Object Details
maker
Rex Cycle Co.
Description
The Rex Cycle Company of Chicago, Illinois manufactured this three-wheel bicycle in 1898. The bicycle was designed by Bohn C. Hicks, who obtained three patents on this type of machine
(patents, 557,387, 557388 and 561710) in 1896. While it might seem inconsistent to apply the term "bicycle" to a 3-wheel machine, this is not a tricycle in the usual sense of the word. The unusual construction of the Rex cycle resulted from Hicks' efforts to produce a machine "particularly adapted to absorb or minimize the shocks incident to riding over obstructions." The seat was mounted on a tube attached to pivot points on the front wheel and the rear third wheel, a design to allow the wheels to undulate over bumps with minimal jostling to the rider.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Anne, Margaret, Katherine, and Nicholas Schmidt
date made
1898
ID Number
TR.333681
catalog number
333681
accession number
304752
Object Name
Bicycle, 3-Wheel
bicycle, 3-wheeler
Other Terms
Bicycle, 3-Wheel; Road
place made
United States: Illinois, Chicago
See more items in
Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
America on the Move
Transportation
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Bicycling
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_843317