Daily demonstrations at 11am, free with admission!
Please note that the cars or exhibit items shown in this database are part of our collection but may not be on display when you visit.
According to the Smithsonian, in 1817, Baron Karl Drais, a German agricultural engineer and inventor, is credited with the first public demonstration of a 2-wheeled human-powered vehicle. He called...
From the 1930s to the 1970s, this was the way high-quality bikes were made: Lugs, which are cast steel sockets, were fitted to the corners of the frame. Next,...
The classic English roadster produced from the 1930s through the1960s, had a lugged steel frame, with an internal 3-speed hub, and upright riding position. It featured fenders, a chainguard,...
Founded in 2007 by Ken Wheeler, whose background is in composite aircraft design, Renovo builds hollow laminated hardwood road and mountain bikes. Although Renovo is primarily an engineering company,...
For the first half of the 20th century, an “American bicycle” had balloon tires, a single speed, a rear coaster brake, and was designed to appeal to children too...
Tandem bicycles have been around since before the turn of the last century. The great advantage of a tandem is that it allows riders of different skills and abilities...
In 1963, the new Schwinn Stingray was an instant success as a highly stylized bicycle that captured the California car culture of the1960s. The most elaborate versions had front...
Whizzer motor kits were introduced by Breene-Taylor Engineering Corporation, a Los Angeles maker of aircraft parts, in 1939. The kit sold for $54.95 and included an air-cooled, four-cycle engine...
Seven Cycles is the world’s largest manufacturer of custom, high-end bicycle frames. The Elium SLX is made from seamless, double-butted 3AL-2.5V titanium and filament wound carbon fiber. Seven describes...
This design was the first mass-produced mountain bike. It came with a lugged-steel frame, knobby 26-inch tires, powerful cantilever brakes, “bull moose” handlebars, a “biplane” front fork, and a...
By the year 2000, carbon fiber had emerged as the leading material for high end-bikes. Early models such as this one used lugs and glued-tube construction. Later models were...
By the 1980s, advantages in manufacturing allowed the extensive use of TIG welding (Tungsten Inert Gas).No lugs were required, and frames became lighter. More importantly, the method allowed...
Trek was an early adopter of carbon-fiber technology. In 1992 it unveiled its first US-made, full carbon-fiber-framed bicycles, the 5200 and the 5500, featuring a new technology called OCLV....
This is one of the first carbon fiber aero bikes built by James Trimble, one of the three bicycle producing Trimble Brothers. It had a small production run and...
With the Trimble Inverse 4, designer Brent Trimble revised a shape that was first popular in the 1800s- the cross or girder frame. In early bicycle design, this shape...
The Robin, as it is commonly known, is a kit bicycle that was targeted to Japanese citizens fond of things mechanical. The Robin advertised fun in the assembly process...
After a 5-year development process, the A-Bike, aka the Sinclair, was released in the UK in 2006. The result of a collaboration between Britain’s Sinclair research and Hong Kong’s...
The ladies’ Hirondelle model features slightly more modern features than its predecessor such as both front and rear brakes. It also offers a “basket weave” protection to keep ladies’...
Although Barberon & Meunier first patented the retro-direct system in 1869, the gear system was further developed and refined by other companies, including Manufacture at the turn of the...
The 1990s was an exciting time in the bicycle industry with new materials such as aluminum and carbon fiber presenting new design possibilities. Many “non-traditional” designs, like the Zipp...