Mastodawn

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️

oh hey mastodon, i hear you friggin nerds like #bicycles, so get ready for a #photodump 🧵 from today's visit to the Cincinnati Museum of Art's exhibit "Cycle Thru! The Art of the Bike". https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/exhibitions/cycle-thru-the-art-of-the-bike/
first, below are some 1890s bikes. my favorite of this set is at bottom right.

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️6d ago

this one was called, appropriately, Spacelander. #bicycles

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️6d ago

this is a wild bit of design... the water bike! see description card (or #AltText attached thereto).

Kevin Russell 6d ago

So .... for beach assault. Slow slow beach assault.

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️6d ago

zoom in on the first image to check out the adjustable seat! the second image is a snomobile... er, snowcycle. early 1900s both. #bicycles

@peachfiend ...suddenly I'm glad that contemporary winter tyres are smoother :D

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️5d ago

@lepaggoth yeah, looks... comfy! /s 🤣🤣

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️6d ago

Pee-wee Herman's bike!
#bicycles

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️6d ago

last one for tonight. some 1950s and 1960s #bicycles

bottom right: Pee-wee Herman's bike
top right: a pretty green Huffy with a radio built into the frame! aptly called Radiobike®️ and it has red grips and a freakin headlight!
bottom left: predecessor to the recumbent bike
top left: a slick beautiful bike from Sears called Spaceliner. it has a sort of mid-century modern mixed with art deco styling. i'll be posting more very cool Sears bikes tomorrow. for now, goodnight!

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️5d ago

ok, dang, long day today. but as promised, the remaining #bicycle picks! descriptions in the #AltText. these here are a few that were manufactured by Bombard and sold by Sears. except maybe the Elgin one?

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️5d ago

last #bicycles post in this thread, as i am out of photos. descriptions in #AltText as always. and i feel my descriptions may be lacking, so please add on some #Alt4You if you so choose.

Ben Zanin 5d ago

@peachfiend cc: @mhoye 👀↑↑

Arratoon 5d ago

@peachfiend They look marvellous!

Blake Fox 6d ago

@peachfiend great post on bikes at my hometown Cincinnati museum. I miss my downtown weekly riding group and many of them showing up with wild historical bikes! Someday I will take my husband there. Mahalo 🤙

Nicovel0 🍉6d ago

@peachfiend a few photos to go with yours, from the Michelin museum in Clermont-Ferrand:

cyklista 5d ago

@Nicovel0 @peachfiend & another unique design - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedersen_bicycle. i took this picture at a ski lift station in the Monte Rosa ski area (Aosta Valley)

Coen Wesselman 6d ago

@peachfiend some cool bikes from Bicycle Heaven in Pittsburgh (picture taken in 2018).

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️5d ago

@wsslmn 😲 unless my eyes deceive me, those have PRICE TAGS ON THEM! meaning, if i had ... what's that stuff ... money? if i had money, i could get one of these!

Coen Wesselman 5d ago

@peachfiend there where something like 38 good bikes back then. This museum had ~30 in its collection. The most expensive one was around $40k.

The answer is: yes you could own one of them.

Coen Wesselman 5d ago

@peachfiend i believe they own the peewee Herman bike as well: https://www.bicycleheaven.org/

Bicycle Heaven

Bicycle Heaven

k3ym𖺀 6d ago

@peachfiend I find it so fascinating how little has changed in the fundamental design and concept of the bike between now and then.

Steve Loughran 6d ago

@k3ym0 @peachfiend wheel design with 3-cross spoke layout hasn't changed at all. Rims have due to material and brake changes, hubs are stronger-but someone skilled at building wheels in 1900 could work as a expert builder of hand-made wheels in 2025 with nearly no need for new tools or learning

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️5d ago

@k3ym0 my partner said the exact same thing while we were in front of this display. it's nice to see quality design persist. no need to reinvent the wheel OR the bike.

Nate Allen 6d ago

@peachfiend I wish I had the skills to make bottom right in spring steel so that it naturally absorbed bumps.

@peachfiend the one in the lower left feels like one of those ‘draw a bike from memory’ mistakes 😹

Daniel Werner 6d ago

@peachfiend Beautiful!

Bottom left reminded me of https://www.gianlucagimini.it/portfolio-item/velocipedia/

Velocipedia - Gimini

Gimini

┐⁠(⁠ ⁠˘⁠_⁠˘⁠)⁠┌ Alwin-J Müller 6d ago

@peachfiend bottom left is a weird concept; somehow a hybrid from monocycle & bicycle

@peachfiend The short wheelbase one on the lower left looks like it would have been an adventure to ride.

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️5d ago

@dana yeah, there wasn't a nifty description for that one, just an early design that i am guessing didn't work too well for riders.

@peachfiend Think I've seen some of these at an exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago a few years ago.

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️5d ago

@lopta cool! i lived in Chicago until 2017, but only made it to MSI once. spent a LOT of time at The Field though. incidentally, the Cincinnati Museum Center has a Field-themed beer on draft (maybe a Revolution or 3 Floyds collab?) called Pseudo-Sue.

@peachfiend Either of those is a substantial day out!

Mike Loukides 5d ago

@peachfiend What is going on with the one in the upper left? Looks nearly like a modern bike, but all that extra thin bracing.

peachfiend - they/them 🏳️‍⚧️5d ago

@mikeloukides that's similar to what my partner said of this display, noting that bike design has remained essentially the same for over 100 years. i think the "extra' bracing is just because it was early days, in the design of the "safety bicycle" (the two same-sized wheels vs. the penny-farthing).