Bicycle Heaven

Bicycle Heaven is the largest transportation museum in the world dedicated to bicycles.[2][3][4] The museum was founded by Craig Morrow and comprises his personal collection gathered over decades. It is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Bicycle Heaven
One of the prop bicycles used in Pee-wee's Big Adventure on display
Bicycle Heaven is located in Pittsburgh
Bicycle Heaven
Location in Pittsburgh
EstablishedJuly 2, 2011 (2011-07-02)[1]
LocationCasey Industrial Park
1800 Preble Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15233
Coordinates40.456139°N 80.032190°W / 40.456139; -80.032190
TypeTransportation museum
FounderCraig Morrow
DirectorHenry Morrow
Nearest parkingOn site (no charge)
Websitebicycleheaven.org

The museum is an active collection. The 650m² show room contains over 3,500 bicycles with an additional 27,000 in storage.[5] There are over 100,000 parts to keep the collection in repair.[6]

Bicycle Heaven maintains free entry by serving as a bike shop and consulting as prop agents for film, television and theatrical productions. After filming, the bicycles are returned and become part of the permanent collection.[7][8]

History

Bicycle Heaven was founded in 2011.

Exhibits

Bowden Spacelanders
Four of the last Bowden Spacelanders

Benjamin Bowden, a British industrial designer, designed a space-age fiberglass bicycle in 1946. Bowden named the design the Spacelander; it entered production in 1960 and sold for $89.50.[9] Only 522 Spacelander bicycles were made in the original run.[10] By the 1990s only a few dozen were estimated to have survived. Morrow collected 17 of the proposed 38 left in the world.[11] The Bowden Spacelanders are some rarest bicycles in the museum. Given their scarcity and good condition, they are valued over $50,000 each.[12][13]

Pee-Wee Herman's Bicycle

One of the jewels of the museum is one of the prop bikes used as Pee-wee Herman's bicycle, the MacGuffin of the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure.[5][12][14]

Other Movie Bicycles

The museum displays bicycles used in the films A Beautiful Mind,[7] Fences, Super 8,[13] and others.

References
  1. Levine, Marty (June 29, 2011). "Full cycle: Bike museum ready to roll on Saturday". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2019. His place boasts 90,000 bikes and accessories.
  2. Smith, Andrea (October 13, 2016). "On your bike, mate! This very cool bicycle museum is attracting tourists to Pittsburgh". Lonely Planet. Retrieved March 12, 2019. Tourists are flocking to see the largest and most colourful bicycle museum in the world.
  3. Conner, Foo (August 12, 2015). "Bicycle Heaven: Ride the Nostalgia". Jekko. Retrieved March 12, 2019. Bicycle Heaven is the world's largest bicycle museum and shop.
  4. Crawley, Dave (May 16, 2016). "North Side Bike Shop Listed As 1 of the Things 'To Do in Pittsburgh Before You Die'". CBS Pittsburgh. Retrieved March 12, 2019. Largest Bike Museum and Shop Found on North Side
  5. Certo, Tracy (October 11, 2016). "How the wonderfully wacky Bicycle Heaven became a big tourist attraction in Pittsburgh". NEXTPittsburgh. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  6. Walsh, Larry (September 12, 2012). "Walsh: Nostalgia has home at Bicycle Heaven". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  7. Machosky, Michael (August 31, 2011). "All Bikes go to Heaven in Pittsburgh Museum". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved March 13, 2019. Some of his bikes were used in the film, 'A Beautiful Mind'
  8. Spiegel, Brendan (July 15, 2015). "36 Hours in Pittsburgh". The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  9. Brooky, Mark (July 21, 2015). "GH-made bicycle worth $42K?". Grand Haven Tribune. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  10. Truett, Richard (August 12, 1993). "The Spacelander's Long, Strange Trip". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved March 12, 2019. 522 Spacelanders were shipped before production stopped
  11. Orr, Vanessa (May 31, 2018). "Bicycle Heaven: Largest Bike Museum In The World For More Than Just Collectors". North Hills Monthly. Retrieved March 12, 2019. 17 Bowden Spacelanders—some of the most sought-after bikes in the world
  12. Mir, Shaun (April 11, 2017). "No one owns more bicycles than this guy. Here's how he got the world's largest collection". Circa. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  13. McCabe, John (January 15, 2017). "Pittsburgh Museum is Bicycle Heaven". The Times Leader. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  14. Kindervater, David (February 2, 2018). "Pittsburgh, PA, Is Home to the World's Largest Bicycle Museum". Culture Trip. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
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