials, which they would turn to their advantage when they attacked the problem of flight. Even more importantly, they recognized a connection between cycling and flying.
Bicycles are inherently unstable in yaw and roll.
The Wrights took the same principles of mastering a bicycle and applied them to their flyer. They built a cabling system that allowed the pilot to bend the shape of the wing, changing the flow of air over it, inducing a roll. It's the same principle used in ailerons today, and was the stroke of genius that allowed the Wright brothers to become the first people to master the air. They would have never thought of it if they had not first been devotees of cycling. After the flight at Kitty Hawk, the fact that the Wright brothers ran a small bicycle business in Dayton, Ohio became a source of national pride.