Wright Brothers’ St. Clair Bicycle Shows How Little Has Changed

So is that a “tri-wing glider” fork crown since it predates airplanes?

I was up there a few months ago and it’s funny how a bicycle can be my favorite exhibit in the Air and Space museum.

Gillis,

one of the bikes is at the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH (home of the Wright Bros.), 2 are at Carillon Park (also in Dayton) and the fourth is at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit.

You may also be interested in this article about one of the original Wright Bros. bike shops:
http://www.bikecommuters.com/2011/08/11/a-visit-to-the-wright-cycle-company/

@ Gillis: The other bikes are actually available for anyone to view. A women’s bike is in the Air Force museum in Dayton, OH. Another 2 models are at Carillon Park in Dayton. The last one can be found at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI.

I wrote my history master’s thesis on the Wright Brothers and how intertwined their knowledge of bicycle and aeronautical engineering were. I argue that Wright historians do not attribute enough of the Wright brothers’ engineering acumen to their experience in the bike business. My thesis can be downloaded and read here if you are interested: http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/554/

If the Wright Brothers had been car builders, they would never have made it into the air.

@Walter: Orville actually dabbled in cars but Wilbur thought it was a waste of time.

@Orville: I do not know the history of this specific bike but the wheels are likely not built by the Wrights. They only made coaster brake hubs for a limited time. With respect to the rims, there seems to be no consensus on what specific rims they built with although they did offer both wood and steel options. This bike is the only one of the five that I have not seen in person. Wish I could be of more help.

How can i find out if my wrights brothers bicycle is real or not