Bicycle Heaven Explained

Bicycle Heaven
Map Type:
  1. Pittsburgh#
Established:[1]
Location:Casey Industrial Park
1800 Preble Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15233
Type:Transportation museum
Founder:Craig Morrow
Director:Henry Morrow
Parking:On site (no charge)

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.

The museum is an active collection. The 650 m2 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

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]

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] [13]

Other Movie Bicycles

The museum displays bicycles used in the films A Beautiful Mind,[7] Fences, Super 8,[14] and others.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Full cycle: Bike museum ready to roll on Saturday . Levine . Marty . June 29, 2011 . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . March 12, 2019 . "His place boasts 90,000 bikes and accessories." . February 1, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210201040139/https://old.post-gazette.com/pg/11180/1156822-51.stm . dead .
  2. Web site: On your bike, mate! This very cool bicycle museum is attracting tourists to Pittsburgh . Smith . Andrea . October 13, 2016 . Lonely Planet . March 12, 2019 . "Tourists are flocking to see the largest and most colourful bicycle museum in the world.".
  3. Web site: Bicycle Heaven: Ride the Nostalgia . Conner . Foo . August 12, 2015 . Foo Conner . Jekko . March 12, 2019 . "Bicycle Heaven is the world's largest bicycle museum and shop.".
  4. Web site: North Side Bike Shop Listed As 1 of the Things 'To Do in Pittsburgh Before You Die' . Crawley . Dave . May 16, 2016 . CBS Pittsburgh . March 12, 2019 . "Largest Bike Museum and Shop Found on North Side".
  5. Web site: How the wonderfully wacky Bicycle Heaven became a big tourist attraction in Pittsburgh . Certo . Tracy . October 11, 2016 . NEXTPittsburgh . March 13, 2019.
  6. Web site: Walsh: Nostalgia has home at Bicycle Heaven . Walsh . Larry . September 12, 2012 . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . March 13, 2019.
  7. Web site: All Bikes go to Heaven in Pittsburgh Museum . Machosky . Michael . August 31, 2011 . Pittsburgh Tribune-Review . March 13, 2019 . " Some of his bikes were used in the film, 'A Beautiful Mind'".
  8. Web site: 36 Hours in Pittsburgh . Spiegel . Brendan . July 15, 2015 . The New York Times . March 13, 2019.
  9. Web site: GH-made bicycle worth $42K? . Brooky . Mark . July 21, 2015 . Grand Haven Tribune . March 13, 2019 . March 30, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190330203747/https://www.grandhaventribune.com/frontpage/2013/09/04/GH-made-bicycle-worth-42K . dead .
  10. Web site: The Spacelander's Long, Strange Trip . Truett . Richard . August 12, 1993 . Orlando Sentinel . March 12, 2019 . "522 Spacelanders were shipped before production stopped".
  11. Web site: Bicycle Heaven: Largest Bike Museum In The World For More Than Just Collectors . Orr . Vanessa . May 31, 2018 . North Hills Monthly . March 12, 2019 . "17 Bowden Spacelanders—some of the most sought-after bikes in the world".
  12. Web site: No one owns more bicycles than this guy. Here's how he got the world's largest collection. . Mir . Shaun . April 11, 2017 . Circa . March 13, 2019 . March 31, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190331000233/https://www.circa.com/story/2017/04/11/no-one-owns-more-bicycles-than-this-guy-heres-how-he-got-the-worlds-largest-collection . dead .
  13. Web site: Pittsburgh, PA, Is Home to the World's Largest Bicycle Museum . Kindervater . David . February 2, 2018 . Culture Trip . March 13, 2019.
  14. Web site: Pittsburgh Museum is Bicycle Heaven . McCabe . John . January 15, 2017 . The Times Leader . March 13, 2019.

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