News

Apr 20, 2023

The Bicycle Museum of America Is a Must

A bucket-list worthy trip for the hardcore bike nerds and casual cycling

A bucket-list worthy trip for the hardcore bike nerds and casual cycling enthusiasts alike, the museum boasts a collection of over 800 bikes.

The simplicity of its design combined with the efficiency of its function make the bicycle one of the greatest feats in the history of engineering. It may sound hyperbolic, but when you think about it, it's true.

Outside of the motor vehicle, has anything endured as closely to its original design than the bicycle? (And only one of those things hasn't had a direct impact on the climate crisis.) Two wheels, a handful of tubes, pedals. Add human power and you can travel anywhere there is land.

Considering as much, it's only fitting that the bicycle be celebrated as a marvel of human ingenuity.

Which is why there are plenty of museums and showrooms across the country dedicated to preserving and displaying the history of the bicycle.

One of the best of those is The Bicycle Museum of America.

Located in New Bremen, Ohio, the museum boasts a collection of over 800 bikes, with around 150 of them out on display regularly.

The museum is spread over three floors, tracking the evolution of the bicycle chronologically. It features a replica of what is often considered the world's first bicycle, an 1816 Draisine (which is closer to a modern children's push bike than it is a pedal bike). From there, visitors can take in the museum's robust collection of penny-farthings and their successor, the safety bike.

From there, the museum continues along the timeline of bicycle history via a series of exhibits exploring and explaining the bike's evolution through the twentieth century.

Bikes exhibited include military bikes, laden with old leather handlebar and frame bags, classic fixed gear bikes from when velodrome racing was one of America's most popular sports draws, and an entire area featuring mid-century Schwinn bikes, which exemplify the postwar era of design.

But for all of the museum's amazing bikes, the pièce de résistance (at least in this writer-slash-movie junkie's opinion) is the custom 1953 Schwinn DX from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.

As New Bremen is a bit remote (one-hour from Dayton, two-hours from Columbus, two-and-a-half-hours from Indianapolis), it's unlikely the museum is something you’ll happen upon. Of course, if your summer plans include a cross-country drive or, better, ride, then it could make for an easy stop off on your route.

The Bicycle Museum of America is open from 9 to 5 on weekdays and from 10 to 2 on Saturdays. It's closed Sundays. Admission costs $3 for adults, $2 for seniors, $1 for students, and is free for kids five and under.

Of course, there is plenty of bike parking outside.

Michael Venutolo-Mantovani is a writer and musician based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He loves road and track cycling, likes gravel riding, and can often be found trying to avoid crashing his mountain bike.

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