Bicycle Museum of America

After visiting the Miami-Erie Canal system we made the very short walk around the corner to the bicycle museum. With over 150 bicycles on display and 800 in their collection, the Bicycle Museum of America located in New Bremen, Ohio is a must see if your into bikes. And even if you're not you will walk away with the history and knowledge of the first and newest bicycles ever made.

The museum is located in a 3 story building and cost us $2 each (senior rate of course lol). Allow at least 1-2 hours to see all the exhibits. There is a fully stocked gift shop at the end of the self guided tour just in case you want to purchase a keepsake.

One of the very first exhibits is the Laufmachine or Draisine built in 1816 by Karl Drais a German land surveyor and landowner. He built this machine in response to an environment catastrophe. In April 1815 Mt Tambora in Indonesia erupted spewing enough ash into the atmosphere to cause a dramatic dip in the global temperature. A drop in temperature and limited sunlight created the largest famine in the 19th century. With limited resources and starving livestock Drais was forced to find another means of transportation. The Draisine was publicly ridden for the first time in 1817 a distance of 8.6 miles in one hour. For propulsion Drais sat atop the saddle and used his feet to push along the road to gain speed. 

Having fun at the bicycle museum is what it is all about. Here I'm sitting on top of an 1875 Ariel. The Highwheeler began in the 1870's with James Starley making a light weight, hollow steel frame, and rubber tire bicycle. The large front wheel acted as a gear ratio. The larger front wheel meant more ground was covered with each rotation of the pedals. The pedals were still attached directly to the wheel which provided a much smoother ride than its predecessor. Sudden stops often resulted in a head-first dismount. The Highwheeler was also called the Pennyfarthing or the Ordinary.

It was fun but very very hard on the butt

The Shawmut racing safety bicycle (1913) below is in it's original condition and has never been uncrated. This is how most bikes were shipped during the early 20th century.

In the 1940 Benjamin Bowden designed a futuristic looking lightweight aluminum bicycle he called "the Classic". It initially created substantial public interest however British bicycle manufacturers were reluctant to invest due to the high degree of retooling needed to produce it.

In an attempt to make the bicycle a year mode of transportation in 1901 a kit was designed to convert the front wheel to a sled runner. The rear wheel was drilled to accommodate large studs. Today there are bikes with larger studded tires that allow riding on ice and snow. 

The military first introduced bicycles in their infantry in the late 19th century. The expensive breeding of horses for the cavalry became burdensome. The bicycles offered an inexpensive, yet silent movement on the battlefield. 

The Maxim Machine Gun Tandem Tricycle was developed by Hiram Maxim in 1901. Due to their heavy weight moving the guns were not an easy task. The tricycle was developed with two Maxim machine guns and tripods for stability when firing. This was impressive but impractical due to the shear weight of both guns...374 lbs. This made it extremely difficult to move uphill or across rouged terrain. Consequently, the bicycle was rarely used. 

With many, many bikes on display I couldn't blog on them all but one particular bicycle did catch my eye. The banana seat high-rise handle bar bike was first developed by Schwinn of Chicago Illinois in the 1960s. Yes, I had one as a kid, I love it, and rode it until it fell apart.

We spent about 1-1/2 hours looking at bicycles and could have spent another hour or so. We had to call it only because we had a tour of the Airsteam factory to get to just down the road.