Almost all of us have owned and cherished a bicycle at least once in our lives or longed to. And we grow attached to them. It’s this fondness that has ensured a strongly-rooted hobby in restoring, selling and collecting antique bicycles that spans generations. This love bloomed in many of us as children. Then, it wasn’t just a bicycle. It was a gallant steed, a motorcycle fit to make even James Bond envious, or a rocket ship exploring the boundlessness of space. When we grew up and entered our adults years, the bicycle became something more practical and less magical. It became an inexpensive and simple mode of transportation, a way to keep fit or something to race competitively. But the love of the machine never seems to fade.
A Brief History
The bicycle has been around a long time. The earliest sketch of a bicycle-type vehicle surfaced in 1493 envisioned by Gian Giacomo Caprotti who studied under none other than Leonardo da Vinci. Unfortunately, the authenticity has never been verified. The first practical working bicycle was produced by a Baron in Germany, Baron Karl von Drais in 1817. He patented his design and in 1818 it became the very first cycle to be commercially-produced successfully. It was known then not as the bicycle but as the velocipede and tritely nicknamed “the dandy horse”. So I guess we weren’t the only ones to imagine our bikes as horses. These strange two-wheeled vehicles were originally manufactures in Germany and France but the British were quick to jump on the bandwagon, or bicycle as it were, in 1818 and produce their own improved mode. After that production and use spread over much of Europe and America. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Common Types of Antique Bikes
Velocipedes: Although these cycles can have any number of wheels, the most common is the bicycle. The term was first used in 1818 by Nicephore Niepce in France.
Boneshaker: This term was first used in 1869 for what is considered the first true-type of bicycle. It’s name was born of it’s rough unyielding ride.
The penny-farthing is probably what you first imagine when you think of an antique bicycle. This is the model with the enormous front wheel and a much smaller rear one. These began to appear around 1870. The larger the wheel, the faster the speed. Safety bicycles: This style of cycle gained popularity toward the end of the 1880′s and was an alternative to the penny farthing bicycle, It’s considered the forerunner of the modern bicycle.
Famous Collections
- The Bicycle Museum of America is located in New Bremen, Ohio and boasts one of the largest private collections antique bicycles in the world.
- The National Cycle Collection, Llandrindod Wells, Mid Wales, in the UK displays a collection of over 200 bikes, some dating back as far as 1819 and covers 6,000 square feet.
- In Bad Bruckenau Germany, Ivan Sojc’s Velicious Bicycle Museum houses almost 230 bicycles most still in their original condition covering everything from the first velocipedes to modern bikes.
- There are many more museums and collections open to the public, so be sure to check your local listing. It may spark your own love affair with antique bicycles.
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